Big Ten alum

Parents Forum
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<p>Silver, “lack of math ability”… totally funny! I mentioned this potential addition to a neighbor and their response was “Rutgers, how odd…isn’t that a private school out east somewhere?”</p>

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<p>Big Ten is one of the best brands in college sports–even if they end up with 20 teams. It won’t change</p>

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<p>barrons- the Rutgers football message board is all over the Big 10 rumor. They also seem to “get it” in that if RU is lucky enough to get invited it is more about the academic prestige it will bring the school. They understand that the Big 10 will add so much to the school that the Big East just can not.
I believe if RU was in the Big 10 the selectivity of the school would increase substantially. As it is NJ loses so many top students but in the Big 10 many will decide RU is desirable.</p>

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<p>I think SUNY Buffalo would be a better choice than Rutgers. Upstate NY is more midwesternish than NJ, and it would be nice if new york actually had a big flagship football program. </p>

<p>Personally though, I think the Big Ten should just drop Northwestern. That would be the best option.</p>

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<p>I do not think the Big Ten should drop Northwestern. HELLO, NU has other strong non-football programs too and compete quite well.</p>

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<p>The Big 10 isn’t dropping NU. NU sports (particularly football) did well in the Big 10 this past year. NU Football went to a bowl game, basketball almost made the NCAA tourney and went to the NIT.</p>

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<p>Silverlady-go to the big 10 homepage and look at the logo. It has 11 buried in it. It’s been 11 for years. Big 10 is now just the brand as opposed to the number of schools.</p>

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<p>We were living overseas when they added the extra school to the Big 10. It took me a while to get it all straight when we moved back to the states. My SIL went to Penn State, and I have a great time poking fun at him about the number differences. While I know that they have an 11 in their logo, I still think it is odd to call them the Big 10. The Big 8 added 4 schools and became the Big 12, so I have a slight problem with still calling them the Big 10. I know, it’s my problem.</p>

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<p>“the Rutgers football message board is all over the Big 10 rumor. They also seem to “get it” in that if RU is lucky enough to get invited it is more about the academic prestige it will bring the school. They understand that the Big 10 will add so much to the school that the Big East just can not. I believe if RU was in the Big 10 the selectivity of the school would increase substantially. As it is NJ loses so many top students but in the Big 10 many will decide RU is desirable.” -tom1944</p>

<p>Best post on this thread. I couldn’t agree more.</p>

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<p>Chicago and WUSTL aren’t even in the discussion since they aren’t FBS programs, much less powerhouse FBS programs.</p>

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<p>There’s an outside chance that ND would join a conference if they continue to be mediocre, esp. since the $$ is about the same (may be even more w/ the projected revenues of the B10 network).</p>

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<p>If Colorado leaves the B12 (not likely to happen), then UT would be next and a likely candidate to join the B10 (despite the travel costs, UT brings a new major market to the B10 and UT would get a significant bump in TV revenues).</p>

<p>And not everyone wants a championship game - the ACC championship game thus far has been a dud and it lessens the chance for a conf. to get 2 teams to BCS Bowls.</p>

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<p>So have the message boards of other schools in the past. </p>

<p>Despite the comments from JoePa, the B10 really isn’t thinking about expansion at this time (and even if they were, Rutgers would be an iffy proposition).</p>

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<p>Sorry, but there is no way the B10 would pick a MAC program (and a relatively new one at that) that can’t even fill its 30k seat stadium.</p>

<p>As for NU, it brings academic prestige to the conference (just like how Stanford and Duke do for the Pac10 and ACC) and is a founding member.</p>

<p>Plus, over the past decade or so, NU FB has around a .500 record (or better) against all of its conf. foes except for dOSU, UM and PSU (since 1995, NU has a losing record only against 4 conference foes).</p>

<p>Over the past 5 years, NU has the 5th best conference record and in their last 6 match-ups, NU is 5-1 against Illinois and Indiana.</p>

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<p>Here’s a picture of the Big Ten logo with the 11:</p>

<p><a href=“http://groups.northwestern.edu/evanscholars/images/Big-10-Conference.jpg[/url]”>http://groups.northwestern.edu/evanscholars/images/Big-10-Conference.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>The University of Chicago and the Big Ten:

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<p>k&s- the rumor is if Colorado goes Arkansas will be asked to join. Some Arkansas alum want to go back to play the Texas and Oklahoma schools. Florida State would be targeted for the SEC and West Virginia would be next on the ACC radar. If FSU will not leave the ACC than WVU would get the invitation.</p>

<p>I think the point here is the desire to get 12 conference members and have a football championship game is fairly powerful. If the PAC10 and Big10 go to 12 each the dominoes start to fall.</p>

