Big Ten Expansion Hits Fast Track

I liked that picture of Osborne, and wondered which of us would be the first to use it. Ha!

However….. I wish they’d have taken a torso – level picture…. ’cause the guy looked like Mr Cool….. Mr Big, maybe.

the conference expansion talk….. I think it has to happen. Something has to happen. They’re all looking for more money.

I truly believe that in a couple of years, the college football landscape is going to be greatly altered from what we have now.

…they have made that very, very clear over the years. They will go to the Pac-10 first.

UT has repeatedly turned down the SEC and wants nothing to do with it. I do think that us lay people are greatly underestimating the importance of the connection between the North schools and Texas. (the state, not program) If Nebraska somehow jumps to the Big Ten, then the school is aligning itself with a collection of universities in states with little to no population or economic growth and containing rapid aging populations. What that spells is if recruits are a program’s natural resource, the Big Ten doesn’t have it. If fact I would contend that Texas itself has as much elite football talent than the whole Big Ten area due to it younger population and the importance of football in general.

Yes, the TV revenues are huge, but that will seem like pocket change if Nebraska can no longer maintain/regain its status as a football powerhouse. Hopefully Missou will think likewise if offered.

For whatever reason, I just don’t see 4 superconferences in our immediate future. Yes, I know that too often college football is a money chase, but to me, there’s just waaay too much that can go wrong.

For starters, I don’t really see Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska really wanting to go anywhere. These three ARE the Big 12. I doubt either of the southern teams would want to go to the SEC and get their chops busted by Florida and Bama every year, and the Big 10 doesn’t geographically make sense. As for Nebraska, I don’t see us leaving all of our ties and traditions behind. There would be a huge uproar across the state.

Second, I think the idea of the Big 10 going to 16 is overblown. That would be a MASSIVE shock to the conference, and it would be very difficult to orchestrate, as they have to please so many parties. If the Big 10 doesn’t go massive, the SEC won’t need to expand, and the chain reaction starts to fall apart.

Prediction:
Big 10 gets shot down by Notre Dame and they settle for either Cinci or Pitt.
PAC 10 picks up two western teams (not CU or anyone else from the Big 12).

Big 12, Big East, ACC, and SEC are unchanged.

I hope I’m right. As much as we all love to bitch about Texas, we’ve got it pretty good in the Big 12, and we’d be demoted to a junior member in the event of a merger. Plus losing OU ( and even Mizzou and CU) would be kinda hard to stomach.

How would the timing work? I was pretty young when the Big 8 went to XII, so I don’t recall how quickly things moved after the announcement. With the conference schedules set years ahead, does that mean that an announcement could happen, but nothing will actually take place until 4,5,6 years down the road?

I don’t know if I buy that Husker fans will riot if there is a change in tradition. Tradition was changed when the Big 12 was formed, and to be honest…I think that fans are more adaptive than one might think.
Plus, don’t you have to be more forward thinking than worrying about not playing OU or CU anymore? Don’t get me wrong, the OU game is huge for me…always has been. But the powers that control these things aren’t thinking about losing traditions, trust me. They’re thinking about building new ones, and yes…more money. The fact that Nebraska would have a border rivalry with Iowa each year, and get a chance to build up the love/hate rivalry with schools like Michigan, Penn State, and Ohio State is probably what is being discussed. I just don’t think that people in that position make decisions based on the past, they base them on what could be.
I kind of like the idea to be honest. Whatever helps the university and it’s programs. Of course I’m the kind of person that thinks you have to play the best competition to be the best, and I’m sick of the stigma of playing in the Big 12 North.