Big Ten Expansion - Oregon and Washington expect to receive invites

[homer]

I didn't want to muddy the UW Football thread with this:

 

[madbad2000]

It seems so anti-climatic at this point.  It makes sense to have a pod out west, but it seems to me like what is next?  18 just doesn't seem like a final number to me.  20 seems more final.  When the options always come up, I was probably in the following order of preference:

1. Notre Dame
2. North Carolina
3. FSU
4. Miami
5. Oregon
6. Virginia
7. Washington
8. Stanford
9. ASU
10. Utah

I'm curious if there are any discussions about realignment of conferences with kicking some schools out to allow for more prominent football programs into the conference (BIG or SEC).

[nate82]

If Oregon and Washington leave the Pac12 will be officially dead with Colorado leaving for the Big 12 and it looks like ASU and Arizona are going to follow with Utah probably following with them.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/oregon-washington-to-big-ten-has-become-coin-toss-as-pac-12-makes-last-attempt-to-salvage-league/

[homer]

Just pay them a salary and don't make them go to class. Why put up the charade at this point?

[homer]

It's official

[Samurai Bucky]

Wow...

I wonder if they try to add one more out west, at least, so those teams out west can have their own division.

I saw Arizona was going to join the Big 12.  I wonder who is going to dominate Baseball and Softball?

[nate82]

As expected ASU, Arizona and Utah have joined the Big12.

[patrickgpe]

I get this is how the times are, but I hate it. We now have 2 national super conferences for football (B1G and sec) and 2 for basketball (B1G and big 12). 
looks like uconn is leaving for the big 12 too. I’m glad Marquette saw this years ago and helped form a non-football conference that is thriving. 
 

college sports is about rivalries and traditions and money has taken a lot of that away from the sport. Now get off my lawn :)

[LouisEly]

On 8/4/2023 at 12:15 PM, madbad2000 said:

It seems so anti-climatic at this point.  It makes sense to have a pod out west, but it seems to me like what is next?  18 just doesn't seem like a final number to me.  20 seems more final.  When the options always come up, I was probably in the following order of preference:

1. Notre Dame
2. North Carolina
3. FSU
4. Miami
5. Oregon
6. Virginia
7. Washington
8. Stanford
9. ASU
10. Utah

I'm curious if there are any discussions about realignment of conferences with kicking some schools out to allow for more prominent football programs into the conference (BIG or SEC).

I think that Notre Dame and Stanford are 1a and 1b.  The San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland combined statistical area is #5 in the nation, ahead of Dallas, Boston, and Houston.

Stanford makes a ton of sense to form a 5-team West division.  Minnesota/Iowa/Nebraska/Wisconsin/Northwestern form the North, Illinois/Purdue/Indiana/Notre Dame/Ohio State make the South, and Michigan/Michigan State/Penn State/Maryland/Rutgers make the east.  Or they just go East/West 10-team divisions.

[rickh150]

Doesn’t bother me if done right…like the idea of a West and East for football. For basketball, East plays East twice, and a few rotating games vs.West.

[owbc]

It’s incredibly dumb but it will be nice to see the Badgers play in Seattle. 

[madbad2000]

14 hours ago, LouisEly said:

I think that Notre Dame and Stanford are 1a and 1b.  The San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland combined statistical area is #5 in the nation, ahead of Dallas, Boston, and Houston.

Stanford makes a ton of sense to form a 5-team West division.  Minnesota/Iowa/Nebraska/Wisconsin/Northwestern form the North, Illinois/Purdue/Indiana/Notre Dame/Ohio State make the South, and Michigan/Michigan State/Penn State/Maryland/Rutgers make the east.  Or they just go East/West 10-team divisions.

I was thinking that an East v West, 10 team division works well for 9 conference games in your division, winners play for BIG title.  But you lose your crossover and ability to play everyone since you want to ensure everyone in the division gets a head-to-head.  Five team pods work well since you'll have 4.  Sets up a big ten playoff with 4 pod winners and you get an extra couple of marquee games to sell.  Wisconsin would definitely have a favorable draw in that pod with MN, Iowa, Neb and NW.

