schriznoeder

My plan is similar to Muck's and IA State Husker's, with a few tweeks.... Expand to 20 teams (yes 20), and split into four five-team divisions as follows: WEST - Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska WEST CENTRAL - Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin EAST CENTRAL – Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Virginia EAST – Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, Penn State, Rutgers *Please note: All new members are part of the AAU, which will appease the Big Ten brass. And many of the important rivalries (Ohio State-Michigan, Indiana-Purdue, Kansas-Missouri, Duke-North Carolina) are kept intact by this arrangement. Each year on a rotating basis, the divisions pair up to form two “super divisions.” For example, in 2014 the West and West Central divisions would pair up, as would the East and East Central divisions. Then in 2015, it would be West and East Central in one super division and East and West Central in the other. The ten teams in each super division play the other teams in their respective super division round-robin style (ala the new Big XII), for a total of nine conference games – also appeasing the Big Ten brass. The winners of each super division then play in the Big Ten Championship game. Viola! I know, this arrangement sounds a little far-fetched, but just think about it for a minute. First off, it greatly expands the footprint of the Big Ten and adds massive amounts of fuel to the revenue-making machine that this conference has become. Secondly, rather than being stuck with two stagnant divisions where one side can become far more dominant than the other (think old Big XII North), this arrangement keeps the balance of power in check. Thirdly, even though some of the new teams don’t bring much to the table football-wise (but really, neither did Rutgers or Maryland), it’s balanced out by the fact that the new Big Ten would easily remain the most dominant basketball conference in the country. And lastly, I realize that several of the teams in my hypothetical conference have recently moved to, or are committed to moving to, other conferences. But I find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t at least pick up the phone and listen if Jim Delaney were to call.

Unfortunately, pic-wise there's just not a lot out there for either one of these lovely ladies...

Good point, Duke! Luckily, the ship was only about 1/4 Nebraska fans. The rest were people from all over the world (mostly Europe and South America), with many of them being quite attractive. And there was actually a pretty good number from the Husker contingency that were easy on the eyes as well (namely Alex Henery's wife and Matt Davison's assistant).

I went on it last year as part of the pep band. It was a good time! I had dinner one night with Jeff Kinney, and got to chat with several other former players/coaches during the trip. I just wish the cruise would have been a little longer. Sounds like this year's itinerary is better - too bad I don't get to go this time. Have fun!

Here's the plan that I submitted to the B1G Network a few weeks back when they were asking fans for expansion ideas. It's not quite as grand as the plan mentioned above, but is is more academically- and East Coast-focused, so it has a (slightly) better chance of actually coming to fruition... Expand to 20 teams (yes 20), and split into four five-team divisions as follows: WEST - Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska WEST CENTRAL - Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin EAST CENTRAL – Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Virginia EAST – Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, Penn State, Rutgers *Please note: All new members are part of the AAU, which will appease the Big Ten brass. And many of the important rivalries (Ohio State-Michigan, Indiana-Purdue, Kansas-Missouri, Duke-North Carolina) are kept intact by this arrangement. Each year on a rotating basis, the divisions pair up to form two “super divisions.” For example, in 2014 the West and West Central divisions would pair up, as would the East and East Central divisions. Then in 2015, it would be West and East Central in one super division and East and West Central in the other. The ten teams in each super division play the other teams in their respective super division round-robin style (ala the new Big XII), for a total of nine conference games – also appeasing the Big Ten brass. The winners of each super division then play in the Big Ten Championship game. Viola! I know, this arrangement sounds a little far-fetched, but just think about it for a minute. First off, it greatly expands the footprint of the Big Ten and adds massive amounts of fuel to the revenue-making machine that this conference has become. Secondly, rather than being stuck with two stagnant divisions where one side can become far more dominant than the other (think old Big XII North), this arrangement keeps the balance of power in check. Thirdly, even though some of the new teams don’t bring much to the table football-wise (but really, neither did Rutgers or Maryland), it’s balanced out by the fact that the new Big Ten would easily become the most dominant basketball conference in the country. And lastly, I realize that several of the teams in my hypothetical conference have recently moved to, or are committed to moving to, other conferences. But I find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t at least pick up the phone and listen if Jim Delaney were to call.

"Nebraska's Bo Pelini talked to people at Penn State but is not in the mix, I've heard from two highly placed sources." It looks like the Monday afternoon rumor mill is hard at work.