Your name: Jim Delany.
Your assignment: Bring in the BigTen's 12th and final member institution.

You have a chance to shake up the entire landscape of college football.

Should the Big Ten expand East, or add from within the Midwest?
From the above-referenced candidates, who do you choose and why?

Should be a very interesting 12-18 months, to say the very least.

Well, Notre Dame isn't going to join. And frankly, the can go screw themeselves if they don't.

Nebraksa would probally bring the most, but I don't see that happening. Texas would be impossible. They wouldn't abandon their rivalry with OU.

Not too big on Iowa State. Rutgers/Syracuse may be too east. Pitt would work nicely, as would Mizzou. Louisville also may be a decent school, althoug I am unsure about their academics.

Notre Dame should get head out of its arse and join already. I say this as someone who isn't exactley much of a Notre Dame fan.

What would be interesting would be the breaking up of the conferance like the SEC has done. Though only way it would really make sense would be to divide between East-West segments. The East would end up being much tougher in baskeball and football then the West if history is any indicator.....

If the twelth team comes from the geographical west then I guess both Indiana and Purdue go to the east.......

West
Minnesotta
Iowa
Wisconsin
Illinois
Northwestern
Purdue (or Indiana)

West possibilities - Iowa St., Missouri. Nebraska outside chance?

I wish UIC, UofChicago, or even SIU, NIU had a chance in hell. :colgate:

East
Michigan St.
U of Michigan
Ohio St.
Penn St
Indiana (and/or Purdue)

East possiblities - Pittsburgh, Cinncy, Syracuse, Rutgers, Notre Dame. Perhaps Ohio Univ?



If not Notre Dame then I would go with Pittsburgh and then Cinncy.

Notre dame is garbage...... The big ten was names for the 10 biggest schools way back when.... so you would ave to have a school with enrollment close to other big 10 schools... I would say Mizzou followed by Pitt. Those are the only 2 schools i can see in the big ten

I picked Pitt but Missouri would be cool as well. I think Syracuse would be OK. Rutgers looks like it's finally ready for the "big time" with the stadium expansion as well. As far as Notre Dame goes, their fans feel their program is simply too big for a conference. And as long as you have a major network like NBC willing to carry all of their home games I guess it would be difficult to join a group and do away with that.

Notre dame is garbage...... The big ten was names for the 10 biggest schools way back when.... so you would ave to have a school with enrollment close to other big 10 schools... I would say Mizzou followed by Pitt. Those are the only 2 schools i can see in the big ten

Notre Dame is overrated, but they might be the most nationally popular football team in America. The name travels everywhere in this country. And given their location, it makes sense for them to be in the Big Ten. Well that, or the MAC, but Notre Dame would not join the MAC (plus the MAC has thirteen football teams already, the most of any FBS conference).

Also, Pittsburgh's location would not be that much of a stretch (it's between Ohio State and Penn State), but keep in mind the Big East only has eight teams. It can't lose anyone. Overall, Notre Dame does make the most sense based on location, fanbase, and they already have rivalries with teams in the Big Ten (Michigan for example).

Also, why would Pittsburgh be the desired Big East team, and not Cincinnati? Oh wait, I forgot, precious Ohio State doesn't want any in-state rivals...granted, I know Cincinnati's stadium is "small" (though not smaller than any MAC stadium I can think of), but there's something to be said for the quality of the stadium. Nippert is historic, compact, and fits nicely into campus. I actually like it more than any Big Ten Stadium. Size isn't everything, though it sometimes seems that way in the Big Ten...

If you ever get a chance, see Nippert Stadium. It's one of the best football stadiums in the country. There's nothing else quite like it.

I think Syracuse would be OK.

Syracuse is horrible (plus their "stadium"?). Syracuse would be worse than most MAC teams. I'd rather see a MAC team with a nice-looking, compact, historic stadium (say Ohio or Toledo) join the Big Ten than see Syracuse join the Big Ten. And again, I'd raise the issue that the Big East only has eight teams. If anything, they should be adding teams, not losing them. And honestly, it can't be stressed enough how horrible the Syracuse "stadium" is. You'd want Ohio's Peden Stadium or Toledo's Glass Bowl over that shit any day of the week. Syracuse plays in the worst place of any FBS football team, because it's basically an oversized basketball arena. They should have never torn down Archbold Stadium. I've seen pictures of it, and it looked like one of America's best football stadiums. It's a damn shame.

Also, why would Pittsburgh be the desired Big East team, and not Cincinnati? Oh wait, I forgot, precious Ohio State doesn't want any in-state rivals...
Keep in mind that the Big Ten prides itself on academics -- ALL Big Ten members also belong to the AAU (http://www.aau.edu/), and the Big Ten is only FBS conference which can boast that distinction. Cincinnati's academic reputation falls short of AAU and Big Ten standards.