With the BIG as large as it is, do you even bother with non-conference at this point?  You have major brands, play major games.  I'm sure the networks would love that.

[DuWayne Steurer]

1 hour ago, madbad2000 said:

I was thinking that an East v West, 10 team division works well for 9 conference games in your division, winners play for BIG title.  But you lose your crossover and ability to play everyone since you want to ensure everyone in the division gets a head-to-head.  Five team pods work well since you'll have 4.  Sets up a big ten playoff with 4 pod winners and you get an extra couple of marquee games to sell.  Wisconsin would definitely have a favorable draw in that pod with MN, Iowa, Neb and NW.

With the BIG as large as it is, do you even bother with non-conference at this point?  You have major brands, play major games.  I'm sure the networks would love that.

I'd rather the idea of four 5-team pods or divisions so we can still get some intra division games against all the old rivals at least every 3-4 years. 

I don't like this. but like others have said, I understand this is how things are.

I'm not a pac 10/12 fan, but it's still sad as a huge fan of college football to see a conference with such a long history and tradition be undone in such a short time by the changing landscape of tv money.

it is what it is...

[BrewerFan]

On 8/5/2023 at 2:21 PM, patrickgpe said:

I get this is how the times are, but I hate it. We now have 2 national super conferences for football (B1G and sec) and 2 for basketball (B1G and big 12). 
looks like uconn is leaving for the big 12 too. I’m glad Marquette saw this years ago and helped form a non-football conference that is thriving. 
 

college sports is about rivalries and traditions and money has taken a lot of that away from the sport. Now get off my lawn :)

I don't know...if this is a "get off my lawn," type curmudgeonly take! I don't like it myself...but I guess I'm starting to get old. 

I loved watching CFB coming up. ND vs FSU and FSU vs Miami, those giant non-conference games that would decide the winner, but still having the 5 conferences and the big Bowl games.

I definitely preferred the old way. The chance for Boise State to get in there vs an Oklahoma or Cincy.

I wonder if this was inevitable or if it was kinda spurred on by Ed O'bannon and the NIL lawsuits and rulings?

 

Eh, whatever. We got Fickell, Longo and Wisconsin is suddenly a "cool," place to go! 

[owbc]

Sounds like they are considering going with a 10-game conference schedule. I assume the main reason for doing so is to try and convince USC, Michigan, MSU, etc. to stop scheduling Notre Dame. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

On 8/6/2023 at 8:58 PM, BrewerFan said:

 

I wonder if this was inevitable or if it was kinda spurred on by Ed O'bannon and the NIL lawsuits and rulings?

 

 

It was, unfortunately, inevitable. Other than tape delay, there was a time when UW football being on live TV was a really big deal because it was so rare. Now Fox, ESPN & the others fulfill all our wishes, but there's a price to pay to feed the habit. Personally, I liked college sports much more when it was controlled by the school administrations & NCAA. Those hierarchies are far from perfect, as we all know. But I get the feeling I'll one day be pining for those imperfections when compared to TV calling the shots. Not looking forward to the day when the B10 & SEC might as well be the AFC & NFC, competing as ultra-hyped semi-pros, a twelve or sixteen team playoff, lax (if any) academic & recruiting standards, and studio analysts perfecting their art of self-promotion (oh yeah, we already have that one).

It IS gratifying that UW will probably continue to do things the right way. I just wonder what, in a few years, the definition of "right way" will be.

[Samurai Bucky]

One thing that is not really considered is how other sports are going to be affected.  Now, you are going to have tutors going with the players or be readily available for the "students."  

Jay Bilas appeared on the Rich Eisen show and I think he has an excellent take.

 

 

 

[patrickgpe]

10 minutes ago, Samurai Bucky said:

One thing that is not really considered is how other sports are going to be affected.  Now, you are going to have tutors going with the players or be readily available for the "students."  

Jay Bilas appeared on the Rich Eisen show and I think he has an excellent take.

