The Big Ten Expansion

College Search & Selection
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<p>Rutgers, Big Ten look like a match</p>

<p>College Football By Teddy Greenstein
Tribune reporter
10:10 p.m. CST, March 1, 2010</p>

<p>Eliminate pipe-dream schools Notre Dame and Texas, and what are the best remaining options for Big Ten expansion?</p>

<p>Keep in mind the league’s needs and wants:</p>

<p>• Revenue. Having a large and full football stadium is key. A basketball arena, too. But a bigger factor might be the television market. More eyeballs equal more bucks.</p>

<p>• Geography. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told WSCR-AM 670 that he seeks a “geographic connectivity” that would help keep travel costs in check.</p>

<p>• Academics. Every Big Ten school is a member of the Association of American Universities, a consortium of 62 leading research institutions in the United States and Canada. Big Ten expansion candidates Missouri, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse are also members. So are dark-horse candidates Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado.</p>

<p>• Recruiting. Whose area is most fertile?</p>

<p>The consensus among Big Ten sources, officials from other conferences and TV executives is that Rutgers offers the best package. Missouri is second and Pittsburgh third.</p>

<p>Why Rutgers? It doesn’t hurt that the New Brunswick, N.J., campus is less than 40 miles from midtown Manhattan. Or that the state of New Jersey alone would be the nation’s fourth-largest television market – after New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.</p>

<p>Fans wonder: Does New York care about Rutgers? The simplest answer: When Rutgers wins, yes.</p>

<p>During Rutgers’ football nirvana season of 2006, its game against Louisville on ESPN drew an 8.1 rating in the New York market, a “phenomenal number,” according to one TV executive. That night, the Empire State Building was lit up in scarlet.</p>

<p>The New York market has 7.5 million TV homes, and the Big Ten Network would love to get them on expanded basic cable rather than forcing subscribers to pay extra via a sports tier.</p>

<p>Rutgers just completed a $102 million renovation of its football stadium that added more than 12,000 seats, 1,000 club-level seats, a $5 million recruiting lounge – and earned the ire of opposition groups. Capacity is up to 52,454 with an option for building a third deck.</p>

<p>Rutgers will play the first ever major-college football game (vs. Army) at the new Meadowlands Stadium, a $1.4 billion facility that will open for the Jets and Giants this fall. Think there’s be any trouble selling out the 82,500-seat stadium for a Penn State-Rutgers game? Or when Ohio State or Michigan visits?</p>

<p>The Newark Star-Ledger reported in January that the school also plans to overhaul its outdated Rutgers Athletic Center, a 32-year-old facility that holds 8,000 for men’s and women’s basketball.</p>

<p>The New York/New Jersey area feeds the nation’s top-rated basketball conference, the Big East, much of its talent.</p>

<p>Four other factors can’t hurt Rutgers’ cause:</p>

<p>• Newark Liberty International Airport is 23 miles from New Brunswick, making Rutgers more accessible than many Big Ten campuses.</p>

<p>• Rutgers calls itself “The Birthplace of College Football.” It beat Princeton in what must have been a thrilling contest in 1869. Final score: 6-4.</p>

<p>• Delany hails from the Garden State – South Orange, N.J.</p>

<p>• By leaving the Big East, Rutgers could quadruple its annual TV share to more than $20 million. Meaning that unlike with Texas and Notre Dame, an R.S.V.P would be a mere formality.</p>

<p>Source: [Rutgers</a>, Big Ten look like a match - chicagotribune.com](<a href=“http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-big-ten-expansion-side-mar02,0,4339535.story]Rutgers”>http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-big-ten-expansion-side-mar02,0,4339535.story)</p>

162

<p>Good. I have supported RU as the choice from the start.</p>

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<p>Rutgers sounds like a winner to me, too. Always has. Great points about filling up the Meadowlands for Penn State-Rutgers, Michigan-Rutgers, and Ohio State-Rutgers match-ups, which will put Big Ten football on the map in the NY-NJ metro, get the Big Ten Network on cable systems with millions of viewers, open up that huge market for athletic recruiting, and give Big Ten schools with large numbers of alumni in NY-NJ (e.g., Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Northwestern) better opportunities to shake the alumni money trees. I can’t believe the Big Ten will pass up the opportunity to snag Rutgers. The question to me is, do they expand to 12 or 14?</p>