Not only is Pittsburgh an AAU member, their academic endowment would rank fourth among current Big Ten schools, behind only Michigan, Northwestern and Minnesota.

When it comes to facilities, both on-campus and in their surrounding cities, the two schools are about even (except the Pittsburgh Penguins are building the Consol Energy Center nearby, scheduled to open in 2010).

And Syracuse's football program might have recently fallen on hard times, but they have a very respectable history and their basketball program would greatly benefit the Big Ten conference, plus their academics are as highly regarded as Pitt's.

I always thought Mizzou would make a good fit for the Big 10. Louisville would be good too

^Cwilson, Louisville suffers from the same stigma that Cincy does, HORRID academics. There is no chance.

I did forget about the academic thing. I think every Big Ten school ranks top 100 among national universities (USN&WR). Cincinnati isn't even close to that cutoff.

Mizzou would be a great fit because they already have a rivalry with Illinois. Nebraska is way too rooted in the Big 12 because of their rivalries with Colorado and Texas. Anything further east than Ohio is not the midwest, which is what the Big 10 is. Cinccy or Louisville would be good, but thats a little further south than the 'Midwest states.' Mizzou has excellent academics, and is truely considered a Midwest college, with enrollment that is mostly midwestern students. Their enrollment is comprable to small and medium Big 10 schools, like Iowa and Indiana. They would be the best choice by far.

I always thought of the Big 10 being a "Great Lakes" conference and the Big 12 being "Great Plains." That's why I don't see why Missouri should be a part of the Big 10. Pennsylvania borders a Great Lake, as does New York. And yes, I know Iowa isn't on the Great Lakes but it's close enough damnit!

So yes, Pitt gets my vote now.

I think Pitt would be the logical choice.

the fact is that the big 10 is completely struggling here... they're having trouble getting any attention and adding another team isn't going to help them compete any more. why would notre dame even want to join?

^^How are they struggling? Despite there being some people who are always negative about the Big Ten, maybe b/c it's focused in the midwest, only the SEC is more significant and wealthy w/ respect to football year in and year out. The Big 12 is a good conference but not all that wealthy. The SEC is a crappy academic conference. The Pac-10, Big Ten and ACC are better academic conferences than the Big 12 and SEC.

I think Missouri, Rutgers and Pitt are the best candidates if we exclude Notre Dame, which isn't a part of the AAU and doesn't have much of a research presence.

I prefer flagship schools which get the bulk of publicity and funding from their respective states, which I hope are on the more populated side. That's why I like Mizzou and Rutgers, despite Rutgers' location. Pitt is an exception for me b/c it's still pretty well-known, wealthy and highly regarded academically as well as convenient geographically. Mizzou alums flock to Chicago after college like the many Big 10 alums do, it would be right at home in the Big 10. Rutgers is the only one that doesn't have any major rivals. Mizzou could join the Big Ten and they could have a situation like they do with Illinois now, but with Kansas. Pitt has a bunch of decent rivalries and pseudo-rivalries that it would have to abandon. But Penn St. would be renewed. Pitt needs to figure out a way to get more people to go their football games as well as possibly build its own football stadium. The Pete is a pretty fun venue to watch basketball games.

Iowa St., Cincy and Louisville would be a waste of time as far as I'm concerned. May as well go for Kentucky. Texas and Maryland aren't going anywhere. Syracuse doesn't have a whole lot to offer IMO, and they're a firmly rooted Big East school as it is. Nebraska is firmly a plains state, and makes more sense in the Big 12.

Iowa state is your only realistic chance of agreeing to join. The teams you want from the big east are happy in the big east.

^ The Big Ten is not interested in Iowa State. It brings absolutely no new TV market. The Big Ten is not struggling. It is by far the wealthiest conference with the largest combined football TV market and the highest academics of any BCS conference. The Big East is petrified of losing any football schools to the Big Ten and already is discussing forming a football only conference. Whoever the Big10 invites (sans ND) will jump into the Big10.

Pitt is happy to be in the Big East b/c of basketball, but I think joining the Big Ten would be a net positive for them. Rutgers has nothing to gain by being in the Big East. The conference's teams have a lot of viewers in the NYC area, but they're not like Syracuse or Georgetown as far as their history and importance to the conference is concerned. They don't have any major rivals that we'd be prying them away for. The only knock is geography and I think they have a lot of potential being the flagship school of a wealthy and populated state. They wouldn't be wasted in the Big Ten like they are in the Big East. Another knock on them is that they don't typically have high attendances to their games despite their recent football stadium renovation, but that could change with Big Ten teams like Penn St, Ohio State and Michigan rolling in on a yearly basis w/ televised games w/ BCS bowl ramifications. They have a lot to gain by joining the Big Ten despite it being a midwestern conference.

The Big East had to add Marquette to the conference and their football programs are just stepping stones for decent coaches.