<p>
</p>
<p>Notre Dame’s record over the past decade against Big Ten opponents is a mediocre 16-15, but 7 of its wins came against cross-state rival Purdue; against the rest of the Big Ten, ND went 9-12 for the decade. They’d be a lower-tier to middle-of-the-pack team if they joined the conference, which may be one reason they’re scared to join.</p>
<p>I don’t believe ND’s recent subpar performance on the gridiron is a significant factor in determining whether or not they join the Big Ten. What’s not to say ND sucks away recruits from competing institutions if it joins the Big Ten, and rises to the conference upper echelon?</p>
<p>Here’s what the good Dr. Osbourne has to say about the expansion/leaving the B12.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Tom</a> Osborne watching expansion talk](<a href=“http://www.huskerextra.com/articles/2010/03/04/football/doc4b8f003b0b1fa046283927.txt?orss=1]Tom”>http://www.huskerextra.com/articles/2010/03/04/football/doc4b8f003b0b1fa046283927.txt?orss=1)</p>
<p>The thing is, if it looks like Mizzou and CO are going to bolt, then the B12 can kiss UT goodbye as well (UT isn’t going to stick around when the 2nd and 3rd largest B12 pop. bases leave).</p>
<p>The scuttlebutt among UT fans is that Texas will not take the 1st step for not wanting to look like the “bad guy”; but if another B12 school opts to leave (most people think it will be CO to the Pac10), then UT is out the door.</p>
<p>And in the prior decade you had pretty much everyone BUT OSU winning the B10 outright. OSU tied three times as did Wisconsin. NU won a couple too. Michigan won or tied 6 times.
Everyone thought USC was a dynasty but that went away nearly as fast as it came along. While the beginning polls are dubious by the end they have them pretty well figured out. 4 B10 teams ended in the top 16. Not shabby. In the bowls they beat Oregon, LSU. Miami and Ga Tech. A good cross-section of national teams.</p>
<p>k&s- good analysis. What happens to A&M if Texas bolts. I thought that both schools have to be in the same conference.
While I would like to see Rutgers get invited I have to admit ND and Texas bring more to the table.</p>
<p>K&s,
You may be right about ND’s prospects for next year. I don’t know and I don’t really care cause the stadium will still be packed and folks will have a good time. Plus ND has so much going for it with all of the money and its own TV contract; it’s unlikely to be down too long. We’ll see….</p>
<p>Re your question on the # of champions in the Big 10 vs the # in the Big 12 during the period 1995-2009, I looked it up. The answer may surprise you.</p>
<p>You posted that 7 Big Ten teams won or tied for a league title. But a big difference is that the Big 12 has a playoff game which means that there’s only one league champion. And since its inception, 6 teams have won (U Texas, U Nebraska, Texas A&M, U Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas State). Missouri would’ve been the 7th team, but they’ve lost twice in the Big 12 championship game. Plus the Big 12 was formed in 1996 so one less year for the measurement. </p>
<p>The Big 12, however, has been dominated for the last 6 years by U Texas (2 titles) and U Oklahoma (4 titles). Not as dominant as the mighty Ohio State team has been in the Big Ten, but still probably more than most Big 12 fans would like. </p>
<p>tom,
I have a hard time seeing UT join a conference and lose (or at least diminish) its really great rivalries with U Oklahoma and A&M. Yes, they could still play those games, but it’s not the same thing and would be much tougher games than any of the Big Ten teams plays in their non-conference schedules. Maybe money will rule the day (what a shock that would be, huh?), but I hope not. I like the traditions of U Texas and joining the Big Ten upsets a lot of that.</p>
<p>Oh, hawkette, you’re so full of your beloved Buckeyes. The source of your unremitting animosity toward Michigan is now exposed. Tsk, tsk.</p>
<p>Did she finally admit on this thread where she went to school to the CC public? I don’t read her comments anymore.</p>
<p>Imagine if there was a private school conference for sports.</p>
<p>BC ND
Syracuse Stanford
Duke Rice or Baylor
Wake Forest Tulane
Miami Northwestern
Vanderbilt BYU</p>
<p>I forgot that USC was private so substitute the Trojans for either Rice/Baylor or Tulane.</p>