164

<p>I guess I must have underestimated the armpit of New York!! lol~</p>

<p>Not that I am greedy (ok, maybe I am…), but, it is only fair imo!! Let’s raise the loyalty clause fee to $50-million for the new member(s) - it’s not like these candidates can’t afford it! :p</p>

<p>On the other hand, Mizzou seems to be trying very hard… -.-</p>

<p>Link: [Mizzou</a> | Big Ten](<a href=“http://www.mizzou-bigten.com/]Mizzou”>http://www.mizzou-bigten.com/)</p>

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<p>“The question to me is, do they expand to 12 or 14?”</p>

<p>Unless it’s a home run pick like ND or Texas, I see Big Ten expanding to 14 members with Rutgers, Mizzou and Syracuse (or Pitt) as the 3 new members to the conference!</p>

166

<p>RU Rah Rah!!!</p>

<p>OTOH just a few weeks ago everyone knew it was going to be Pitt. So we’ll have to just wait and see, If Rutgers is offered it will be the best thing that ever happened to them academically and athletically.</p>

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<p>bclintonk:</p>

<p>The B10 has a bias for playing their games on campus, which doesn’t mean that RU wouldn’t play one game a year say against Penn State, tOhio State, and Michigan in the Meadowlands. Lots of B10 grads in the NY/NJ area.</p>

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<p>I know it’s a business decision, but adding Rutgers makes the conference lose its midwest character IMO.</p>

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<p>^^^They lost that years ago when PSU was admitted.</p>

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<p>^ PSU feels more Big “Tenish” than Rutgers…</p>

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<p>UCB:</p>

<p>In many ways Rutgers does fit the B10 profile: state university; land grant college; large; major research institution and member of the AAU.</p>

172

<p>Rutgers is a bad addition. It is silly that the Big Ten is about to make the same mistake the ACC did when they added BC. A school with few fans, and a media market that won’t materialize. Nevertheless, Rutgers is also a lowly enough candidate that might meet the demand of “buy its way in” by playing home games in the Meadowlands. Rutgers will make money without being a program that will threaten the conference overlords Ohio State and Michigan. </p>

<p>Check out the compiled records of the rest of the Big Ten vs TOSu and Michigan since 1970 to see how well a mid-pack Big East team will fit in.</p>

<p>Michigan:
* Minnesota is 3-36 against Michigan
* Iowa is 7-22 against Michigan
* Northwestern is 4-24 against Michigan
* Illinois is 5-29 against Michigan
* Michigan State is 10-30 against Michigan
* Purdue is 7-27 against Michigan
* Wisconsin is 6-26 against Michigan
* Indiana is 1-30 against Michigan
* Penn State is 5-10 against Michigan (since 1993)</p>

<p>Total against Michigan = 48 Wins - 234 Losses</p>

<p>Ohio State:
* Minnesota is 2-34 against Ohio State
* Iowa is 4-26 against Ohio State
* Northwestern is 2-29 against Ohio State
* Illinois is 11-27 against Ohio State
* Michigan State is 7-22 against Ohio State
* Purdue is 6-22 against Ohio State
* Wisconsin is 10-25 against Ohio State
* Indiana is 2-32-1 against Ohio State
* Penn State is 6-11 against Ohio State</p>

<p>Total against Ohio State: 50 wins - 228 Losses and 1 tie</p>

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<p>Michigan hasn’t been much of an overlord lately.</p>

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<p>Football has changed in many ways since the 70’s. The dominance of OSU and UM ended for one. OSU is still solid but most games with them are much closer than they were in the 70’s when they would beat the little 8 by around 50-7 regularly.<br>
Will RU be a top B10 team–I doubt it in the near term. But they could be a .500 team. But being within 50 miles of 20 million people is too much to let go. Making B10 Football and basketball the top brand in the NY/NJ area would fill a real vacuum and attract enough fans to be viable. It also helps improve the attraction of the other B10 schools to NY/NJ kids.</p>

