Rumors are the Big Ten is thinking about adding a new team. I believe they would add a week to the schedule or do a Big 10 Championship. Teams mentioned are Syracuse, Pittsburgh,and Missouri . Jo Pa says don’t give Notre Dame another chance, they refused to join when asked before.
ND makes the most sense geographically but they had their shot. Pitt would make a good fit plus a good rival for Penn State. Forget Syracuse and Nebraska (no major market). Missouri would be acceptable. Other than that, I don’t see any more possibilities. Personally, I say dump Northwestern and go back to 10.
JoePa is smart - the Big 10 would take another publicity hit when ND thumbs their nose at them once again. Ignoring the fact that they make millions every year from an exclusive TV deal during football season and can schedule anyone they want, why would they split their allegiance with the Big East, who they are a member of in every single other sport?
Other than ND, Pittsburgh makes the most sense. I would think that West Virginia makes a lot sense too. The Big East teams keep getting absorbed into other conferences. (Va Tech, Miami, Boston College) But who would the Big East absorb to keep it at 8 (football) teams? My guess would be East Carolina or Temple. Both are in the East region and usually have a pretty good football team. Maybe Villanova would get upgraded to Div I-A status like UConn was a few years ago.
Missouri makes little sense to me. They have a long history with the Big 8/Big XII. I guess TCU would be a natural replacement to keep the Big XII at 12 teams. TCU used to be with Texas, Texas A/M, Baylor, and TTU in the SouthWest Conference.
Ideally, they’d pick a school with a strong basketball program as well. Syracuse would be a good choice for basketball, but the football program has been weak for years. Still, that would allow the Big Ten to schedule another conference game and get away from the directional school and Division II schools of recent years.
Pitt’s basketball program has been quite strong in recent years as well. They make the most likely choice based on geography.
The Big 10 stops playing football too early. They should have a tourney or schedule another game or 2.
Memphis may be a good fit. Rumor is they want to join a major conference. Football is pretty weak, but basketball is strong…
This article mentions Texas and Rutgers. Athletically, Rutgers has little to offer. It does have the NY media on it side
Texas would be competitive in all the major sports (perhaps the best) and it may open up the abundance of Texas talent for recruiting.
They already schedule 12 games, which is the most allowed, unless you play in a conference championship or somewhere other than the contiguous US.
But they do end the season too early, IMO. They don’t get any exposure on the Big Thanksgiving weekend.
Texas makes no sense to me at all.
[sub] So I guess that makes it certain[/sub]
The politics of the Texas state legislature would never let Texas leave the Big XII. If Missouri leaves, the Big XII can always invite TCU although TCU hasn’t had decent basketball. Regardless, the Big XII can easily find another member.
Iowa State would seem the most logical choice for the Big 10, just from a geography/rivalry standpoint. I’m surprised they haven’t been mentioned.
Temple is ideally located, but it is usually one of the worst teams in the country. They are going to a bowl game for the first time in 30 years.
Jump from 1-AA to the BCS in one leap is a bit much.
East Carolina is a strong program, but UCF has more growth potential.
I don’t think it makes much geographical sense at all (well, more than Texas). There’s already an Iowa school in the Big 10 - what could they possibly gain? They’re surrounded on the east and the north by more Big 10 schools - it’s a saturated market.
Missouri is a perfect choice. They got hosed by their own conference this bowl season, they only have one true rival in-conference, and already have a pretty heated rivalry with Illinois to trade for. The Big XII can either pick up TCU or maybe even something a bit further west.
The Free Press has mentioned them, along with Cincinnati (which would be an interesting choice).
UConn is mentioned briefly at the end of the article, which is about as stupid a suggestion as Texas. They need to keep the Big Ten here the Midwest. Hell, you can take Penn State with all their eastern hoity-toitiness. Pennsylvania. Bah!
Can’t dump Northwestern without NU’s agreement because they are one of the charter schools.
ND makes the most sense, but barring that, Pitt is a good fit. They’ve been talking about adding a 12th and moving to a 2-division conference (a la SEC) since adding Penn State in the early 90’s.
Texas, Syracuse, Rutgers – all too far away geographically. Missouri or Iowa State would be okay. Memphis wouldn’t be a good football fit, I don’t think.
– NU grad '91
Already having an Iowa school in the conference was sort of the point – you keep the big 10’s identity as the Midwest/Great Lakes conference. The Pac-10 doesn’t seem to suffer for having 2 teams each from 3 mid-sized states, nor the Big 12 for having 2 from Oklahoma, nor the SEC, the ACC…
Missouri is obviously a stronger program and probably makes more *financial *sense. I was just pointing out that Iowa State is already there, geographically speaking.
Then again, I wish Penn State was in the Big East, so who cares what I think…
Would they finally change the name of the conference?
The Bigger 12?
the Big Ten Times One Point Two
The Big Ten Degrees Colder that the other Conferences