Let’s get Notre Dame in the new BIG!

[chamrocck]

To me Stanford is obviously academically a powerhouse. They are in Silicon Valley and would give BIG a presence there. Their other sports are pretty darn good too.  They rise up in football once in awhile, like a Northwestern. It’s hard to say you are on the west coast but have a serious gap in northern CA. I still can’t believe Stanford went to the ACC, maybe waiting for next BIG expansion.

[Madcows]

With the BigXII interested in adding basketball only schools, wonder if the BigTen would be interested in that as well? The BigTen is arguably the best football and volleyball conference currently, now they can make a run at being the best football/basketball/volleyball conference. Maybe add a Gonzaga and Creighton and go to pods for all non-football sports and give those 2 schools a quarter share. Gonzaga would say yes, have 4 travel partners and some closer games and get more money. I would think the same for Creighton. Play each team in your pod home-home yearly and then once against every other pod rotation home and away. And lets face it, a home/home with Creighton in both basketball and volleyball would be great for the state. I'm sure basketball fans in Washington and Oregon would love home/home with Gonzaga. Plus the fun of Dana Altman returning to Creighton. 

 

Pods:

UCLA/USC/Oregon/Washington/Gonzaga

Nebraska/Creighton/Iowa/Minnesota/Wisconsin

Northwestern/Illinois/Purdue/Indiana/Ohio St

Michigan St/Michigan/Penn State/Maryland/Rutgers

 

A lot more short trips for each school in non-revenue sports (I don't believe either Gonzaga have opponents they could bus to, now they could have at least 2 each which is another incentive for those two programs), would add good rivalries in non-football sports and add 2 premier teams in basketball and another good team for volleyball. It would add revenue to the conference through more teams in post-season play for conference in a variety of sports and would help off-set the quarter share that the two new schools would get.  BigTen tournament could be 12 (or 20 depending on the number of participants in that sport, basketball would be 20) with winner of each pod getting a 1st round bye.   Could be a win for the conference without having to stretch to get some even more distant football teams (looking at you Florida St and Texas A&M) in the conference. And then there is still the chance of adding more football conference schools, by adding ND, Stanford, Cal and UConn which would bolster both the football and basketball dominance without having to extend travel much for the non-revenue sports. 

[TGHusker]

On 3/2/2024 at 2:50 PM, chamrocck said:

. I still can’t believe Stanford went to the ACC, maybe waiting for next BIG expansion.

Yes - that is a real head scratch for me. The cost involved with all their games out east - wt ND being the closest I believe. 

[GSG]

1 hour ago, TGHusker said:

Yes - that is a real head scratch for me. The cost involved with all their games out east - wt ND being the closest I believe. 

 

Cal and SMU are in the ACC as well next year

[Toe]

On 3/2/2024 at 3:50 PM, chamrocck said:

I still can’t believe Stanford went to the ACC

 

The ACC needed to keep their membership numbers up for contractual reasons in case Florida State and Clemson bolt. Otherwise Stanford would've been stuck in the Pac-4.

[chamrocck]

With buzz about Clemson and FSU wanting out of the ACC, I present to you the BIG with 4 six team pods. Not sure if Notre Dame fits anymore but I’d prioritize them. If Notre Dame is out then take both North Carolina and Miami.  Football and basketball are set with this. Or can we just kick Rutgers out, haha.
 

USC

UCLA

Washington 

Oregon

Stanford

Utah or Colorado

 

Nebraska 

Iowa

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Illinois

Northwestern

 

Ohio State 

Michigan 

Michigan State

Indiana

Purdue
Penn State

 

Maryland 

Rutgers

Clemson

Florida State

Notre Dame?

North Carolina or Miami

 

If Notre Dame is in you could put them in the other pod with the Indiana schools and swap Penn State. But the Irish are more national presence so to play in NY and FL works too.

[soup]

So would the Big10 be the AFC, or the NFC, and Nebraska is in the Central division?  ;-)

 

I mean this is where this is going right?

[Madcows]

4 hours ago, soup said:

So would the Big10 be the AFC, or the NFC, and Nebraska is in the Central division?  ;-)

 

I mean this is where this is going right?

 

Pretty much, though I wonder if the BigXII would take the rest of the ACC or if some would go to the SEC.

 

After that, I'm assuming conferences will try to then squeeze all the juice out of the networks and we will see a merge with basketball only schools (Gonzaga/Marquette/Creighton/G'Town/St Marys etc) to these conferences as well and give the basketball schools a smaller payout, but more than they would get in their current conference.