Hexydes

Well, Notre Dame is staying independent for two reasons: 1. They applied numerous times for admission to the Big Ten (then "Western Conference") and were denied by U of M's chicken coach Fielding Yost (thanks a lot, skunkbears), so they adopted a "play anyone, anywhere" type of attitude. That's important to them, it's part of their identity. 2. They feel safe in the notion that, should they ever need a conference, the Big Ten will be there. So to point number one...sorry Notre Dame. If it helps, we'll have U of M apologize for their idiot coach at your 50 yard line. To point number two...that option might not be around any longer. If you wait past the Big East crumble, and the Big Ten is up to 14-15 teams...you might want to start contingency plans for not having an athletic program...

I get what you're saying here (that the Irish are as stubborn as it gets, which is absolutely the truth), and that they'll hold out as long possible. From there, you're surmising that Notre Dame will wait until the BCS is gone to finally join a conference, because they'll have to. So my question back to that is: what conference? Everyone will be at 16. No room left. Things are going to start happening fast now. Just look at the Big 12. Colorado announces they're going to the Pac-10. Nebraska then pulls the trigger a day later and says they're out. Now Texas has a conference call on Tuesday. This is all about Notre Dame. The Big Ten wants Notre Dame, the Irish are holding out. So now, the Big Ten is playing this colossal game of Jenga, pulling pieces out. They floated Nebraska and Missouri out there early to shake things up. The Irish didn't move. So the Big Ten made the best pick (Nebraska) and started making motions. Everyone in the Big 12 freaked, and Colorado jumped ship. That particular Jenga stack is now falling. Will that be enough? Let's find out. If not, the next Jenga game happens with the Big East. The Big Ten will start making motions there. ACC and SEC will then fast-track a deal, just like Pac-10/Colorado, but this time with two teams. Big Ten will then go in and make a grab as well (probably Rutgers). That will cause the Big East to crumble as well. Then what? The Big Ten will be up to 13 at that point, and they won't stay uneven for long. Hell, they might even take two Big East teams (Syracuse?) and then there are only two spots left. At that point, there's going to be some major grabbing going on, as all the conferences scramble to reach the inevitable "super conference" mark. The Big Ten will hold out as long as possible, but we're not going to miss out on decent fits like Missouri, Kansas, Maryland, etc. for too long. Otherwise, we'll end up with someone like Cincinnati. Notre Dame I think sees the writing on the wall. Or at least their admins do, and that's all that matters. The die-hard fans can threaten all they want, give up their season tickets, etc. But who cares? You know how long you have to wait for tickets? They'd be snatched up within 10 seconds. And the money they'd make from the BTN would more than make up for some stubborn Domers withholding alumni donations. Notre Dame will join, and it will happen within the next six months (watch the Big East). Count on it.

be sure to visit during the season, to see all the craziness in full effect. I'm pretty sure you can count on that!

Doubtful. They don't have money issues and it's not like they have a hard time getting people to play them. They lose some of their mystique if they join a conference. They're going through a tough patch now, but they'll right the ship. The truth is, joining a conference probably has more negatives than positives for them. How about if the conference shakeups result in a restructuring of the BCS, such that if you are not in one of the "super-conferences", you are no longer eligible for a "BCS" bowl game.

There's only one real home for Michigan State Univesity fans! http://www.spartantailgate.com/forums/msu-red-cedar-message-board/ (what in the world is this?! lol!)

I'll be shocked if they don't. I think when all's said and done, they're going to have no choice. It's going to be "join a conference" or "drop athletics". It's seriously going to be that big of an ultimatum for them.

If Texas doesn't join (which I'd peg at about 33% at this point), then this is a very likely scenario. I think to capture the NY market, it's going to require all three of Rutgers, Syracuse, and Notre Dame. None of them could do it alone, not even Notre Dame.

