Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[Muck]

USA Today:
Maryland and Rutgers are just the beginning

When the Big 12 finalized its new television deal in early September, followed just days later by the Atlantic Coast Conference adding Notre Dame as a partial member and raising the league's exit fee to $50 million, a sense of relative calm settled over college athletics. The fear and greed that had fueled a rash of conference realignment since the summer of 2010 seemed to be at a pause.

But athletic departments across the spectrum were once again thrown a huge realignment curveball this weekend when they learned of reports that the Big Ten was in advanced discussions to add Maryland and Rutgers, increasing its membership to 14 schools. Though nothing is official yet - Maryland could get authorization from its Board of Regents as early as Monday to leave the ACC - conversations with officials at multiple schools revealed a sense of shock Saturday night and Sunday and some concern that another round of panic-driven moves could be at hand.

.../cont/...

 

[ScriptOhio]

No, Nebraska is getting a reduced payout until they've bought equity in the BTN.

You are correct, I didn't know that:

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/51064/big-ten-to-distribute-284-million-to-teams

 

[MU-Buck]

You are arguing against your own statements.

"They're balanced except for where they aren't"

Again Ohio State, TSUN, PSU & Nebraska are the four biggest names in the B1G. The league took specific pains to divide them up evenly for financial/marketing reasons. They are not going to change that with the addition of new members.

You seem to forget that teams that the 9 teams that have been in the conference for 100+ years are not going to go against their best interests & agree to give new teams a long term competitive advantage.

With a Pod system, this minor imbalance is really no imbalance at all!!!

For example:
2014: north vs central, east vs west
2015: north vs east, central vs west
2016: north vs west, east vs central

So yes, the east Pod is the weakest of the pods... But any given year they still play all the major players in another Pod! For instance, the year the central would play the east, tOSU would play Michigan (protected), PSU, Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, UVA, Maryland and UNC... Not a bad schedule. UNC would play Rutgers, UVA, Maryland, OSU, PSU, Indiana, Purdue and their protected rival (?)... That's not an easy schedule either.

By having 4 pods and 1 being mildy weaker (there would always be a mildly weaker pod anyways), there is no GIANT advantage to being in the weaker pod because you'd rotate between playing the other pods! Winning you're pod means NOTHING, it's simply for scheduling. What it would allow though, is to guarantee that the new teams have 1 maybe 2 more conference wins some years than if they were not grouped together, thus mildly inflating their worth for the good of the conference... But 80% of the time having no influence over the conference championship.

My pod selection minimizes travel for half of the conference schedule (for fans and the schools) while maximizing fairness (IMO )

 

[Muck]

WaPo:
University of Maryland poised to join the Big Ten

The University of Maryland was poised Sunday to end its 59-year affiliation with the Atlantic Coast Conference and jump to the Big Ten Conference, a move that would eliminate a number of the school?s longstanding college sports rivalries but, in the view of those behind the proposal, shore up the finances of an athletic department that has fallen on rocky budgetary times.

The Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland will meet early Monday morning in a private session in Baltimore to decide whether Maryland should join the 12-member Big Ten, which is looking to expand its geographic and financial footprint.

The proposal needs a simple majority of the board?s 16 members to pass. University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh, who spearheaded the move, briefed the board on the proposal via telephone late Sunday afternoon.

The board members had not been formally briefed on the situation before the conference call with Loh. Multiple individuals with firsthand knowledge of the situation, who insisted on anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions, remained unsure of how the Board of Regents would vote, only saying that, as one put it, members ?have a lot of questions.?

?Obviously there?s a financial incentive, but we need to know what else is involved,? one of those individuals said. ?http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...2aa0ee-31b4-11e2-bfd5-e202b6d7b501_story.htmlIs there any other reason besides money? What are the pros and cons? What does it mean to spread the size of your conference out? I don?t want to sit down and say I?ve made up my mind until I?ve heard all the data.?

.../cont/...

 

[Mike80]

If Maryland votes to go to the Big Ten, they will reap the rewards both athletically and academically.

