It's being reported that the Big Ten has no interest in adding any non-AAU school outside of ND. This would mean it's most likely targets would be:
Notre Dame, Iowa State, and Kansas. If they want to raid another conference, likely candidates would be Virginia and Pittsburgh from the ACC. However, getting around contract rights would be an issue.
It is also said that they are "not against" AAU members from the PAC such as Cal, Oregon, or Washington, though I find that unlikely.
If we took ND and Iowa St I guess on the good side iowa and Iowa St could play last game of season in their rivalry game and we could finish with ND then there’s Michigan/Ohio st that would be interesting and fun.
It's apparently come out now that the Big Ten may be seriously targeting Kansas City and Denver markets. Serious expansion of TV shares as both are the biggest areas that would be congruent to current geography and not already in the footprint.
So... outside of ND, the likely wished for targets would be UVA, Colorado, and Kansas.
It's apparently come out now that the Big Ten may be seriously targeting Kansas City and Denver markets. Serious expansion of TV shares as both are the biggest areas that would be congruent to current geography and not already in the footprint.
So... outside of ND, the likely wished for targets would be UVA, Colorado, and Kansas.
Also to me by the same token, outside of ND, the other 3 schools don’t excite me much from the football aspect. It’s not like Oklahoma and Texas. I do like keeping the integrity of the AAU academic aspect though.
I do respect and understand the desire to keep the academic standards but I am also a realist...This isn't about academics anymore to most of these kids...Academics is secondary if not even an outlier anymore...These kids are picking which University they will attend based upon monetization of their individual brand...They want to play against the best programs and play in the most primetime games for their own exposure...If I am a conference chairman and a university president I am recruiting the best athletic programs into my league without regard to academic standards...Best teams & biggest television markets are all that concern me...Academics really don't matter anymore to most of these kids...It's sad...It's tragic...I personally don't like it but it is the new reality when it comes to major college football and basketball...If I am the B1G I do all I can to bring in Texas, Oklahoma & Notre Dame...The B1G has the edge as far as money is concerned, TV markets, etc...Reeling in those 3 programs would really solidify the B1G brand as the #1 athletic conference in the country...I would be absolutely shocked if there wasn't some back channel talks going on by the B1G to try to bring those schools in for at least a talk...
Unfortunately I agree with that assessment FD. I’m old school and really miss the days of the Joepa mentality and what it meant to be a “student athlete”.
I do respect and understand the desire to keep the academic standards but I am also a realist...This isn't about academics anymore to most of these kids...Academics is secondary if not even an outlier anymore...These kids are picking which University they will attend based upon monetization of their individual brand...They want to play against the best programs and play in the most primetime games for their own exposure...If I am a conference chairman and a university president I am recruiting the best athletic programs into my league without regard to academic standards...Best teams & biggest television markets are all that concern me...Academics really don't matter anymore to most of these kids...It's sad...It's tragic...I personally don't like it but it is the new reality when it comes to major college football and basketball...If I am the B1G I do all I can to bring in Texas, Oklahoma & Notre Dame...The B1G has the edge as far as money is concerned, TV markets, etc...Reeling in those 3 programs would really solidify the B1G brand as the #1 athletic conference in the country...I would be absolutely shocked if there wasn't some back channel talks going on by the B1G to try to bring those schools in for at least a talk...
AAU status has nothing to do with the athletes, it is about research and the $$$ that it generates. Schools that are let into the Big Ten also become part of Big Ten Academic Alliance, a research consortium which accounts for roughly 10 billion dollars a year in combined research grants and shares all of it among it's members.
The entire 64 teams in Power 5 conferences don't even generate half of that from football, and nowhere close from all sports even. The Big Ten isn't going to throw away money in grants and research simply for the sake of cool football teams. AAU schools are too valuable for what the Big Ten has built as a research consortium.
The research stuff is way above my head but if I bet my money on these possible moves I’d bet it’s about money and football and if it ain’t the big 10 will fall that much far behind in football they’ll have to get out of the backseat and get in the trunk. The big 10 needs to make moves to catch the SEC not fall further behind.
How does a school get AAU status? Why can't OKS apply for AAU status?
MZ has AAU status.
At the end of the day, adding ND, UVa, Pitt makes sense and maybe a combo of KS/MZ/OKS/WVa /Cuse/CO to round out to 20.
It makes no sense from a geographical point to add any school west of the Rockies, imo.
How does a school get AAU status? Why can't OKS apply for AAU status?
MZ has AAU status.
At the end of the day, adding ND, UVa, Pitt makes sense and maybe a combo of KS/MZ/OKS/WVa /Cuse/CO to round out to 20.
It makes no sense from a geographical point to add any school west of the Rockies, imo.
It's a long application process and the school needs to meet certain academic and research standards. It's a high bar to get in and most schools don't meet them.
The research stuff is way above my head but if I bet my money on these possible moves I’d bet it’s about money and football and if it ain’t the big 10 will fall that much far behind in football they’ll have to get out of the backseat and get in the trunk. The big 10 needs to make moves to catch the SEC not fall further behind.
In the end, the Big 10 will be just fine. There is something to be said with too many alpha dogs in the same room, and Texas has routinely thrown a fit every 10 years and tried to blow up whatever conference they were in.
You probably right roam but with this 12 team playoffs it won’t matter. Got a question. Do you think with the 12 team playoffs coming will it keep teams like Alabama and Clemson from hogging up all the best players because now 12 teams have a shot at the playoffs instead of 4? I’m thinking it will spread the talent around to around 12 teams?
@southern-psu-fan Hi Southern, hope all is well with you and family...Just checking in to see where you guys think all the conference realignment is going..
Did see some humor, in your "if we take ND"....you do know that is not an "if" dont you?...If ND picked up the phone tomorrow, they'd be a member, provided they could work thru any contract and financial details with the ACC..
In any event, THis is probably the first bombshell to fall, I think we all agree on that..WVU be a good fit for the ACC IMO; Iowa st, I agree be a good fit for BIG
@culture-thrives lol nice to hear from you buddy we got one more month and we’ll be gettin some college football.
You probably right roam but with this 12 team playoffs it won’t matter. Got a question. Do you think with the 12 team playoffs coming will it keep teams like Alabama and Clemson from hogging up all the best players because now 12 teams have a shot at the playoffs instead of 4? I’m thinking it will spread the talent around to around 12 teams?
Yes, I do think some of the top talent will be more interested in other teams now.
Outstanding post Roam regarding the AAU status and what it means...You have shed some serious light on how much $$$ is at stake over these research grants...That is a very big reason as to why the B1G is the wealthiest conference in the country by a wide margin...
Can you please give an example of a research? I have no clue. Thanks
I would say things like weather research, medical research, engineering and biological research just to name a few...
Can you please give an example of a research? I have no clue. Thanks
All over the map really, anything to researching military weapons to studying grass varieties. Big bucks in it, from patents that come from it to the grant money given to the Universities from the government or other sources.