Well, nobody really knows. Notre Dame's fans, especially the older ones, would rather die than join a conference, especially the Big Ten. It goes back to the time of the Revolutionary War, I think... At any rate, last time around, we didn't have the Big Ten Network, they had that HUGE NBC contract, and they were one of the best teams in the land. There were so many conferences that it didn't really matter if they were independent, and they were able to jerk the BCS around to get a sweet deal. Fast-forward to 2010/2011. There is a real possibility that the BCS is going to be completely changed, that conference affiliation might actually be a requirement. That NBC contract PALES in comparison to the BTN revenue sharing (which you share equally no matter how your team does this year or that), Comcast might kill that contract anyway once the NBC sale goes through, and Notre Dame's football is on a down-swing. My guess is that the Notre Dame admins (who wanted to join last time around) are probably asking the Big Ten to set things in motion so that they can gracefully make an offer that will allow them to save face with the bluebloods in their ranks. That will require some conferences to crumble (see: Big 12, Big East), and the Big Ten to get some additional teams in front of Notre Dame (see: Nebraska, Texas/Missouri/Rutgers/?), but I think it will inevitably work out. The biggest question at this point is what will Texas do, and if they go the way of the Big Ten, will they be dragging someone with them? The hope is that if Texas DOES come (which would be GREAT for everyone in the Big Ten AND Texas), they can come alone (another Texas team would add almost no value), and then we can either expand a big to the south/east (Missouri?) or try to find a way to capture the New York market (Syracuse/Rutgers along with Notre Dame).

For what it's worth, this whole expansion deal initially revolved around Notre Dame (and I'm just a fan, so all this is speculation). You guys became available once all the discussions and posturing started, and emerged as a total no-brainer fit for the conference. I don't think people were thinking of you guys early on, because at that point, it was still possible that we were going to 12 teams total, and that one team would have to be Notre Dame. But once it became inevitable that some conferences were going to crumble, you guys make total sense. Notre Dame makes total sense. Texas makes a lot of sense, but they have some extra political baggage that needs to be dumped, and they also need to know that they would join the Big Ten as an equal member, something they haven't had to deal with in the past. Texas might be a HUGE school from athletics/revenue/TV market/etc perspective, but rest assured, the Big Ten is so stable that adding Texas just makes sense; the survival in no ways depends on that though. So you guys are in, Notre Dame is ASSUMED (because...if they don't, this whole shakeup is going to be questionable). If Texas comes, they might have to drag aTm with them, and that leaves one more spot. That spot could be any of Missouri, Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt, Maryland, UConn, or Kansas. If Texas DOESN'T come, then that's three open spots, and then it could be any of the names mentioned above. Should be an interesting few weeks here (pieces should start to fall in place quickly though, at this point).

And FYI, this is what the Big Ten is about. On the field, court, or whatever, it's always competitive. We even have our heated rivalries (in fact, I think I even heard some Iowa fans talking about you!) but at the end of the day, we all know that we're equal players in the strongest conference out there. And that goes far beyond athletics. Ok, I have to go wring my hands over our basketball situation a bit more. Anyway, one more time, welcome aboard!

hopefully izzo will still be there. Sheesh, tell me about it. This has been sort of an "exciting" week for us Spartans... he'd be a fool to leave. he is legendary there, why wouldn't someone want to finish their career where they became a legend, especially to a place where lebron might not even be. the cavs don't need a coach, they just need lebron and chris bosh and they will win a title. they should get chris bosh, hire back paul silas, and leave izzo alone. Trust me, that's how we all feel. =\ Oh well, we'll see. At the very least, at least some positive news (Nebraska!) in the otherwise uncertain day for MSU sports.

hopefully izzo will still be there. Sheesh, tell me about it. This has been sort of an "exciting" week for us Spartans...

Thanks! For what it's worth, we held a poll on our end of things recently, on peoples' feelings about Nebraska joining the conference. The results were OVERWHELMINGLY positive! I say that, just because I've been reading other B12 boards, and they've been saying some pretty negative things about you guys. But to hell with them, you're in the Big Ten now! And again, welcome!

Glad to have you aboard! You guys fit in great with our conference! Looking forward to some good athletics, as well as some great academic collaboration!