If the SEC and Big10 expand and expand their conference schedules, there may not be room to schedule a ND as an OOC game.
1 Like
And I was so looking forward to future matchups of Alabama vs. Mercer. 
Saban will always want 1 or 2 gimmes each season for tuneups.
Yes, at some point in some futuristic version of a college football super league, ND may have to join that super league. Or they may decide to join the B1G or ACC, in the future, but it’s all just hypotheticals.
The future of the Big 12 & the ACC is/are in doubt.
Also, if basketball was of significant interest, the University of Kansas would have options better than the soon-to-be-defunct Big 12.
We don’t know the options that Kansas has, or doesn’t have, since everyone in college football is taking a step back. And only Texas and OU are changing leagues at the moment.
And tell me the country’s sports fans and bettors aren’t riveted to their TV’s during March Madness, selection shows, Bracketology, Sweet 16, Elite 8 and Final Four. CBS and the NCAA rake in the dough.
There have been several reports of the University of Kansas reaching out to the Big Ten after it was known that Texas and Oklahoma were leaving the Big 12.
I agree that college basketball is a popular revenue sport, but the focus of the current discussion is on college football.
The Big Ten should consider adding the University of Pittsburgh in addition to other ACC & Pac-12 schools.
Penn State already brings the PA market and other than basketball, KU adds nothing to the B1G.
One would or could argue, what do Maryland, Rutgers and Nebraska bring to the B1G? Media markets? Sure, but they probably had those media markets anyway with alums and existing fans.
At least Kansas is one of the “Bluebloods” of college basketball. Maryland brings a really good men’s LAX program. And Nebraska brings a really good women’s v-ball program.
Other sports matter to a limited extent with conference realignment. Some of the first articles out on the OU/UT-SEC rumors mentioned that SEC would have a stranglehold on, wait for it, softball.
Penn State also has a decent lax program, and Hopkins plays in the B1G for lacrosse. With those additions, B1G was able to become a conference for lax. Michigan had switched from club to D1, and with Ohio State and Rutgers they had enough. Notre Dame has a very good lax program and would be great in B1G lax. Right now they play ACC but would be a better fit in the B1G.
Lax isn’t a huge money maker but the teams don’t cost that much either, so any revenue is gravy. It’s pretty easy to televise a game. This year the announcers were often in their own living rooms watching on monitors. They weren’t that bad dealing with the delays.
We know a guy who played for ND. His parents traveled to every game from Maryland or Florida (live in MD but two brothers played in Florida). ND parents and fans are crazy.
Maryland brings the DC market, Rutgers the NYC market. This was important for carriage of the Big10 network at the time. Nebraska is a former blue blood football program that in hindsight does little for the conference since they have learned that the Big10 is a little more challenging than the Big8 was for football success.
2 Likes
Yes, and if you read my post more carefully, I said exactly that by acknowledging the “addition” of the media markets. 
But my point is that it’s argued amongst the fans of the other B1G teams, Maryland and Rutgers add almost nothing else, but less-then-filled stadiums, less than desirable football and basketball teams and add little to B1G network audience.
1 Like
Maybe in a couple of decades, Maryland and Rutgers will grow to Purdue or Illinois levels of competence in the league.
1 Like
Based on geographic footprint, if the Big Ten could add only two schools, then Notre Dame & the University of Pittsburgh make sense.
The University of Pittsburgh is a bit of a defensive move in order to please Penn State by adding a significant rival.
Adding the University of Colorado could also be a defensive move to appease Nebraska by adding one of Nebraska’s traditional rivals.
Geographically, the University of Missouri makes sense and is attractive since it should bring two significant TV markets in St. Louis & Kansas City. (The Big Ten refused Missouri’s plea to join which ended in Missouri moving to the SEC).
Based on player preferences, the University of Hawaii & the University of Miami look appealing as does the University of Colorado. (Of course, I am just guessing at the players’ preferences. If you want certainty, then two away games each year at the University of Hawaii would probably be the top preference.)
