<p>Wasn’t hating on John Deere. Just thought they fit the midwest/Big Ten appeal. Haha. How about Cargill instead? 
</p>
<p>All the Ute and Buff fans I’ve seen/read could care less if BYU or CSU is allowed in. They don’t play in the same conferences now anyway (in CU’s case).</p>
<p>A lot of the beauty and fun of college football has been created by the big rivalries, most of which have a geographic spur. I like the regional nature of the sport, but all of this merging business is threatening that and enthusiasm decreases post-merger, not increases. Look at the ACC-does Duke or Wake or U North Carolina or NC State really give a hoot about playing games against U Miami or Boston College? </p>
<p>Give me the regionally focused conferences like the SEC or the old SWC and let’s go have some fun and a party!</p>
<p>Hawkette, Notre Dame should get over itself. It is no more special than Michigan, OSU or PSU. It does not make more money than those programs either. There is no reason for it not to join the Big 10 other than its alumni thinking they are holier than the rest. As it stands, 6 of Notre Dame’s 10 most frequent rivals (Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Purdue and OSU) are in the Big 10. The only rivalries of note that aren’t in the Big 10 are Boston College, Navy and USC, all three of which can play Notre Dame very frequently as non-conference games.</p>
<p>I also hope Texas is pursued a little harder. They fit in the Big 10 better than they do in the SEC.</p>
<p>
I totally agree with you … the breakup of the old ACC, big East, and southwest conference started the slide from traditional regional conferences … and the big bucks from conference championship games (which only conferences with 12 teams can have) is pusgin conferences to grab more teams. We used to have geographic conferences and now we’re moving towards financial partnerships geography be damned.</p>
<p>PS - nothing on espn.com about these schools joining the Big 10 yet</p>
<p>Get over itself?? Oh, alex. You’re jealous. Notre Dame is special. It’s the most famous name in college football. No other school is close. Not U Alabama. Not U Texas. Not USC. Not even Ohio State. ND’s the biggest fish in the lake and the Big Ten has been trying to catch them for years. Swim, ND, swimmmmmmmmm! </p>
<p>As for your suggestion that ND play their traditional opponents (USC, Navy, Stanford, Boston College, U Pittsburgh, etc.) in addition to a Big Ten regular season schedule, would that really be fair? By comparison, your mighty U Michigan team is playing U Connecticut, U Massachusetts, and Bowling Green. Not quite the same is it? Now if U Michigan added Appalachian State or Toledo that might even things up a little…… :D…,but I’m not holding my breath. </p>
<p>As for U Texas being a target of the Big Ten, the Longhorns are just fine where they are…thank you very much. Don’t go messing with Texas.</p>
<p>The ND name is fading faster than a Maaco paint job. If kelly does not succeed they will be a triva question. Their TV ratings are way down and the subway Catholic fanbase is fading with the decline of the church.</p>
<p>I second barron’s post. D**k Rod over at UM is on a leash too.</p>
<p>Hawkette, your disrespect of Michigan is so obvious it is sad. You simply cannot bring yourself to mention Michigan as a football powerhouse can you. </p>
<p>And why should I be jealous of Notre Dame? Michigan has a winning record over Notre Dame, won more games than any other program in the history of Football and has a better overall record than any program in college football. </p>
<p>Notre Dame is definitely one of the top 10 prgrams in the history of the game and arguably one of the top 5…as are Michigan, OSU, PSU, Oklahoma, Alabama, Nebraska, USC and Texas. To say that one of those is significantly better than the rest is laughable. </p>
<p>[The</a> Best College Football Program Ever - ArmchairGM - Sports Wiki Database](<a href=“http://armchairgm.wikia.com/The_Best_College_Football_Program_Ever]The”>http://armchairgm.wikia.com/The_Best_College_Football_Program_Ever)</p>
<p>[College</a> Sports - Best College Football Teams](<a href=“Tips for College Success & Guide to College Life - CampusGrotto”>Tips for College Success & Guide to College Life - CampusGrotto)</p>
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<p>The only thing “special” about Notre Dame football is apparently lots of Catholics like to watch them lose on the Notre Dame Broadcast Channel (NBC). </p>
<p>Notre Dame is all about the money and all about not sharing it with others. If I were the Big Ten I would have banned Notre Dame from being scheduled against any Big 10 team (other than football) the first time they were approached years ago. That would have dried out 95 percent of all their sport teams real fast and student/athletes applying there. Enjoy playing St. Mary’s in soccer and give us a call when you get religion.</p>
<p>alex,
You’re such fun! And as is usually the case with you and U Michigan, you’re living in the past and basing your argument on things that U Michigan accomplished decades ago. Heck, much of U Michigan’s national success occurred before 1950 (I looked it up in Wikipedia). It’s a proud history, but it’s certainly not singular, at least not for the last 60 years. </p>
<p>As for those colleges that I mentioned (U Alabama, U Texas, USC, Ohio State), I like their history and their passion, but don’t think any can come close to matching Notre Dame in national terms. Notre Dame is the most prominent and most visible football program in the USA. </p>
<p>And don’t forget that a quarter of America is Catholic. For a large number of them, Notre Dame is the home team. That’s the whole point behind their special TV deal.</p>
<p>Maybe barrons is right and ND’s star is declining (goodness knows that the church has had its share of problems), but I wouldn’t bet on it. There are a lot of people who would love to see the school do well again in football and would watch them religiously (pun intended).</p>
<p>
