Big Ten Expansion!!!

Can this be done while only sticking to 2 divisions and therefore would likely force two of Illinois, NW and Purdue to the East?

gator wrote…

If and when this happens. I see the BIG going after Colorado and Utah. And eventually the PAC12 and BIG12 will combine since Texas and Oklahoma is bolting to the SEC.

Why?  This expansion would bring the conference to 16 teams.  18 would seem obnoxious and I didn’t think Colorado or Utah were all that we recognized as research institutions.  Nor do they have the large media markets of our most recent additions (Rutgers, Maryland, USC and UCLA) added NY, Washington DC and LA to the B1G.  Salt Lake City and Boulder are not in that conversation.

AAU Member Universities – Public:
Georgia Institute of Technology (2010)
Indiana University (1909)
Michigan State University (1964)
The Ohio State University (1916)
The Pennsylvania State University (1958)
Purdue University (1958)
Rutgers University – New Brunswick (1989)
Stony Brook University – The State University of New York (2001)
Texas A&M University (2001)
University at Buffalo – The State University of New York (1989)
The University of Arizona (1985)
University of California, Davis (1996)
University of California, Berkeley (1900)
University of California, Irvine (1996)
University of California, Los Angeles (1974)
University of California, San Diego (1982)
University of California, Santa Barbara (1995)
University of California, Santa Cruz (2019)
University of Colorado, Boulder (1966)
University of Florida (1985)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1908)
The University of Iowa (1909)
The University of Kansas (1909)
University of Maryland at College Park (1969)
University of Michigan (1900)
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (1908)
University of Missouri, Columbia (1908)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1922)
University of Oregon (1969)
University of Pittsburgh (1974)
The University of Texas at Austin (1929)
The University of Utah (2019)
University of Virginia (1904)
University of Washington (1950)
The University of Wisconsin – Madison (1900)

AAU Member Universities – Private:
Boston University (2012)
Brandeis University (1985)
Brown University (1933)
California Institute of Technology (1934)
Carnegie Mellon University (1982)
Case Western Reserve University (1969)
Columbia University (1900)
Cornell University (1900)
Dartmouth College (2019)
Duke University (1938)
Emory University (1995)
Harvard University (1900)
The Johns Hopkins University (1900)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1934)
New York University (1950)
Northwestern University (1917)
Princeton University (1900)
Rice University (1985)
Stanford University (1900)
Tufts University (2021)
Tulane University (1958)
The University of Chicago (1900)
University of Pennsylvania (1900)
University of Rochester (1941)
University of Southern California (1969)
Vanderbilt University (1950)
Washington University in St. Louis (1923)
Yale University (1900)

AAU Member Universities – Canadian:
McGill University (1926)
University of Toronto (1926)

*NOTE: Nebraska is not AAU.  Was when they joined, but no longer AAU.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by gator.

If we’re doing this just go all in and bring in USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon, Stanford and Notre Dame.

Wow. This is seismic. Proof the king (NCAA) is dead. Conferences are the new king.

Gotta look at media value and market for anyone else to come on board.

With that in mind, U Washington (Seattle) and U Oregon (Nike) become incredibly valuable. Cal and Stanford in the next tier, and Colorado thereafter. ASU isn’t AAU but gives the Phoenix market, which is valuable. U Arizona is AAU but not going to deliver Phoenix by itself.

Utah brings little to the table. The SLC market is not all that valuable.

How does the ACC react to this? Does this cause Duke/UNC/GaTech to jump?

SkiUMahLaw wrote…

With that in mind, U Washington (Seattle) and U Oregon (Nike) become incredibly valuable. Cal and Stanford in the next tier, and Colorado thereafter. ASU isn’t AAU but gives the Phoenix market, which is valuable. U Arizona is AAU but not going to deliver Phoenix by itself.

 

I would put Colorado ahead of Cal & Stanford. Colorado does bring the Denver region. Though UW and Seattle/suburbs is around 2M more than Denver/suburbs.

Twitter speculation is that the BIG may not be done.