 

 

 

This is going to be a huge issue, travel for non- revenue sports will have to be figured out 

[BrewerFan]

42 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

This is going to be a huge issue, travel for non- revenue sports will have to be figured out 

Damn...I didn't even think about this. This was a big enough problem as it stood, but...this will be devastating for some programs that are struggling to compete financially as it is. 

The gap between the top programs and the rest is going to be that much more pronounced in those non-revenue sports...and it's going to be pretty pronounced in the revenue sports.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, BrewerFan said:

 

The gap between the top programs and the rest is going to be that much more pronounced in those non-revenue sports...and it's going to be pretty pronounced in the revenue sports.

And even more between the P-5 & the rest. If you're a mid-major in basketball, Judicious recruiting & talent development over 2-3 years used to culminate in a Cinderella-type season. Now, if you find a diamond-in-the-rough you have to hope the kid isn't treating your program like a AAA farm team, knowing he can leave w/o having to sit out a year & one way or another P-5 schools can tamper to their hearts content.

I'm not a fan of any mid-major schools, but the thought of that just makes me want to puke.

[CheezWizHed]

I just find all this confusing on where it is headed.  Kind of seems like the BIG10 has lost its identity... Yes, all driven by money, but what are we now? 

Is the BIGX (Let's face it... we need to drop the "10") and SEC just going to become the AFC/NFC of college football?

[wallus]

I just want to see salaries "ahem" NIL deals posted like the pros now.

[owbc]

9 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

And even more between the P-5 & the rest. If you're a mid-major in basketball, Judicious recruiting & talent development over 2-3 years used to culminate in a Cinderella-type season. Now, if you find a diamond-in-the-rough you have to hope the kid isn't treating your program like a AAA farm team, knowing he can leave w/o having to sit out a year & one way or another P-5 schools can tamper to their hearts content.

I'm not a fan of any mid-major schools, but the thought of that just makes me want to puke.

I guess I don’t see the big deal? From the kid’s perspective, they probably weren’t originally recruited by a big school but they worked hard and got better and earned themselves a ticket to a big program. 

The mid-major coaches almost always bail after a Cinderella run, why shouldn’t the players have the same opportunity? 
 

Travel is a whole different issue but I bet we’ll see the B1G teams play all of the west coast schools in a single road trip over the course of a week. The non-revenue sports can also have expanded nonconference schedules. There are plenty of ways to mitigate it, even if it sucks as a whole. They certainly have the money to pay for it now. 

[Samurai Bucky]

47 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

I just find all this confusing on where it is headed.  Kind of seems like the BIG10 has lost its identity... Yes, all driven by money, but what are we now? 

This is professional sports.  When college athletics wasn't so big, the student / athlete could be a student.  Now, with all of the travel, they are expected to have the same schedule as professional athletes... plus adding a college-level workload.  

For transparency -- I was an advocate for not paying the players.  They were getting a free education, training table, tutors, better housing, and more.  Now, the university is expecting more from them preventing them from being an actual student.

I am concerned for the athletes in the "non-revenue" sports.  I had classes with a wrestler back in the day who was a National Champion.  He was an engineering major and was able to get his assignments done on time, but shared it was very very tough.  That was in the early 90's.  My brother got a scholarship to wrestle at a Big 10 school, and was surprised at how they encouraged him to not take tough courses so he could focus on wrestling.  He left and ended up getting a degree and a masters degree.

The universities can complain about how much attention is paid to sports, but they are reaping the benefits with extra money for academic endeavors.

47 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

Is the BIGX (Let's face it... we need to drop the "10") and SEC just going to become the AFC/NFC of college football?

Sponsored by Elon Musk 😉

[igor67]

I'm not saying, I'm completely turned off yet but if I was 30 years younger would I get as wrapped up in college athletics? I don't think so. I think the revenue chasing part is undercutting the broad appeal. D1 used to seemingly mean just about anybody anywhere in the country had a natural in state option and it formed that culture piece growing up.