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<p>Sure. But let’s assume they’re scheduled to play Penn State every year to create an instant rivalry. That means they get the Meadowlands-worthy home game against PSU every other year. In the off year they get a home game against an Ohio State, a Michigan, or some other big-drawing Meadowlands-worthy opponent (e.g., Wisconsin?). One game a year is a lot.</p>

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<p>Would love to see at UW-Madison/Rutgers game at Camp Randall. Hmmm. Do I root for those who pay my salary (minus furlough days) or those that gave me my degree? What do you think?</p>

<p>BTW Penn State will play at Rutgers in 2014. Rutgers will be in Happy Valley the next year.</p>

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<p>UConn will beat Michigan in the Season Opener. Mark my words.</p>

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<p>If not Texas or ND, I hope to see Big Ten adds Pitt, Syracuse & Rutgers, and leave Missouri & Nebraska for the next round of expansion which would be ~2050 - pending on their academic improvement. Therefore, Big Ten can still be the ‘Big Ten’ due to the fact that the conference will be consisted of 10 states (Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey & New York).</p>

<p>Jim Delany - He Shoots, He Scores ($$$)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.chicagobusiness.com/images/random/Big-Ten-revenue-under-Jim-Delany.jpg[/url]”>http://www.chicagobusiness.com/images/random/Big-Ten-revenue-under-Jim-Delany.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>With the exception of highly ranked private Northwestern, all the current members of the Big Ten rank among the nation’s top 30 public universities, led by Michigan (#4 in current US News ranking), Illinois (#9 tie) and Wisconsin (#9 tie), with Indiana, Michigan State and Iowa (tied at #29) pulling up the rear and Ohio State (#18), Purdue (#22 tie), and Minnesota (#22 tie) bunched in the middle. Pitt (#20) and Rutgers (#26) fit comfortably within that group. Not so Mizzou (#48) or Nebraska (#43); either would fall well below the bottom of the current group.</p>

<p>The Big Ten schools are also research powerhouses. Among all universities, public and private, the Big Ten schools rank #2 (Wisconsin), #4 (Michigan), #11 (Ohio State), #13 (Penn State), #15 (Minnesota), #25 (Illinois), #34 (Northwestern), #37 (Purdue), #41 (Michigan State), #42 (Indiana), and #44 (Iowa, approximately $350 million annually) in research expenditures—a remarkable group. By that criterion, Pitt (#21) would be the best fit, with Rutgers (#55, at $308 million) and Nebraska (#47, at $333 million) being close contenders. Mizzou is way back at #77 ($215 million). Syracuse (#184, $36 million) barely registers a blip.</p>

<p>All things considered—athletics, media markets, academics, research capacity (making alliances with existing Big Ten/CIC schools a natural)—I still say Rutgers is the best fit overall, followed by Pitt. Pitt’s problem is it doesn’t deliver new media markets, therefore it’s unclear what new revenue potential it brings to the table. It could probably help generate deeper television market penetration in Pennsylvania, especially given the natural in-state rivalry with Penn State, but I’m not sure that’s enough to make it worthwhile for the Big Ten. Could turn out to be just another mouth to feed.</p>

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<p>There is no way the B10 adds those 3 schools if it expands to 14 or any one of them if it expands to 12 - simply would not bring in enough additional revenue to prevent each of the current schools from experiencing a drop in their share of the B10 TV revenue.</p>

<p>The only way any of the BE schools gets added is if the B10 gets UT and A&M and thus, gets the highly lucrative cable carriage fees for the State of Texas or if the BE schools agree to getting a smaller share of B10 payouts for a period of time or accept paying a considerable fee to join.</p>

<p>If expansion entails a decrease in revenue for the current members of the conf. (or even just break even), it will not happen.</p>