Source: Don't assume the Big Ten is done.

— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) June 30, 2022

Ping Duke

Ping North Carolina

It’s official… USC & UCLA to join the B1G for the 2024 season.

Sources: USC and UCLA have been notified that their application to join the Big Ten has been accepted. The schools will begin play in 2024.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) June 30, 2022

It appears it’s still ongoing…

Oregon & Washington have applied to join the Big-10 from what @FifthQuarter has been told.

Should have a decision tonight. pic.twitter.com/gcJfTLdZC4

— LaMike Black (@LaMikeBlack) June 30, 2022

UCLA fans are already trolling Nebraska fans on Twitter.   It’s hilarious

SkiUMahLaw wrote…

It appears it’s still ongoing…

Oregon & Washington have applied to join the Big-10 from what @FifthQuarter has been told.

Should have a decision tonight. pic.twitter.com/gcJfTLdZC4— LaMike Black (@LaMikeBlack) June 30, 2022

My Wazzu relatives are going to be POed.

Possibly madder than when I told them MN was so unimpressed we came back to beat WSU in a bowl game we canned our coach shortly thereafter.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by Greyeagle.

Cowgirl wrote…

Can we just stop calling it the big ten now?   It doesn’t make sense anymore.
What was the impetus for these moves?  I don’t follow college football at all.

I have to imagine someone’s pockets are going to be lined with money and that is the driving force behind this?

Money is the impetus

College football is basically becoming a much more decentralized pro league at this point.

Dont get too caught up in names of the conference. The B1G has one of the best brands in sports, so who cares if it isn’t descriptive. Everyone knows who you’re talking about when you say Big Ten.

Two things at play here:

1. $$$ and I mean lots of $$$$$$$$$. The B1G media rights package is up for renewal, and this is all about maximizing potential exposure. Getting big markets with lots of alumni into the mix means LOTS more $$$$ for each school to share. The current thought is the U of M could take home more than $100M PER YEAR in it’s share from the conference. That’s up from $20M when it formed the BTN and $45M currently. That funds athletic departments by itself.

As the B1G looks around for more joiners, each school would need to add to that figure. It’ll get harder and harder to do so.

2. The NCAA clearly did not get an antitrust exemption in the Alston Supreme Court case and Congress has shown no desire to give them one on their own.  As a result, Conferences will have more authority to discipline their own and run things that the NCAA has traditionally ran. So, getting more like-minded schools under the big tent will be important, as the NCAA is moving to a model where conferences will run the show for their own members and the NCAA will do less. Much, much less.

It may even be the end of NCAA championships as we know them, replaced by conference driven alliances like the BCS.

In the background, NIL is changing the playing field for athlete compensation and where athletes want to go to school.

It’s an interesting time for college sports. More to come.

Yes this will expand the television footprint, but I also see this as not a great thing for hockey on BTN. With more schools means more games and less airtime for hockey.

Jupiter wrote…

Yes this will expand the television footprint, but I also see this as not a great thing for hockey on BTN. With more schools means more games and less airtime for hockey.

I’m hopeful they putm oney into a decent streaming package. This would make sense for all the tier 2 sports that don’t quite have the numbers for TV but would still make money on streaming.

I have no interest in Notre Dame (or Colorado).

Oregon, Washington, Stanford, Cal, UNC would all be decent options if they feel the need to add more.

First of all this move is dumb.  I dont care about media rights I dont work for the Big Ten or the U.  I care about watching my team play and the more these conferences become stupid big (with more to come) the less I care.  Playing UCLA does nothing for me outside of The Rose Bowl. (or a random non-con game like when we played Cal)

Don’t get caught up in AAU membership, the conference will buckle for the right team bringing the right market.  Academics will sit and pout but the schools will let it happen.

This is the end of divisions.  The Big Ten was looking to scrap them anyways and now they would be near impossible.  Look for them to go to a pod style schedule once this happens.  How that will work for the BTTG I have no idea but you can bet your ass they will make it so our new west coast friends have a nice path there.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by HandyNotDan.

