My colleague Tim Hyland, who covers college football for About.com, is breaking down the rumors about a possible expansion of the Big Ten. That conference has had eleven members since Penn State was added to the mix in 1993; adding a 12th would allow the league to split into two conferences and hold a championship game in football — a lucrative possibility worth an estimated $10-12 million per year.
Of course, that twelfth team has to come from somewhere, which is where the “ripple effect” comes in.
The apple of the Big Ten’s eye has long been Notre Dame, but the Fighting Irish seem intent on staying independent in football. Assuming that continues to be the case, schools like Pittsburgh, Syracuse or Rutgers (from the Big East) or Missouri (from the Big 12). That would leave either the Big East or Big 12 scrambling for a replacement.
Hyland suggests football powers Boise State or TCU as potential Big 12 additions, but finding a new Big East team is trickier. The toughest conference in the nation in basketball, the Big East is easily the weakest of the BCS conferences. Any defection would be significant, and there simply aren’t that many football powers in the Eastern half of the country that make sense as replacements.
One interesting possibility might be Memphis — a school that, on the basketball side at least, has really out-grown Conference USA.
Big Ten Expansion Could Have Ripple Effect originally appeared on About.com Basketball on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 16:22:18.
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Never could take seriously a conference with eleven teams called the Big Ten. How about the Big Ten (and Indiana)? Add another team and what will it be? The Big Ten (and Indiana and Minnesota)? But they need a conference championship game to sort out which lead-footed team may get a shot at being the sacrificial lamb to the SEC.
It needs to happen, even if it impacts some of the great rivalries. Now is the time to make the move while the greatest of these rivalries is down.
I don’t see Mizzou giving up it’s rivalry with Kansas to join the Big Ten.
My guess is Syracuse or Pitt. Divide the conference into east (IN, OH, MI, PA/NY schools) and west (IL, IA, WI, MN) with three crossover games. Rutgers is an OK fit due to its history as a Land Grant Institution and would help bring in the New York market in, but has always been mediocre in both football and basketball. You have to bring a strong tradition of one or the other to the table, IMO.
Big East just plain has too many baskeball schools anyhow, most solid programs.
Oh, and SEC fans, rub it in while you can but remember that what goes around comes around.