If Maryland votes to stay in the ACC, the Big Ten takes a huge prestige hit and that's exactly how it will be played by the mediots.

 

[holybuckeye33]

If Maryland votes to go to the Big Ten, they will reap the rewards both athletically, academically, and financially.

If Maryland votes to stay in the ACC, the Big Ten takes a huge prestige hit and that's exactly how it will be played by the mediots.

FIFY

 

[DaveyBoy]

I can't help but think this is a done deal. Some of the I initial shock and "when he'll freezes over" is giving way to resignation. The reality is becoming more in focus. Join the B1G now or risk unnecessarily the sustainability of the program.

Rutgers....chomping at the bit
UVa ....if allowed to split from VT, it will jump too
GT....it will jump somewhere if it sees an imminent ACC implosion
UNC.....has to decide if Tobacco Road BB trumps all-around sustainability
Pitt, BC, and Syr.....watching what Duke and UConn do or are forced to do

The B1G and the SEC are the places to be....especially the B1G

WaPo:
University of Maryland poised to join the Big Ten

 

[BUCKYLE]

If Maryland votes to go to the Big Ten, they will reap the rewards both athletically and academically.

If Maryland votes to stay in the ACC, the Big Ten takes a huge prestige hit and that's exactly how it will be played by the mediots.

The media can play whatever song they choose. Maryland turning down the B1G in a fit of stupidity hardly makes the B1G any less attractive to any other school.

 

[Muck]

With a Pod system, this minor imbalance is really no imbalance at all!!!

For example:
2014: north vs central, east vs west
2015: north vs east, central vs west
2016: north vs west, east vs central

So yes, the east Pod is the weakest of the pods... But any given year they still play all the major players in another Pod! For instance, the year the central would play the east, tOSU would play Michigan (protected), PSU, Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, UVA, Maryland and UNC... Not a bad schedule. UNC would play Rutgers, UVA, Maryland, OSU, PSU, Indiana, Purdue and their protected rival (?)... That's not an easy schedule either.

By having 4 pods and 1 being mildy weaker (there would always be a mildly weaker pod anyways), there is no GIANT advantage to being in the weaker pod because you'd rotate between playing the other pods! Winning you're pod means NOTHING, it's simply for scheduling. What it would allow though, is to guarantee that the new teams have 1 maybe 2 more conference wins some years than if they were not grouped together, thus mildly inflating their worth for the good of the conference... But 80% of the time having no influence over the conference championship.

My pod selection minimizes travel for half of the conference schedule (for fans and the schools) while maximizing fairness (IMO )

We all know the various ways that pods can be set up to work.

Every single year your proposal will have 3 kings in one division and 1 king in the other. That is not going to fly with the powers that be. Going over the same ground that was covered to death two years ago is not going to change that.

The only way we will see unbalanced pods is if there are two pods with 2 kings each (ie Ohio State/PSU in one and TSUN/Nebraska in the other) that never directly play each other.

For example:
Pod 1: Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Rutgers
Pod 2: TSUN, Nebraska, Sparty, Iowa
Pod 3: Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Maryland
Pod 4: Northwestern, Purdue, UNC, VA

Pod 1 & Pod 2 would never be matched up so the yearly divisions would look like:

Year 1 & 2:
Division A = Pod 1, Pod 3 (Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Maryland)
Division B = Pod 2, Pod 4 (TSUN, Nebraska, Sparty, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, UNC, VA)

Year 2 & 3:
Division A = Pod 1, Pod 4 (Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Northwestern, Purdue, UNC, VA)
Division B = Pod 2, Pod 3 (TSUN, Nebraska, Sparty, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, UNC, VA)

Repeat

Locked opponents:
Ohio State - TSUN
Penn State - Nebraska
Wisconsin - Iowa
Rutgers - Sparty
Illinois - Northwestern
Indiana - Purdue
Minnesota - North Carolina
Maryland - Virginia

That will maintain competitive balance & satisfy the marketing desires.

