Osborne's comments on the Big 10 expansion

What is the NCAA's stance on this? I understand why schools want to remain independent, but would it help if all schools joined a conference then restructuring takes place? I see this being a never ending battle.

 
What is the NCAA's stance on this? I understand why schools want to remain independent, but would it help if all schools joined a conference then restructuring takes place? I see this being a never ending battle.
I don't know if they even have a stance. What oversight do they have in these situations?

 
Then who would you all schedule for your non-conference games?
Nevermind that we end up adding these crap teams after others bail out of their contracts. It's happened for years-someone bails and the field of teams with open dates is very, very thin-so we get stuck with Sunbelt teams(or worse).

 
EDIT--i have no idea how this post got here, it was in an open window from early early this morning, and my internet has been acting funny. it was in regards to whether or not colorado should be a bcs school between knapplc and beachbuffs. its freaking me out, man. i posted this before i ate dinner last night, and couldnt figure out why it never showed up.

i think the point knapplc is trying to make is that the BCS/DIV 1 is overcrowded with schools with programs that will never, ever, actually contend for the championship, and are perfectly fine with that. why not kick them into their own division/level? why even have BCS/non-BCS schools in the same division? the whole think makes no sense if you really look at it. do i think colorado falls into that category, eh, no. i think theyre BCS level, but mostly based on their past. they butter start kicking it in the azz though and figure out if top level football is something they really want to strive for, or if its just a nice thing to have on the letterhead.

But i do think it would make a ton of sense to trim down the number of BCS schools. Which is why it will never happen.

 
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As long as they have NBC money why would they care.
Viewership on NBC has been in a decline for the past few years, until 2009 when the spectacle of Weis' termination loomed over the season. There'll be the inevitable bump in interest in the next year or two over Kelly's Heroes, but if (and this is a big if) Kelly can't turn it around and they stay mediocre, and the viewership fades again, and they're in a bind in 2015, does NBC renew that contract? You have to wonder.

Basically, allying themselves with a conference like the Big 10 assures Notre Dame of a continued income, not necessarily dependent solely on what they do on the field. The problem they face is, if they don't pull the trigger now, the Big 10 may not have another expansion for another two decades, if ever.
If the Big 10 wants Notre Dame all they have to do is hard ball them. It would be as easy as telling Notre Dame the Big 10 teams they schedule are no longer allowed to play them unless they join the Big 10. Why should the Big 10 support Notre Dame when the Big 10 no longer gets anything in return. It used to be lucrative for the Big 10 to play Notre Dame because of the TV viewership and Notre Dame was good, Neither of which is the case now. Notre Dame needs the Big 10 more than the Big 10 needs Notre Dame. If Notre Dame doesnt accept, the Big 10 should leave them out to dry and refuse to play them, that would leave Notre Dame in a heap of trouble. Have fun filling your schedule out with MAC teams and see what kind of respect you get then.

With the way the Bowl system is set up Notre Dame needs to join a conference to be successful. They only had two options for bowl games this year because all the others have conference tie ins and Notre Dame wasnt ranked in the top 8. How many years can they turn down bowl games before it really starts to hurt?

 
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The fact of the matter is this... the big 12 does need some re-organizing, and everyone knows this.

The fact the Nebraska has gotten allot of great press the last 3 weeks isn't unfounded either, but the North has got to be more competitive.

KSU made a nice run, but I doubt "Mr Pinocchio" will be there more than 4 more years.

We do need to balance out the conference, and the Big 10 will add a team next year.

Whether or not this includes a current big 12 team, I don't know.

I do know it won't be notre dame. That university likes having the freedom to do what it wants to do, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

So, with the Big 10 expanding, it is only natural to discuss the big 12 (ranked second to last this year, of conferences) and strengthening it for the future.

I don't mind having a Texas only southern big 12 personally. You would have major powerhouses to balance it and make it fair.

It would restore some traditions, keep others, and get rid of the riff raff in the north.

 
Just read that Notre Dame isn't interested at all in the Big Ten. Weird. :dunno
nothing weird about it because they love the obscene amounts of cash they get for television deals and merchandising. plus if they are ranked 8th in the BCS standing, the irish are granted an automatic BCS at-large bid.

and if notre dame were to actually join a conference, it would be admitting that they are just another football team. and they could *never* do that because then touchdown jesus would cry.

 
Just read that Notre Dame isn't interested at all in the Big Ten. Weird. :dunno
nothing weird about it because they love the obscene amounts of cash they get for television deals and merchandising. plus if they are ranked 8th in the BCS standing, the irish are granted an automatic BCS at-large bid.

and if notre dame were to actually join a conference, it would be admitting that they are just another football team. and they could *never* do that because then touchdown jesus would cry.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say Knapplc wasn't being serious. it has been talked about at length about the benefits ND has staying independent. No matter how week there schedule if they have 2 loses or less they will not only be in the BCS they will get a chance to go to the NC.

