Big Ten Expansion?

There has been a lot of talk the last couple years about expanding the Big 10 from 11 teams to 12.  This isn’t really surprising given that, with the exception of the PAC 10, all the other “BCS” conferences have at least 12 teams.  Joe Paterno basically got the ball rolling when he called out the league president back in late August about how stupid they would be for not looking for a 12th team.  There has been some speculation from the league office, but no one seems to want to say anything.

I think its a great idea and that the Big 10 needs to expand.  First and foremost, it would allow the league to split into 2 divisions like the ACC, Big 12, SEC, and Big East all have.  There are a lot of benefits to adding a 12th team and most, if not all, of them are financial.  It plays the biggest role in football.  The Big 10 has been criticized in recent years for its performance in bowl games, although they did well this year, and many people believe its because they lack a conference championship game and their teams end the regular season so early (before Thanksgiving).  Popular belief is that a conference title game would give the league powers a game closer to bowl season therefore making them more prepared and competitive.  It would also give the league a showcase on national television that would pay butt loads of money and could give it a recruiting boost as well.  The only problem with this is that a league is required to have 12 teams in order to play a conference title game.  With the 11 teams that are currently in the league, the conference title is determined only by regular season record and ridiculous tiebreakers.  12 teams would mean crowning a real champ, no tiebreakers.

It has its benefits for basketball as well.  The league already has a post season tournament, but splitting the teams into 2 divisions could help them get more teams into the Big Dance.  Right now each team plays 18 conference games and 10 to 12 non conference games.  18 conference games is a ton, but with 2 divisions of 6 teams, each team would likely play the teams in its division twice and the teams outside its division once.  That makes only 16 conference games and leaves 2 games open to either schedule cream puffs for wins to pad the resume for some weaker teams, or for the better teams, playing a couple nationally ranked teams to prepare yourself for the tough post season competition.  Its a win win either way.

This has been talked about for a few months now and the Big 10 has just finally come out and said that if they expand the league the time table would be in the 12 to 18 month range.  Several schools have been discussed.  Most obviously Notre Dame, for name recognition and location relative to the other conference schools.  There has also been talk about adding a strong mid major school, but that wouldn’t make much of a splash.  Now talk has turned to basically stealing a school from another major conference.  The two that have been discussed the most, and seem to make the most sense, are Pittsburgh and Missouri.  Both fit geographically, are big schools, and are solid academically and athletically, not to mention rivalries with current conference teams.  Either one would be a nice addition but its not the big splash the Big 10 would like to make.

Here is the latest rumor, and this one completely blew me away and I love it…A source with ties to the Big 10 is reporting that the league has had “preliminary exchanges” with the University of Texas.  TEXAS!! The Big 10 is apparently going after the Texas Longhorns, and they appear to show some interest.  The source went on to say “People will deny that, but its accurate.”  Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of it, but going all the way to Texas for another school didn’t see to make much sense to me at first.  But when you think about it, its absolutely freaking genius.  If the Big 10 could pull this off the league could have every TV in that massive recruiting hotbed of a state tuning into the Big 10 Network on a regular basis.  Adding Texas could dramatically grow the money making potential of the network, which in turn would grow the money making potential of the entire conference and every school in it.  Texas is a fit size wise and also would be near the top of the conference academically.  Geographically it doesn’t make a lot of sense and a lot of people would worry about the cost and fatigue of travel, but with this era’s TV deals and all the money to be made by this move, it would actually make schools more money than it would cost them, and for that you tolerate a little travel fatigue.

There is only one thing that could really put this move off, Texas would more than likely want to maintain its rivalries with Texas A&M and Oklahoma.  There may have to be something worked out where a team like Iowa gets shuffled out and one of the other 2 come in, but compared to the pros of getting this deal done, those are minor details.

I absolutely love this move and want it to happen as soon as possible.  From a fan’s point of view it would mean more national exposure for your favorite Big 10 teams, and having a school in the south will lead to more recruiting in areas of the country that are being dominated by the SEC and Big 12.  This could instantly make the Big 10 the best conference in the country in all the major sports.