Around the Big Ten

[Wild Hoss]

Still think UT is a strategic mistake, but we might need them to compensate for this disaster.

[iam416]

I still say no fucking way UT signs up.

But, if they do, then I can fully appreciate the move. At that point, the B10 gets to choose who they want for the 16th team.

If that works, Delaney will have secure the DC, NYC, Dallas, Houston and Omaha markets over the past few years!

[iam416]

Perhaps the B10 can expand to, say, 30, and just secede from the NCAA!

[Wild Hoss]

Attendance numbers sorted by national rank:


Natl Rank/School...Av Attend...Stadium Capacity %
1 Michigan...112179...102
2 Ohio State...105231...102
4 Penn St...101427...95
12 Nebraska...85267...105
15 Wisconsin...79813...99
20 MichSt...74078...98
21 Iowa...70585...100
42 Illinois...49548...81
49 Minnesota...47714...93
51 Purdue...45225...72
54 Rutgers...43761...83
56 Maryland...42355...82
58 Indiana...41380...78
70 Northwestern...33442...71

[Hannibal]

No way Tejas comes to the Big Ten. They won't want to share revenue equally with our shitty new additions.

[Hannibal]

If that works, Delaney will have secure the DC, NYC, Dallas, Houston and Omaha markets over the past few years!

Why stop there? Why not find a college team in Toronto? Just imagine the entire province of Ontario all paying their extorted cable fees. After that -- UCLA to get the California market, and then Mexico City to get us into the Mexico market. An entire nation of 70 million people is just waiting to pay $1.25 a month!

[WM Wolverine]

Imagine Fox/ESPN/BTN could find a way to make it work and get UT out of their GOR but that would rely on Texas being interested plus a massive buyout of the Big XII GOR. They are a headache but they are worth it as they won't have the same sway in the B10 as they do now over their Big XII minions.

[Hannibal]

If this is really happening, then the Big Ten is now dead. Goodbye Little Brown Jug. Hello Michigan vs Rutgers. Goodbye Michigan vs Wisconsin. Hello Michigan vs Maryland. The conference just destroyed a century of tradition and built up identity in the hopes that they will get subscriber fees from people who don't give a shit about the sport. They have just slaughtered the golden calf because they are hoping that the BTN is some sort of Midas Touch that will turn dogshit into gold. They have no evidence whatsoever that this can be done, but they are going ahead and doing it anyways.

[Hannibal]

Most importantly, the B10 is likely to become the major college football conference in the north/northeast instead of being just a mid-western conference.

Who gives a fuck? It's nice to be a Midwestern conference. It's called "identity". Nobody is going to find an indentity in a conference that stretches from Newark to Omaha, other than being geographically big. Our conference now has as much charm as Burger King. And it's nice to divide the pie only 12 ways instead of 14 or 16.

At the absolute best, Maryland and Rutgers add as much value to the conference as Purdue. At the absolute best. Absolute worst is that the conference identity is completely blown to smithereens, and people lose interest over the next 10 years.

[Hannibal]

On the plus side, Boomer Esiason, Joe Smith, Gary Williams and a host of others just became Big Ten "Legends"! Wooot! Can't wait for the BTN program on the 2002 (I think) hoops national title team!

Don't forget about Frank Reich and Ray Rice. Wooo! And just think of all of those great "Big Ten" wins like Maryland's 2001 victory over Florida State and some of the glorious wins that Rutgers has had over West Virginia and Louisville over the years.

[WM Wolverine]

Delaney's only been studying expansion since back when he announced he was going to in '09. Yeah, I'm pretty sure due diligence was done...

Swallowing up assets is inevitable in every industry, CFB is no different. B10 at 14 programs is more powerful than it is at 12. If the B10 doesn't get stronger, the Big XII, ACC and SEC will and the B10 and its tradition will fall behind.

[iam416]

It's an interesting question, Hanni. Personally, I'll watch Ohio State play anyone. My interest is, first and foremost, in Ohio State. I watch almost of their nonconference games for christ sake. So, whether it's Rutgers or Purdue (incidentally, the perpetually gray gameday in W. Lafayette may be the most depressing gameday in CFB), I'll watch. I don't know how others feel. Judging by OSU's ability to sell out shit nonconference games, they'll still watch.

[entropy]

What this really means is more games on the BTN.

[Hannibal]

Swallowing up assets is inevitable in every industry.

Yup, and most large scale acquisitions and mergers don't produce the synergies and revenues that people expect. Instead, they produce dilution and loss of market share. Ask anyone who owns Electronic Arts stock how well their recent acquisitions have worked out.

The big driver in shitty acquisitions like this are centralized figures whose compensation is proportional to the size of the empire, and not the efficiency. That, and the investment bankers and paper pushers who get work out of it. BTN co-owner Fox is ultimately the biggest benificiary, because they get half of the pie, whereas now Michigan only gets 14 of the other half. So yeah, I'll bet that Delaney has done his homework in that regard. Over the long run, the commisioner of a 14 team league is going to make more money than the commisioner of a 12 team league.

[THE_WIZARD_]

If you are analyzing expansion from a purely fiscal perspective adding Maryland and Rutgers MAY make sense. But there is more to it (or at least there should be) than that. When the B1G added PSU I think most B1G fans were OK with it...and I think they were with Nebraska too. Both are football factories with rich tradition and had a similar culture with most B1G schools. Maryland and Rutgers bring neither. It's solely about TV sets. I fear the watering down effect. The only way I do this if I am Delaney is because I am trying to force someone elses hand (hello Notre Dame)...but does anyone here think ND gives a rats ass that Maryland is jumping from their new conference?

This is not a good move unless the move to 16 is also soon and with bigger names than Maryland and Rutgers...