Around the Big Ten

[entropy]

Unless someone like Texas decides to move and bring along some friends, I don't think anyone is doing anything until the mid 2020's. I believe FSU wants out, but the GOR is going to keep them in the ACC for at least a decade.

[Whitley]

KU?s fiscal woes aside, they really don?t bring much even under the best-case scenario. With or without the Jaychickens, the BIG is a powerhouse basketball conference, and basketball is just along for the ride on the TV contract bus anyway...football drives.

KU would be a net consumer of shared football gate revenue as well, to which we just added two recently. Those two at least bring a decent amount of cable subs, which KU does not.

The more I think about it, the better Oklahoma looks among a thin list of candidates. They are a national football draw, fill their stadium, and compete well across Mens and Women?s sports. They would add ballast to the BIG West as well. If we cannot entice the Irish or pry UVA/NC loose from the ACC, the Sooners are probably the next-best option.

Except for Oklahoma Academics don;t fit at all with the Big Ten standards. That is a big driving factor here.

While you do like balance in the conferece, right now the value seems to be in the ACC. Yeah they have a GOR until the late 2020s, but that is breakable (everything is breakable). The next round of expansion might very well be in the East and South. It could be something like: Virginia, Duke, north Carolina and Georgia Tech/Notre Dame.

[Wild Hoss]

Except for Oklahoma Academics don;t fit at all with the Big Ten standards. That is a big driving factor here.

While you do like balance in the conferece, right now the value seems to be in the ACC. Yeah they have a GOR until the late 2020s, but that is breakable (everything is breakable). The next round of expansion might very well be in the East and South. It could be something like: Virginia, Duke, north Carolina and Georgia Tech/Notre Dame.

IDK that we're going to have the luxury of being quite so picky about academics in the next round.

IMO, the whole paradigm is going to change in the next ten years, as technology prys loose the television industry's fingers from around the necks of consumers. Live streaming will continue to expand, giving people ala carte options to choose specific channels instead of having a package foisted on them.

In lieu of looking for schools who can influence local cable subsidiaries into paying us .25 per house then, the focus will shift to marketing: Names and Games. In that environment, an Oklahoma is worth a lot. That may also further separate the basketball schools from the football schools....or hell, the opposite.

[Hannibal]

I'm not doing any handwringing about expansion this time around. The next round of expansion lunacy will be when I pretty much quit the sport and find a new favorite passion. I don't know about you guys but by last year I had dramatically reduced how much football I was watching -- less than any since I got a satellite dish. If the conferences are realigned to where Virginia and Georgia Tech are considered our "rivals", then the sport can continue without me and without my subscription fees.

[froot loops]

Famous last words

[Wild Hoss]

Hanni really hates Virginia and Georgia Tech.

[Hannibal]

Famous last words

Not really sure what you mean by this but my colllege football watching hit a 15-year low last year. A lot of what made me fall in love with the sport a long time ago is eroding. I'm not even mad about it anymore. I'm kind of indifferent to the whole circus at this point. I don't even get nervous for big Michigan games anymore. I think that I'm one more great big face palm from finding a new thing to fall in love with.

I heard that knitting is fun...

[Mike]

I'm trending this way with sports in general but CFB is still king for me. Michigan is appointment viewing and I enjoy watching as many compelling match ups as I can. Pro sports viewing is quickly fading, tho. Sports at the pro and Olympic level have become 3-headed monsters. Sucking off the public trough so billionaire owners can watch their millionaire athletes compete in opulent palaces paid for in part by working class stiffs who can't afford to attend the games. No thanks.

[Hannibal]

I went on a fall vacation for the first time in my adult life last year and I was on the beach when we played Northwestern. This year I'll be in Disneyworld the weekend before OSU. Fall weekends used to be absolutely hardcore off limits for any kind of planning but not anymore.

[hack]

Yeah, that's me too. I still love Big Ten football and basketball, and the NCAA tournament. The NBA playoffs in a good year is the best sports there is for me personally. In a bad year it's still pretty good.

[CGVT]

I think part of the loss of interest comes with age. You realize that in the big scheme of things, this stuff just isn't important. I don't spend near as much time watching sports as much as I did when I was younger and I find that much of what I watch is just background noise as I do other things.

When the Giants beat the Patriots in the Superbowl I was with my family in the Magic Kingdom. Up to that point I had never missed a Superbowl.

[WM Wolverine]

I don't feel much of a connection between Michigan and Iowa or Minnesota, or Wisconsin or Northwestern or Purdue. Biggest problem I have with expansion is M now plays Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana EVERY year and now they play the Illini, Badgers, Gophers, etc. less than half the time.

In my perfect CFB world (post expansion); M would play 2-3 rivals every year and play the remainder of the schools 2 out of every 3 seasons or however the math works...

A 'pod' system in a 16-team conference solves some of those issues as long as you're actually in pods with your rivals.

[Wild Hoss]

I think part of the loss of interest comes with age. You realize that in the big scheme of things, this stuff just isn't important. I don't spend near as much time watching sports as much as I did when I was younger and I find that much of what I watch is just background noise as I do other things.

This. I remember being on message boards 15 years ago, and hearing guys who were the age I am now saying things like this that I couldn't relate to. Missing games, not attending 5-6 a year, tuning in to watch upcoming opponents play, rapt attention to Gameday. Now that I am that age, have kids, etc...I understand.

Sucks too. I miss when I cared that much.

[Hannibal]

I'm sure that's part of it too but I see the sport bending over backwards to alienate just about everyone who has a passion for it. I miss caring that much too. The moments of joy are worth the risk of occasionally having your weekend completely ruined when you lose.

[Wild Hoss]

I'm sure that's part of it too but I see the sport bending over backwards to alienate just about everyone who has a passion for it. I miss caring that much too. The moments of joy are worth the risk of occasionally having your weekend completely ruined when you lose.

JMO, but this pursuit of The One True National Champion has been a disaster. But we cannot go back, so going forward I support an expanded playoff. I want a version like all the other divisions, with some homefield games. That format has been extremely beneficial to Northern teams in FCS, II and II....plus I really want to see FSU or Miami come to Lincoln in December. Just once.

Unfortunately...our two schools were key players in creating the current scenario.