As a Northwestern alum, I don’t like the Rutgers/Maryland additions. Those are not midwest teams (I know: that’s the point of adding them).
Nebraska was a good fit. Missouri would have been okay. Notre Dame would be perfect (I’d love to see another private school in addition to NWU). Pitt - okay.
But Rutgers and MD? Those are east coast, ACC schools, and not with strong football traditions. I don’t really like it.
I give you credit. You are the biggest supporter of Rutgers on this board and you have never wavered once. But i suspect the proposed move to the Big10 will hurt, not help their sports programs. Especially basketball. But football will take a hit too. Kids thinking of committing to Rutgers will all of a sudden have the rest of the big10 open to them, not the other schools on the big east (assuming part of the choice the kid makes is based on conference, opponents, tv exposure and bowl games.). In fact, New Jersey kids already get poached to Pitt and PSU. Now that Pitt is playing in the ACC, my guess isnthat will appeal to some kids over playing for Rutgers in the Big East for sure. Nas fornthe Big10, if the kid really wants to stay home in NJ, Rutgers could see a huge inflix of talent. But a kid that is now loooking at the Big10 may want to take recruoting trips to other Big10 schools. Michigan, OSU, Wisconsin, Nebraska etc will be tempting to a kid from NJ.
You may be right about Rutgers improving, but that hasnt happened in 100 years. They still cant own the pathetic Big East, so its hard for me to imagime they will dominate a comference like the Big10. I really dont know what it is about that school. You really would think they’d dominate because of their NJ locarion and their being the state university of NJ. But it just has never taken root.
Any ideas why?
Rutgers fan weighing in here.
Rivalry-wise, I really don’t care about any team in the B1G. The entire conference is really on the periphery for most of us. That said, this is a brilliant opportunity for Rutgers. The Big East is a sinking ship and I expect to see a decent number of schools bail out in the next few months.
The potential for future rivalries between Rutgers, Maryland and Penn State is pretty high too. All of these schools are basically within 4 hours of each other, so that should help to build some passion in the early years at least.
Personally, I feel that tradition in college football already died. We lost 100 year old rivalries this season and the realignments are not even finished.
New Jersey recruits have been getting poached by other teams for as long as I can remember. The top players in my senior class went all over the country (USC, Notre Dame, Miami, Penn State, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Texas are players I know personally). We have never had very strong recruiting in the tri-state. I grew up going to Rutgers games where the stands would empty shortly after the 3rd quarter started. When I worked concessions in high school we would clean up and sit in the stands for the half of the 3rd and all of the 4th quarter. It may not look like it to someone on the outside but things have changed a lot and that was only 10 years ago. The process has been slow but there has been a lot of progress. You will notice a lot more NJ kids on our current roster. Also, it is no longer automatic that top in-state recruits will leave NJ anymore.
If this conversation expands beyond football, I think Rutgers has more than enough tools to compete across multiple sports. As optimistic as I am about the growth of our basketball program, we can safely leave that out. I do feel confident that we will have no problem competing with anyone in the B1G. The RAC is one of the most difficult places to play and Rutgers has spent years surprising some of the most elite programs in the country.
I have no emotional attachment to Rutgers, and dont care one way or the other if they succeed or fail. But i would agree that in footbwl, at least, if they keep the home grown talent, they will have a formidable program.
I will beliwve it when i see it. But i acknowledge that the possibility is there.
Only if FSU gets off their ass (and Gov. Gollum loses reelection) and joins the AAU. That means something to the Big1G.
Rutgers in the B1G offers B1G footballs teams an exploitable opportunity.
Imagine a Michigan recruiter telling a Jersey Blue chipper that they can see their son play in the neighborhood twice.
A USC or Alabama recruiter cannot say the same thing.
Yeah, thats what I meant. But thanks for the geography lesson just the same! 
No, my “beef” is that you have to cross a mountain range before you get to the atlantic from Pittsburgh. When you say Atlantic Coast, Pittsburgh doesn’t leap to mind. Pitt, like it or not, is more of a midwestern school in geography terms to me. Which means the Big10.
I am sure that the basketball season will be great, and that kids will still wqnt to go to Pitt to play Duke UNC, and the like, but speaking from my personql preference, i wish they ended up in the Big10 with OSU and PSU, two very strong natural rivalries. Even if PSU is down for a while because of the Sandusky scandal, they will come back. Sorry, but Pitt-PSU is a rivalry game i dearly miss.