A news report shared that Texas considered the Big Ten internally before deciding to approach the SEC. What if Texas, which couldn’t even win the Big 12,gets repeatedly crushed in the SEC ? Especially if Texas A&M does a lot of the crushing ? This will likely affect both Texas’ value as well as its instate recruiting efforts against A&M. Has Texas set itself up for failure by joining the SEC ?
I’d love to add ND to the B1G, but who knows if that will ever happen.
As for Pitt, I asked my Penn State alumni buddy (his D attends now, wife attended as well) how the entire Penn State alumni base would feel about adding Pitt to the B1G. I’ll quote him here w/o the NSFW words:
Followed by:
Stewart Mandel from The Athletic was on the local sports talk radio station last evening and he essentially said that he’s a bit skeptical and wonders why the SEC would even want Texas, since they (Texas) will lead to the decline and fall of their two previous conferences (Southwest and Big 12).
Texas has always been a prima donna, so can they be just one of 16 members of the SEC without university and Texas politicians becoming a nuisance?
1 Like
Your Penn State friend’s strong reaction to Pitt as a Big Ten member school remind me of the famous line:
“Methinks thou dost protest too much.” (The lady doth protest too much, methinks.)
Well, if we get into Mr. Peabody’s “Wayback Machine,” and time travel back to 1895-1896, when the B1G was founded, and could view the future of college football and its financial success as it exists today, then OSU, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, etc., might not have added them (Illinois and Purdue) either. 
At least Iowa State, Oklahoma State and/or Kansas has relevance in one or both of the profitable sports.
The other thing that Stewart Mandel said was that teams from the South, like a GT, West Virginia, Texas, etc. may not have the right “cultural fit” for the B1G.
“but college ice hockey is not a revenue sport.”
It many not matter too much in realignment sure, but it is definitely a revenue sport, and the hockey tourney is typically the only tourney outside the basketball ones (men’s, women’s) that are profitable.
“About 25 or 30 years ago, network TV tried to televise professional ice hockey games”
How you compare Fox’s attempt at highlighting the puck to college hockey, which is based on rivalries, traditions, bands, venues, et al is beyond me. A quick google search showed that it made 160-ish million in 2016 for colleges and divisions based on athletic surveys all schools receiving aid have to fill out, which is pretty much everybody, even Yale!
Iowa State does not have relevance in either sport, however you want to define relevance. Taking football over the last 20 years, they rank 90th (out of 125) in winning percentage, with Maryland at 74th. But the worst big ten teams are aforementioned Indiana at 108, Illinois at 109. and Rutgers at 95. Ok State is a very good 23rd but Kansas is 122th, one of the worst programs in football.
Basketball is a little different because most of Maryland’s success the last twenty years was early when they won the national title, but for men’s they’ve been more successful than everybody outside of MSU, maybe Wisconsin. If you bring in women’s basketball, they’re probably the top big-ten program.
As for the OP, both the UM and OSU athletic depts showed ND that one, both UM and OSU bring in more revenue and profits than ND, and two, ND would make more money if they joined the big-10 then remaining independent. I think the big 10 will take ND if they want to join, they’ have to add a 16th team, but if ND can get a spot in the playoffs without joining, they may stay independent. Alums at most schools are concerned about balancing tradition, money, so we’ll see what happens.
If ND decides to vacate the ACC and join the B1G, then I could see Colorado coming in to balance geography. Otherwise, I think an alliance or merger with the PAC will be the result.
If Clemson bolts and causes the unraveling of the ACC, then a 24 team B1G could happen with the addition of GT, UNC and UVA. I think GT would be a cultural fit despite the claims above.
2 Likes
I strongly disagree. Iowa State is #9 in the current 2021 preseason college football polls:
Iowa State football finished #9 in 2020 and concluded their season with a 34-17 win over Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. And Matt Campbell is one of the hottest coaching names in the job market, rumored as a possible replacement for Jim Harbaugh, if and when he’s fired.
Oklahoma State had the #1 draft pick in the just held NBA draft, Cade Cunningham. Their football team finished #20 in the AP college football polls. Plus, they have T. Boone Pickens money to support the athletic department.
That’s what I define as relevance…“What have you done for me lately?” History, schmistory. Michigan has the winningest college football team in history, but 2-4 last year?