 

[MU-Buck]

Think about the quality of schools we would get if we haul in Rutgers, Maryland, UVA and UNC.... Wow! (big question marks in UVA and especially UNC!)

Not only would we lock up major TV markets... We would be locking up amazing universities!!!

 

[Muck]

If Maryland votes to go to the Big Ten, they will reap the rewards both athletically and academically.

If Maryland votes to stay in the ACC, the Big Ten takes a huge prestige hit and that's exactly how it will be played by the mediots.

I tend to agree with Davey (done deal), I don't think they would have let it become public until they knew they had the votes.

Well at least on the Maryland part of the story. What happens after that... who knows.

Think about the quality of schools we would get if we haul in Rutgers, Maryland, UVA and UNC.... Wow! (big question marks in UVA and especially UNC!)

Not only would we lock up major TV markets... We would be locking up amazing universities!!!

And that no doubt, is how it Delaney got it past the COP/C.

 

[VBSJ]

Think about the quality of schools we would get if we haul in Rutgers, Maryland, UVA and UNC.... Wow! (big question marks in UVA and especially UNC!)

I don't think North Carolina is going anywhere without Duke.

Georgia Tech might be the fourth, if they're looking for a fourth, even though Georgia doesn't border a Big Ten state.

I'd appreciate Maryland and Virginia from an academic standpoint and the fact the Big Ten would start its own lacrosse league for men's and women's (less travel to Colorado).

 

[Buckeye737]

Georgia Tech might be the fourth, if they're looking for a fourth, even though Georgia doesn't border a Big Ten state.

I seem to remember Delaney saying something about the contiguous state idea as being a guideline but not a hard and fast rule.

 

[Bucky32]

We all know the various ways that pods can be set up to work.

Every single year your proposal will have 3 kings in one division and 1 king in the other. That is not going to fly with the powers that be. Going over the same ground that was covered to death two years ago is not going to change that.

The only way we will see unbalanced pods is if there are two pods with 2 kings each (ie Ohio State/PSU in one and TSUN/Nebraska in the other) that never directly play each other.

For example:
Pod 1: Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Rutgers
Pod 2: TSUN, Nebraska, Sparty, Iowa
Pod 3: Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Maryland
Pod 4: Northwestern, Purdue, UNC, VA

Pod 1 & Pod 2 would never be matched up so the yearly divisions would look like:

Year 1 & 2:
Division A = Pod 1, Pod 3 (Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Maryland)
Division B = Pod 2, Pod 4 (TSUN, Nebraska, Sparty, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, UNC, VA)

Year 2 & 3:
Division A = Pod 1, Pod 4 (Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Northwestern, Purdue, UNC, VA)
Division B = Pod 2, Pod 3 (TSUN, Nebraska, Sparty, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, UNC, VA)

Repeat

Locked opponents:
Ohio State - TSUN
Penn State - Nebraska
Wisconsin - Iowa
Rutgers - Sparty
Illinois - Northwestern
Indiana - Purdue
Minnesota - North Carolina
Maryland - Virginia

That will maintain competitive balance & satisfy the marketing desires.

I would agree with this except maybe switch out Iowa for Minnesota as far as Wisconsin's locked opponent - not sure if this messes with anything. They likely wouldn't want to discontinue the Battle for the Axe.

 

[MU-Buck]

We all know the various ways that pods can be set up to work.

Every single year your proposal will have 3 kings in one division and 1 king in the other. That is not going to fly with the powers that be. Going over the same ground that was covered to death two years ago is not going to change that.

Actually, I view your opinion as flawed... Even if the "4 kings" were tOSU, PSU, Michigan and Nebraska, 33.3% of the time there would be 2 kings in 1 division and 2 in the other (every time the central groups with the east).

However, why no mention of Wisconsin? Since PSU has joined the B1G, what have they done to be considered a "king"? Since 2002, Wisconsin has been arguably the better program....... So, how do you evenly divide up tOSU, PSU, Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin?