Around the Big Ten

[iam416]

It's money. Ultimately, they didn't believe the B10's financial projections and/or believed that ESPN will overpay for the ACC. The GoR has the potential to lock them into a financial prison where they lose $10M per team annually to B10 and SEC schools. They must believe the numbers will be much closer.

[Wild Hoss]

States that share less and less of the southern culture and fit more and more with (for lack of the better term) northern culture. That is going to make them a better fit (and perhaps less grumbling from the fans) and should be an easier transition.

That's the first bullet out of your gun? In that case it sure does look to me like it's Game Over Delaney.

Yeah, it seems kinda thin. Frankly, it seems more likely that UVA and NC used the B1G's rumored interest as bargaining leverage. We'll have to see what details emerge in coming weeks from the ACC's renewal of its marriage vows.

Jim has accomplished a lot of great things, but if his tenure winds down with the additions of the likes of Maryland, Rutgers and Vanderbilt while Notre Dame gets away, his legacy will take a hit. He improved the league with Penn State, NU and the BTN, but since 2010 the decisions have been questionable IMO. Better to stay with a strong 12 than a diluted 14 or 16.

[entropy]

It's money. Ultimately, they didn't believe the B10's financial projections and/or believed that ESPN will overpay for the ACC. The GoR has the potential to lock them into a financial prison where they lose $10M per team annually to B10 and SEC schools. They must believe the numbers will be much closer.

agree, but that is why schools have lawyers. I honestly think this just makes it harder to move or more difficult... it won't stop someone from moving. I'm assuming some schools were smart enough to have some type of outs if the ACC does not live up to its end of the bargin

[entropy]

if JD really wants to move to 16 now.. I'd look at kansas. They make money because of basketball. They would bring nothing to football, but they'd be the same as adding another Indiana. They have a large following and would bring the state of Kansas.

who you pair with them, imo, is the bigger issue. I'm not excited about Vandy, but i do understand the academic appeal. I'm not sure who else would fit

[entropy]

5 schools already have full (4) nonconference schedules for 2016. Only 3 will be necessary once we go to 9 game in conference schedules in 2016..

Nebraska and Ohio State are the only ones of the 5 who do NOT have an FCS team as one of the four nonconference games scheduled. I suspect that the Big 10 will be, per alvarez, telling member schools to stop scheduling them, so I'd guess those 3 other schools will simply drop the fcs team.

NU will either drop Northern Illinois at Soldier field (especially if in 2016 they get 5 league road games instead of 4) or, if they get 4 league road games in 2016, they'll probably drop one of the home games against either Wyoming or Fresno State.

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ESPN

It's only a matter of time before the Big Ten announces a move to a nine-game conference schedule starting in the 2016 season.

The official green light will allow athletic directors -- if they haven't done so already -- to begin crafting non-league schedules for 2016 and beyond. Games against FCS opponents are gradually going away, and nonconference schedules appear to be improving around the league, but ADs still have to secure enough home games to meet budgets and find the right balance with quality opponents.

Four Big Ten teams also will have to drop or reschedule games in 2016 as the league transitions to schedules that feature three non-league contests rather than four.

Minnesota's 2016 schedule already includes games against New Mexico State (home), Indiana State (home), Miami University (road) and Colorado State (home)

Nebraska's 2016 slate includes games against Fresno State (home), Tennessee (home), Wyoming (home) and Northern Illinois (in Chicago)

Northwestern's 2016 schedule includes games with Western Michigan (home), Illinois State (home), Duke (home) and Stanford (road)

Ohio State's 2016 schedule includes games against Bowling Green (home), Tulsa (home), Oklahoma (road) and Central Michigan (home).

Future Big Ten member Maryland also reportedly has four non-league games set for 2016: Florida International, Howard, UCF and West Virginia.

One easy solution for Minnesota, Northwestern and Maryland is to drop the FCS game on their schedules, although nothing is easy when it comes to scheduling contracts. It'll be interesting to see how Nebraska proceeds as the Huskers appear to have a solid 2016 slate.

Several other Big Ten programs have three non-league games set for 2016, but they crafted those schedules with an 8-4 model (eight league games, four non-league games) in mind. Purdue plays a potentially daunting non-league slate with Cincinnati, Notre Dame and Nevada on the docket.

Will there be tweaks around the league? Most likely.

Non-league scheduling eventually will get easier as ADs will be filling out fewer spots, but they have plenty of work to do in the coming weeks and months.

[Whitley]

Yeah, it seems kinda thin. Frankly, it seems more likely that UVA and NC used the B1G's rumored interest as bargaining leverage. We'll have to see what details emerge in coming weeks from the ACC's renewal of its marriage vows.

Jim has accomplished a lot of great things, but if his tenure winds down with the additions of the likes of Maryland, Rutgers and Vanderbilt while Notre Dame gets away, his legacy will take a hit. He improved the league with Penn State, NU and the BTN, but since 2010 the decisions have been questionable IMO. Better to stay with a strong 12 than a diluted 14 or 16.

I don't know. Rutgers, in football at least, is going to be a lot better than people think. They also bring the NYC market into play as well. Maryland is more a bridge to getting the prizes of the ACC. Plus they bring Baltimore and DC markets where a lot of B1G alums are.

As far as Delaney's legacy goes since 2010 it has been more down the road looking at things 10-30 years into the future. Sure if the demos trend back to people moving into the midwest (as opposed to the coastal and mid atlantic < Virginia, NC, SC, Georgia> etc.) the Big Ten's influence will only increase. But on the chance it does not (and at this point it does seem likely) then you have to expand to where the people are going to be.

2 things have emerged from the expansion though and I suspect these are going to be guidelines for the next wave (and there will be another) of Big Ten expansion.

1) Any schools coming into the Big Ten are going to have to AAU schools otherwise it is a non starter.

2) Schools are going to have to be contiguous states (exception made for Texas). This is another reason that Maryland was pretty crucial for the B1G (and Virginia still is). It allows the B1G to start moving a bit south.

I seriously doubt that there is going to be another chance for Delaney to get any more universities into the Big Ten during his tenure. Still, the work done by the Big Ten in the expansion search is only going to be needed to be updated (which will not take as long I think) so when the next round comes they can strike quicker.

One thing that is a big thing in favor of the Big Ten is that culturally Virginia and NC are becoming (part of a long term trend) less southern and more northern (in the broadest terms). So while not getting them is a bummer, the fact is that as long as they did not go to the SEC then in the long run it is a win for the Big Ten, because (if the trends continue) they are going be less likely to go into the SEC over time. That will make it easier for Delaney's successor to sell the B1G advantages.

That is not to say it will be an easy job to sell that to those schools. It will take someone that has Delaney-like talents to get those schools there. However, a lot of the groundwork as been laid there with this round of expansion. Ten years is a long time and a couple more schools might be admitted in the AAU in that time frame.

[WM Wolverine]

ACC's $13mil/year TV media deal has climbed to around $20mil since it was signed, thanks to ESPN realizing what a bargain they got. B10 however is going to get near $30mil in tier 1/2 before the BTN money (projected $9-$12mil)...

Additions of the NYC-> DC corridor are underrated, even if Rutgers, Maryland aren't watching those games; B10 will put M, OSU, PSU & Nebraska on in those markets which they weren't before.

[iam416]

if JD really wants to move to 16 now.. I'd look at kansas. They make money because of basketball. They would bring nothing to football, but they'd be the same as adding another Indiana. They have a large following and would bring the state of Kansas

Kansas would be a really nice addition. If they added KU and Mizzou to get to 16, I'd be pleased. Heading south had a *moronic* bent about it.

ACC's $13mil/year TV media deal has climbed to around $20mil since it was signed, thanks to ESPN realizing what a bargain they got. B10 however is going to get near $30mil in tier 1/2 before the BTN money (projected $9-$12mil)...

Exactly. Well, that's what everyone thinks. But maybe we're all morons? I think the ACC didn't believe the $30M+ or think they'll get more than $20M. What's interesting to me is that the GoR and TV deal didn't happen at the same time. ESPN says, we'll pay you $X, but we need a GoR. Maybe an MoU is in place or something.

[hack]

I'd like to hear mor on what this means for the CIC.

[iam416]

I see what you did there. I'm no mormon.

True story, when I was kid, I thought moron and mormon were synonymous. I derisively called someone a mormon when I was 6, leaving my parents perplexed. They figured it out upon inquisition and told me they mean different things. Then, later in life, I found out I was right the first go around. Mormons are morons.

[hack]

Mormonic.

[iam416]

I think it was the famous mormon, Dennis Rodman, who said one night after a disagreeable outing in Salt Lake City, "fucking mormons."

[WM Wolverine]

Pac 12 somehow got $25mil a year, B10 SHOULD exceed that number by a good amount when they renegotiate.

[iam416]

One would think so. My guess is that total TV revenue for the B10 will be around $35M, which should be more than $10M higher than the ACC's.

They apparently don't believe the numbers. Or $130M (the life of the GoR) doesn't matter to them. Bros before Hos! Or maybe the GoR isn't bulletproof.

[WM Wolverine]

That's even before the more bowl revenue the B10 receives relative to the ACC.