 
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Just read that Notre Dame isn't interested at all in the Big Ten. Weird. :dunno
nothing weird about it because they love the obscene amounts of cash they get for television deals and merchandising. plus if they are ranked 8th in the BCS standing, the irish are granted an automatic BCS at-large bid.

and if notre dame were to actually join a conference, it would be admitting that they are just another football team. and they could *never* do that because then touchdown jesus would cry.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say Knapplc wasn't being serious. it has been talked about at length about the benefits ND has staying independent. No matter how week there schedule if they have 2 loses or less they will not only be in the BCS they will get a chance to go to the NC.
Actually I was being serious. :)

I'm not sure where I've said it, but I've said that Notre Dame is at a crossroads. They must become a relevant force again or there's no incentive for NBC to renew that contract in 2015. Imagine USC back in the 1970s - powerful, churning out great teams, relevant. Say they were independent and got a Notre Dame contract with a major network. Now the previous 20 years of relative irrelevance occurs in the 1980s and 1990s. It happened to a powerful program like USC with a conference, recruits in their backyard, and all the amenities like facilities, boosters, etc. You think that TV contract they had would weather two decades of irrelevance? Nobody cared about USC football in the 80s and 90s. That contract would be gone, they wouldn't have had the Pac-10 to fall back on, and they would have devolved into obscurity.

This is the danger Notre Dame faces right now. They're gambling by rejecting outright any offer from the Big 10. They're saying they think they're going to remain relevant, that Kelly is going to rebuild what Wies allowed to waste away, and that people are going to maintain interest.

Kelly is building essentially from scratch. The bonfire that used to be Notre Dame football is now a tiny campfire, and it won't take much to quash those flames down to embers.

Notre Dame had better be very, very sure of themselves before this Big 10 expansion talk fully turns away.

 
***Public apology alert***

"HACK" I STAND 100% CORRECTED.

The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is worth $101 million

This is the most valuable team in college football.

Notre Dame's athletic department operates under the umbrella of the university and is not run as its own distinct entity. As a result, a much higher share of profits are retained by university for academic use. The football team's contributes about $20 million a season to the academics

Also since they operate independently all of the $9 million in annual television revenue they make they keep. (They also pick up money from The Big East for basketball.) Since 1966, every Irish home football game has been a sellout except one -- a 1973 Thanksgiving Day game vs. Air Force. (It not 1962 - 2009 but in a state with Ball State, Indiana State, Indiana, Valpo, Butler, Purdue, and Evansville with D1 football; not bad)

This is why they aren't going anywhere:

If Notre Dame finishes in the top 8 of BCS teams, they are automatically selected. If they finish in the top 12, they are considered for a BCS spot. Notre Dame now receives $4.5 million for playing in a BCS game and $1 million when they do not.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that the countries flagship CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY will retain it contract with NBC.

 
A lot of Notre Dame's place in the world is predicated on everything kind of remaining status quo, right? That's what I'm on about. I don't think the status quo will remain.

Congress has taken notice of the BCS. If the Justice Dept. decides to scrutinize the BCS system under the microscope of the Sherman Act it will fail. At that point we either go back to the old system, go into a system where everyone is allowed to go to the "championship series," or (more likely) we finally move toward a playoff. The whole paring down of the 120 teams business that I keep talking about is not reality.

How likely is it that the DOJ gets involved with the BCS? Hard to say. Depends on how much stink some of these senators and congressmen want to make.

So anyway, it's not (probably) likely that this all happens, but it could.

No matter how you slice it, Notre Dame is taking a gamble.

 
A lot of Notre Dame's place in the world is predicated on everything kind of remaining status quo, right? That's what I'm on about. I don't think the status quo will remain.

Congress has taken notice of the BCS. If the Justice Dept. decides to scrutinize the BCS system under the microscope of the Sherman Act it will fail. At that point we either go back to the old system, go into a system where everyone is allowed to go to the "championship series," or (more likely) we finally move toward a playoff. The whole paring down of the 120 teams business that I keep talking about is not reality.

How likely is it that the DOJ gets involved with the BCS? Hard to say. Depends on how much stink some of these senators and congressmen want to make.

So anyway, it's not (probably) likely that this all happens, but it could.

No matter how you slice it, Notre Dame is taking a gamble.
TBH the government should stay out of the BCS debate. The government would find a way to make it worse than it already is.

 
TBH the government should stay out of the BCS debate. The government would find a way to make it worse than it already is.
Maybe. But if it's a choice of involving the government and maybe the BCS goes away or leave the government out of it and we keep the BCS, I'm more willing to roll the dice with the government.

 
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