What will the odds be of the Gophers winning a Big10 football title in the future?

Bertogliat wrote…

You’d think Standford/Cal would make more sense with the size of their TV market.  Maybe they take all 4 and close it out with 20 members?  Interesting times.

I’m thinking more and more since the news of UCLA/USC and the BIG is not done that’ll it’ll go to 20.  And having 4 divisions of 5 teams.

Border Gopher wrote…

There won’t be any divisions.  It’ll be pods or having a certain amount of rivalry/annual opponents plus a rotation.

That’s is what I was referring to… I was saying divisions, but pods is a better word.

Norm wrote…

What will the odds be of the Gophers winning a Big10 football title in the future?

It shouldn’t go down from the small % it has been.  UCLA hasn’t been top tier for some time and even USC has struggled compared to the Pete Carroll years.

Sources: Oregon and Washington have been told by @bigten that it is standing pat for now. Waiting on a decision by Notre Dame.

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) July 1, 2022

College Hockey Addict wrote…

When do we get to play the UCLA hockey team?

Big Ten Hockey after dark does have a nice ring to it 😂@B1GHockey pic.twitter.com/TL1SpTOB4Y— UCLA Ice Hockey (@UCLAIceHockey) June 30, 2022

 

So if USC and UCLA change there hockey teams from club teams to Division 1 hockey it just means more fun road trips for The Pride On Ice team

Slap Shot wrote…

Norm wrote…

What will the odds be of the Gophers winning a Big10 football title in the future?

It shouldn’t go down from the small % it has been.  UCLA hasn’t been top tier for some time and even USC has struggled compared to the Pete Carroll years.

I find this all quite fascinating. If this rolls out how many expect, the two super power conferences will have as many as 20 or more teams in them. So a “once in a lifetime Big Ten championship” for schools like MN, Indiana, Maryland… may go to never likely to happen. To control runaway costs (coaches/facilities….)  to demonstrate to fans that “we care about winning” I suspect there will be 4 divisions, teams then can hang a banner at least once in while.  Do they create additional intra-conference bowl-type games for the also rans so they do not have teams playing a disproportionately large number of games?

gator wrote…

HandyNotDan wrote…

Don’t get caught up in AAU membership, the conference will buckle for the right team bringing the right market.  Academics will sit and pout but the schools will let it happen.

110% disagree. It what sets the BIG by it’s self among the Power 5. Outside the BIG and the Ivy League having AAU as a requirement, the BIG can stick to those requirements. With 14 now, going to 16 and possibly more up 20. I’m positive the BIG we’ll stick to the AAU requirements to apply and join. And there’s plenty of “big” (no pun intended) time universities between the BIG12, PAC12 and ACC who are AAU for the BIG to draw from

The Big Ten has a history of courting Notre Dame, so Handy has a point.

I may have lost a ton of interest in football in recent years, but the thought of teams coming from where people complain whenever the mercury falls below 70 degrees to play outside across the Upper Midwest in late November has me amused and I may have to buy tickets to both USC and UCLA’s first visits to Huntington Bank Stadium when the air temperature is even colder than what they’ve seen at Utah and Colorado.

gator wrote…

HandyNotDan wrote…

Don’t get caught up in AAU membership, the conference will buckle for the right team bringing the right market.  Academics will sit and pout but the schools will let it happen.

110% disagree. It what sets the BIG by it’s self among the Power 5. Outside the BIG and the Ivy League having AAU as a requirement, the BIG can stick to those requirements. With 14 now, going to 16 and possibly more up 20. I’m positive the BIG we’ll stick to the AAU requirements to apply and join. And there’s plenty of “big” (no pun intended) time universities between the BIG12, PAC12 and ACC who are AAU for the BIG to draw from

Really, they will let Notre Dame in tomorrow and they aren’t in the AAU and there are others.  They won’t let in some also ran school but the Big Ten will sell itself out to add markets.  The Universities won’t even flinch at it.

I dont like it, but money talks.