And Notre Dame isn’t living off its past football history?!!</p>
<p>ucb,
I concur that they’re consistently overrated as a team, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s the most followed program. I’m not arguing if that’s fair/deserved or not, and recent performance would certainly substantiate the view that it hasn’t been earned, but I accept the reality that Notre Dame football has higher national prominence than any other school. And I don’t think it’s even close.</p>
<p>ESPN just had a segment where they announced a poll where something like 63 percent of “Sports Nation” wanted to see Notre Dame join the Big 10. </p>
<p>What was great was the host who was introduced as a Notre Dame fan. He said that the problem with Notre Dame is what they see in the mirror. He said, 'Notre Dame looks in the mirror and sees the University of Florida. Whereas we see them **as Purdue with a better budget. ** </p>
<p>Snap.</p>
<p>… just don’t know what to say… we will beat em this upcoming fall… just ya wait.</p>
<p>I’m loving the football talk, but BTW, the Big Ten isn’t just about football and not entirely about athletics. It’s a brand name, and a pretty significant one. To be a “Big Ten” university means something in research, in academic prominence, and in national leadership. To me, Rutgers seems like a “Big Ten university”, both on and off the playing field. Pitt might. Notre Dame’s always been the Big Ten’s love interest. But Nebraska? Great on Saturdays in the fall, but Nebraska? A Big Ten university? Nothing negative to say about UN-L, it’s just that it strikes me as . . . average. And the Big Ten brand is not about aspiring to slide toward the national mean.</p>
<p>“Heck, much of U Michigan’s national success occurred before 1950 (I looked it up in Wikipedia). It’s a proud history, but it’s certainly not singular, at least not for the last 60 years.”</p>
<p>Huh? Hawkette, everytime I stand up for Michigan, you accuse me of bias. Can you have a civil debate without resorting to hissing and clawing? </p>
<p>You clearly know very little about Michigan football, and given your obvious disdain for the University, I am not surprised you refuse to read up on anything that could be positive. </p>
<p>Michigan has had much success in the 1969-2007 period, including:</p>
<p>1) 35 Bowl appearances in 39 years (33 consecutive from 1975-2007)
2) 21 conference titles (including 3 in the last decade)
3) 360-102-8 (0.774 overall record)
4) 24 top 10 seasons in the AP Poll
5) 25 top 10 seasons according to the Coaches
6) 9 top 10 seasons according to the AP
7) 10 top 5 seasons according to the Coaches</p>
<p>Can you name me more than five programs that have done better than Michigan in the last 40 years in just one of those categories, let alone all 7 of them?</p>
<p>
Alex, hawkette doesn’t like polls, you should know that…well maybe she likes student and employer polls if the results reinforce her beliefs. :)</p>
<p>“Hawkette, Notre Dame should get over itself. It is no more special than Michigan, OSU or PSU. It does not make more money than those programs either. There is no reason for it not to join the Big 10 other than its alumni thinking they are holier than the rest. As it stands, 6 of Notre Dame’s 10 most frequent rivals (Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Purdue and OSU) are in the Big 10. The only rivalries of note that aren’t in the Big 10 are Boston College, Navy and USC, all three of which can play Notre Dame very frequently as non-conference games.”'</p>
<hr>
<p>This is all completely false. Forbes ranked the 15 most valuable college football programs (programs that bring in the most revenue for their schools and surrounding areas) and ND was ranked #1. They calculated that ND football brings in $97 million to the university and South Bend area. Michigan was #4 with $81 million and tOSU was even lower. Here’s the article:<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/2006/12/22/college-football-ncaa-business_cz_jg_1222collegefootball.html[/url]”>http://www.forbes.com/2006/12/22/college-football-ncaa-business_cz_jg_1222collegefootball.html</a></p>
<p>Also, half of the teams you listed aren’t even considered major rivals for ND fans. Our rivals are as follows: 1. USC 2. Michigan 3. Tie between MSU, Purdue, Boston College, and Miami. After that our next biggest rivals are Pitt, tOSU, Penn State, and Florida State. Navy is not a rival. At one time, Army would have been in the top 3, but those days have passed. ND has never had a rivalry with Indiana in football.</p>
<p>Finally, why would it make sense for ND to keep OOC games against USC, BC, or Navy if ND had to play Iowa, Wisconsin, tOSU, Penn State, MSU, and UM in conference? And you can rip Hawkette for being a scUM hater all you want, but you’ve just been hating on ND throughout this thread. Remember, scUM hasn’t won an outright national championship since 1948 (and even in 1948, they were one of 5 undefeated teams).</p>
<p>“What was great was the host who was introduced as a Notre Dame fan. He said that the problem with Notre Dame is what they see in the mirror. He said, 'Notre Dame looks in the mirror and sees the University of Florida. Whereas we see them as Purdue with a better budget. </p>
<p>Snap.”</p>
<p>You do know that the host of the show, Colin Cowherd, is a self-professed USC homer right? And ND never has nor will ever aspire to be like UF. End of discussion.</p>
<p>Hawkette, you seem to be the only one here who understands what the loss of ND’s independence will bring. To those of you that want ND to join a conference, consider this analogy: Moving ND to the Big 10 would be like moving the Yankees to the NL East. They would still get to play the Red Sox 3 games a year during interleague play, but the rivalry would be essentially meaningless.</p>
<p>“Remember, scUM hasn’t won an outright national championship since 1948 (and even in 1948, they were one of 5 undefeated teams).”</p>
<p>SOC2015, what happened to 1997 ?? I’m not a football fan, but I do remember Michigan won a national championship in that year.</p>