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<p>I copied this from the message board- I deleted some of it because I forget if I am allowed to post the entire thing.</p>

<p>The only rationale for the Big 10 to expand, other than a championship game, is because of the Big 10 Network. In fact, that is the primary reason, more so than a football championsip.</p>

<p>In that case, Missouri and Pitt make no sense whatsoever. They offer very little in terms of additional CABLE fan base. The way it works, as I understand it, to the extent the Big 10 adds a new team, the STATE in which that teams is domiciled may have to add the Big 10 Network into the cable options. Pitt is useless, since the Big 10 already has a team in Pennsylvania. Missouri might be fine, but it is not a huge state from a cable TV perspective.</p>

<p>If that is true, than ND actually makes the most sense - not because of the state in which they operate, but because of their national appeal for TV purposes. But … Syracuse and Rutgers make a TON of sense (NY for Syracuse, and NJ for Rutgers) as adding a new State to the Big 10 Network audience, substantially boosting the value of the Big 10 Network.</p>

<p>Separately, remember that though football is the primary driver of conference alignments, expansion is generally determined by the PRESIDENTS of Universities, NOT athletic directors or coaches. University Presidents have other considerations also. For example, the Big 10 has a HUGE bias towards keeping the entire conference a conference of Universities that have TWO characteristics: Land Grant schools, AND AAU Research-based schools. For Notre Dame, they would make an exception - but I would not think generally they would make another type of exception. Pitt is such a school … as is Rutgers. Maybe Missouri. NOT Syracuse.</p>

<p>When you look at all these factors, Rutgers actually has the optimum blend of characteristics the Big 10 might be looking for - other than Notre Dame.</p>

<p>Syracuse offers the State with the most cable households, but a lousy football record now, and no Land Grant or AAU Research-based sattus.</p>

<p>Missouri offers good football tradition, maybe AAU and Land Grant status, but not a large cable base.</p>

<p>Pitt offers the AAU and Land grant characteristics, strong football tradition, but no new cable clout at ALL.</p>

<p>Rutgers offers AAU and Land Grant Status, a new densely populated cable household (and RICH household base), and solid football now.</p>

<p>I will also add their is some political pressure being put on the NCAA because schools like Utah are being screwed and being left out of big bowl games even when it appears they are deserving.</p>

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<p>FSU previously rejected SEC advances and joined the ACC. In 2008 the SEC signed a [huge</a> media contract for billions](<a href=“http://ballhype.com/story/espn_pays_2_25_billion_for_sec_tv_rights/]huge”>http://ballhype.com/story/espn_pays_2_25_billion_for_sec_tv_rights/). FSU could maybe be persuaded to leave the ACC for slice of that pie.</p>

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<p>I understand that Rugers makes sense but it’s so far East. The addition of Penn State already stretched the conferences further east. Keep in mind we have teams such as Iowa and Minnesota which are far away from Rutgers. I prefer Notre Dame to join.</p>

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<p>tensigns- everyone prefers ND. ND is able to get their own TV contract and is unwilling to share the TV money.</p>

<p>p2n- the SEC money may be the reason Arkansas will not leave the SEC even though it has not been the best fit. The alum miss the old rivals.</p>

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<p>These types of rumors have been floating around forever.</p>

<p>The B10 has no desire to expand to 12 unless it’s a school that meets all of its criteria and Rutgers doesn’t meet that test (the B10 network is already available on the major cable providers in the NYC metro area and in Southern NJ; plus the regional coverage of ABC games in those areas is for B10 games).</p>

<p>Btw, if the B12 falls apart (not likely), I wouldn’t be surprised to see UT leave for the B10.</p>

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<p>The amount of $$ ND and each of the B10 schools make from TV revenue is about the same (if the projected B10 network revenues pan out, would be more for B10 schools).</p>

<p>The reason why ND doesn’t want to go to a conf. for FB isn’t about the $$.</p>

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<p>Which criteria would RU not meet? It’s a quality if underrated and somewhat badly run university. It has many outstanding faculty. Belonging to the B10 would give RU the pop in exposure and identity it really needs. It’s facilities for sports are OK and there are so many B10 alums nearby every game would be a sellout. I strongly prefer RU over Syracuse or Pitt which add much less to the B10 overall. I figure around 30,000,000 people live within an hour of RU. The numbers of no other area come close.</p>

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<p>barrons- the Big10 is something Rutgers alum and faculty want however the underhanded way that BC left the Big East means that Rutgers has to be very careful how they deal with the possibility. They have an obligation not to mislead their conference mates. They also can not be so coy that if offered the opportunity they do not immediately jump.</p>