The Big 12 should grab two teams from the Pac 12 and then rename their conference to Biggie and 2 Pac.

Norm wrote…

What fun road trips for USC/UCLA to go to Rutgers/Maryland.

I imagine road trips like that will be very few and far between for those teams.  What this could mean if they expand the conference schedule is that it will be more difficult to schedule 3 home NC games in a season.

coondog wrote…

Border Gopher wrote…

gator wrote…

HandyNotDan wrote…

Don’t get caught up in AAU membership, the conference will buckle for the right team bringing the right market.  Academics will sit and pout but the schools will let it happen.

110% disagree. It what sets the BIG by it’s self among the Power 5. Outside the BIG and the Ivy League having AAU as a requirement, the BIG can stick to those requirements. With 14 now, going to 16 and possibly more up 20. I’m positive the BIG we’ll stick to the AAU requirements to apply and join. And there’s plenty of “big” (no pun intended) time universities between the BIG12, PAC12 and ACC who are AAU for the BIG to draw from

The Big Ten has a history of courting Notre Dame, so Handy has a point.

HandyNotDan wrote…

gator wrote…

HandyNotDan wrote…

Don’t get caught up in AAU membership, the conference will buckle for the right team bringing the right market.  Academics will sit and pout but the schools will let it happen.

110% disagree. It what sets the BIG by it’s self among the Power 5. Outside the BIG and the Ivy League having AAU as a requirement, the BIG can stick to those requirements. With 14 now, going to 16 and possibly more up 20. I’m positive the BIG we’ll stick to the AAU requirements to apply and join. And there’s plenty of “big” (no pun intended) time universities between the BIG12, PAC12 and ACC who are AAU for the BIG to draw from

Really, they will let Notre Dame in tomorrow and they aren’t in the AAU and there are others.  They won’t let in some also ran school but the Big Ten will sell itself out to add markets.  The Universities won’t even flinch at it.

I dont like it, but money talks.

AAU has 65 members, and the Big Ten has biggest block.  The meetings are held in private and members are invited, according to criteria.

I dont see the Big Ten budging on AAU.  However, maybe ND gets invited to AAU then Big Ten to follow. Biggest impediment is lack of medical school and the massive amount of NIH funding that most research med schools get (if you think med school dean’s biggest priority is student education, most places that is at best third (research and patient care (which drives the clinical research $$)). The vast majority of AAU schools have med schools.

My guess: once ND gets into AAU, that will be the signal the BIG TEN membership is to follow.

 

The B1G has been trying to get Notre Dame since they added Penn State, but ND doesn’t want to put their football team in a conference.  That seems to be the deal breaker.  AAU membership is not needed.  Football TV revenue is.

HockeyBum wrote…

I don’t know a lot about conferences and college football, so can someone please explain to me why academics and being a research/AAU member is so important for letting someone into the Big Ten?  We’re talking athletics here.  I would think whoever brings in the most eyeballs and $$ for a TV contract would be the only thing that matters.

The Big Ten is not just an athletic conference.

After the new adds how many B1G teams are not AAU?

Slap Shot wrote…

After the new adds how many B1G teams are not AAU?

Still just 1… Nebraska.

Viking wrote…

Slap Shot wrote…

After the new adds how many B1G teams are not AAU?

Still just 1… Nebraska.

N…..knowledge….ya’ll know the punchline….

That’s what I thought – just 1.

Bertogliat wrote…

gator wrote…

Players will be fine from the Cali universities playing in the cold.

I don’t agree.  But they will be blessed with later start times and there aren’t that many games in college football that are truly cold.

 

The late starts are going to suck. A 7pm kickoff in LA would by a 9pm in Mpls and 10pm in eastern time zone universities. Imo, it’s easier for a player to adjust to playing in a colder climate than hot. Though I agree, there aren’t that many really cold games in November in Minnesota or other BIG northern universities like a cold NFL Playoff game in Jan. Plus I’m pretty sure the BIG doesn’t have kickoffs past 3pm in Nov.