But nobody asked me. And like someone else mentioned, the days of geographically-centric conferences are over. If everyone is looking to maximize profit, the biggest college football markets will eventually join to make an UBER Conference, that will have the likes of Texas, USC, OSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Florida and whoever else they deem to be UBER Conferenve worthy.
You can’t just join the AAU. It is really hard to get an invitation. Nebraska just got kicked out.
So how binding are these comference changes?
Boise State and San Diego State must want out of their Big East committmemt. The conference isnt exactly what it looked like before they entered. Plus the big east has teams joining for football only, so its not evena real conferemce in the purest sense.
Does the NCAA have any ability at all to step in and stop the madness? Kind of like the commissioner ofma sport, id think that thengoverning body of the NCAA would want to protect the integrity of the product. (i know, its hard to read that without laughing), but you get my drift.
Could they say stop! This is crazy! Or when can the BCS decide the Big East is no longer a comference worthy of the final game and automatic bids? Can they kick the big east down to MAC status?
The Big East has no advantages over the MAC in the post-2014 system. The highest ranked champion of the Big East - MAC - CUSA - MWC - Sun Belt gets a spot in the “event.” But the Big East is, like the MAC, fighting for that one spot. If the Big East champ has a higher BCS rating, they get it, if the MAC champ has a higher rating they get it. If they’re in the top four they’re in the playoff, so the second best takes the “event” spot.
If thats the case (and i think it should be… Big east footbsll is no longer on oar with the other auto bid conferences any longer), then why the switch by Boise State, for example? They would seem to have just as good of a shot of they stayed put in the mountain west.
Now i’m really confused.
I hate hate hate the direction that the conferences are going, expanding in a ridiculous way. I think that these will have a ripple effect on college athletics - non revenue sports will be on the chopping block, firstly in terms of loss of scholarships, and then in potential dissolution. However, football drives the bus, and that is the only reason for this craziness.
To the Big Ten (and other major conference) alumni that are beating their chests over this: get over yourselves. This is the way that the powers that be have decided that it’s going to be. The bowl system that thrived in the 70’s and 80’s became increasingly unpopular in the 90’s and 00’s, and (I would dare say that) the populace demanded a new system (particularly after the guvmint (Orin Hatch?) got involved). A new system had to be established, and while it most certainly is far from perfect, this seems inevitable.
I thought that Rutgers might’ve been a better fit for the ACC, but whatever, tough titties to y’all, and they’ll regret the snub. This is a powerhouse in waiting. Might be 10 years from now, but it’ll happen. Birthplace of College Football is coming home to roost.
Cheaper! The travel costs associated with staying in the MWC would be MUCH lower than the travel costs in the BigEast. If there’s no advantage in money/opportunity by switching, it makes sense to join where your costs are lowest.
Ignorance fought. I just assumed it was something you filled out a form (so to speak), paid your money, and joined if you qualified. Well, if Gov. Gollum will let the damn top-tier bill through this session (or his successor year after next), we should be able to reach their standards in 10-15 years…
I hate being right sometimes.
Ugh - sometimes I think that the best thing about this team is that Doerner and his 28 yard punts will be gone next year.
The Big 12 isn’t going anywhere for at least a decade. One of the forward-thinking things they did after the last round of conference poaching was have all their members sign a 13-year Grant of Rights, essentially giving all the first- and second-tier TV rights to the conference and not the school. So, if Texas bails for the PAC-16, or OU goes to the SEC, or Kansas to the Big 20 … all their TV money still goes to the Big 12. No conference would be willing to take on a new member without getting their TV money.
Now, down the road, as the GOR expires, you might have something. I think OU and Texas will stay together, wherever they end up. I hope there remains a major conference for the center of the country, however. I hate the notion of 16-team superconferences. They’re unwieldy, scheduling nightmares and they’re about nothing except money. Traditions are a big part of college football, and it’s sad to see those slip away.
As a father of two Iowa Staters, I’m glad the Big 12 held together and got that Grant of Rights. For a time last year, Iowa State was thinking a move to the Big East was the only safe landing spot. Now the Big East looks even less stable than ISU did last year.
Jocko-Would these alignments be plausible for your odd-teams out?
Iowa St.-Big 1G
Louisville-SEC
Cincy-Big 1G or MAC
Nope, never really caught on anywhere else.
Should clarify for the Big Ten folks, this kind of reaction is only for basketball (maybe LAX?). You can safely and comfortably attend away football games in College Park without any worry of being bothered by Maryland fans. I went to one a few years back, and everyone was very nice and had a good time without assaulted by fans or tear gassed by the police.