<p>Notre Dame after 15 (not 3, 5 or 7 )years of mediocrity is perilously close to having NBC banish them to the MSNBC cable network or buy them out. The Roberts Family and Comcast now own NBC and unlike the GE leadership of Immelt and Sherrin, have no affinitiy for the Irish and no ND honorary degrees hanging in their offices. How long they will tolerate non top-20 games from ND (against the Armys, Western Michigans and Nevadas of the world) when they could easily contract with an array of other schools that would make them lots more money remains to be seen and I think the whole thing is at a tipping point.</p>
<p>I think, so long as they can keep their USC game, ND should dash into the Big-10 in a NYC minute.</p>
<p>When and if the National TV contract with NBC goes, so will the national identity of the Notre Dame program. The best way Notre Dame can preserve its national identity at this point is to latch on to the most visible BCS conference it can, while it still has some residual bargaining power.</p>
<p>In another couple of years the conversation with Notre Dame and the Big 10 will be "You guys love playing Western Michigan so much, so go join the Mid America conference, we don’t need you anymore than we need Ball State "</p>
<p>I would rather have Texas-Austin. It is a much better fit for our conference. Of course, if the conference were to grow to 14, then Notre Dame would be my second choice.</p>
<p>^^^^I agree Alexandre. ND is not a research powerhouse and doesn’t really fit in with the CIC.</p>
<p>Notre Dame will keep its TV contract just as long as the broadcasts draw a good audience. When people stop watching, it will sound the death knell for ND TV.If people keep watching, it doesn’t matter to the network if it’s ND vs USC or ND vs Little Sisters of the Poor.</p>
<p>ND will be around longer than NBC. Bank on that!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>hawk -</p>
<p>I’m well aware of all of that, but since there is no championship game in the B10, we just don’t know how things would have panned out.</p>
<p>Still, having 8 (not 7) out of 11 teams (73%) winning championships is a bit better than having 6 out of 12 teams (50%) winning championships.</p>
<p>Even if we put aside the whole not having a championship game thing, since 2000, dOSU has won at least a share of the B10 title 6 times; over that period in the Pac10, which also does not have a championship game, USC has won at least a share of the conf. title 7 times - so your criticism should also apply to the Pac10, as well as the B12.</p>
<p>And if any conf. was totally dominated by one team, it was the ACC whereby FSU won the league crown for 9 consecutive times and 12 out of 14 times during the 1990s-2000s.</p>
<p>Bc,
Re your comment,</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>the facts are that Ohio State has been, by far, the dominant team in the Big Ten football for 6 straight years. U Michigan is not a factor right now and this year finished last in the league. </p>
<p>In Big Ten basketball, Ohio State tied for first place while U Michigan has a losing record. U Michigan is not a factor right now. </p>
<p>To try to characterize my factual statements as bias, it’s pretty clear who’s posting with “unremitting animosity.” </p>
<p>If the U Wisconsin people came on here and made half as much noise as the Wolverine kool-aid drinkers, that might be justified as the Badgers actually have some results to back up such cockiness. </p>
<p>In contrast to U Michigan, I don’t see U Wisconsin folks as always trying to puff themselves up with various pretensions and trying to look like they’re better than they are. You U Michigan guys are living on past history in so many ways from athletics to academic prominence to a state that lags virtually every other in the USA for population growth, job growth, wealth creation, etc. Get over yourselves. </p>
<p>K&s,
Based on the results, I think it’s fair to say that the Big 12 football has been recently dominated in recent years (last 5-6) by two schools and the Big 10 by one school. Same with USC and the Pac 10 til this year. Still, none yet match what Florida State did in the ACC with 9 straight championships. That must’ve been really boring for ACC fans.</p>
<p>^ wow…</p>
<p>Don’t forget ice hockey where Wisconsin is ranked #2. All UW’s major sports enjoyed Top 20 seasons which is pretty good. And UW has handed OSU two straight wins due to some mental errors. Otherwise they played them very evenly and were not dominated physically. I don’t see a large gap. If they play next season I’d expect UW to win at home.</p>