From CFN: * Joe Paterno says that not only would he like to see the Big Ten expand, he knows who he wants to join their club. And more importantly, who he DOESN'T want: "If I had my choice, someone that can give us the biggest TV exposure in the East," Paterno said, offering as possibilities "Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers. Not in that order... There's some pressure, I would suppose, to maybe go back to Notre Dame and ask again, which I would not be happy with. I think they've had their chance." Hard to believe, but Joe Pa seems to be getting better with age. He can still talk trash like he's a first-year coach in the SEC.
That ship has sailed. Any one of the three Big East teams he mentioned would make a good addition to the Big 10. We know from ND's experience several years ago that in issuing a formal invitation to a school to join the conference, the Big 10 considers numerous factors, with sports being only one. Academic philosophy plays a huge part in the process. ND made its decision based on a combination of factors with independence in football being one of several reasons we chose not to join the Big 10.
I don't see Pitt or Syracuse adding much if any.....Pitt would be redundant in household market coverage, but would add a historical rival for the Nits. Syracuse, imho, brings some modest market extension, but little else. From my perspective, I can't really speak to the academics of any but imho Rutgers is the superior addition.....a state school. similar missioins and greater penetration of a vast TV market. Other than that, I see only Kansas or Mizzou being a worthy addition......state schools, similar missions, extending coverage of material markets.
I don't think many, if any at all, ND fans care to be B10 members. The Big East has been a good home for our non-football sports and I think everybody is happy with continuing our Independent status in football. I guess the real question will come if someday the alignment of the Big East Changes and they form an all sports conference with Syracuse/RU/Pit/WVA/Louisville/South Florida/Memphis/East Carolina/UConn/UCF and the remaining teams from the Big East have to form their own conference. Most of if not all the remaining teams don't play football and really don't have overall strong ath programs beyond basketball. This would be a conundrum for the Irish.
Gee, maybe joining the Big Ten can do for some other lucky school what it has done for Penn State. :wink:
Penn States other sports besides football have really thrived in the B10 and while Penn State only occassionaly has been able to break the MIch/OSU dominance of the B10 they have won some B10 championships and in 94 only politics kept them from the Nat'l Title and they were a sec away from playing for the NC 2004? The year that UM beat them on a last second pass from Henning. But if your point was that they have been more Iowa than Michigan that's true. I do think that when ever they let JoePa retire and get a new young (40's/50's) in there the program will be reinvigorated and they could take off on a good run.
If your frame of reference is football only, then one may have an argument that PSU was better served staying independent - I would disagree and would suggest that from a revenue standpoint, over this time particular time frame, they probably were well served by the conference revenue sharing agreement - certainly if you factored in other major sports, they profited handsomely.....when was the last time anybody paid to watch Penn State basketball? From an academic standpoint, it's a no brainer.....access to and participation in the conference research facilities - which are as large and sophisticated as any in the country - and collaboration in joint projects provides a scale and a wide variety of disciplines that has to be an invaluable asset for any major university.....many of which are unaffordable on a standalone basis. Just my opinion.....
I post a small portion of an artilce posted on the web some time ago Hey you old fart JoPa YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE!!!!
I mean this seriously. Why would you leave the Big East for the Big 10? Seriously? You have an easier road to a BCS game in football. Basketball is, at least, as good in the Big East...and I would argue that it is better in the BE. I see the non-revenue sports as a wash. We could go side by side and trade off with one another, but really get no where. I just don't see the benefit. If the Big10 can get into the NJ/NYC market, it would be huge for them...but other than 'prestige' I can't see what there is to be gained in the Big10 athletically speaking.
$$$$$$ Corey, I'm not sure about the source of this data, but it certainly looks reasonable. What school wouldn't want an extra $20 million a year? http://www.slate.com/id/2203927/
Good point. I'd posit that the dynamic of college marketing/media is ever changing and that the Big East isn't that far off the mark from making more $$. The new BCS change will screw the Big10/Pac10 out of a team each year. That is money now gone.
MCG wrote: Still taking shots at Tennessee I see. Well, I bet Joe Pa can't take a tasing like a Florida Corner Back. How do you like that one?
Agreed....but the I can't see the Big East ever going to make up the difference in football revenues. At least in not in our lifetime....
When you look at ''average revenues" of the schools in the Big East you have to realize that many of them such as St. John's, Georgetown, Nova, Providence do not have D-1 football programs. The numbers are somewhat misleading and I would imagine that those that have football programs do considerably better.
Good point Gip.....it's damn hard to generate football revenue without a football team. I wonder if the data referenced took that into account? Do the schools with D1 teams share? I think the point is probably still valid but perhaps not as large a difference.
Not I Tom....CFN wrote that and as I have said it's everywhere you read anything on college football when Tenn is being discussed. And I'm not putting anybody up to it either.... ...but that's way Kiffin wanted it....and he's got it. Let's see if it pays off. On Rutgers.... 20 mil is about all you need to say just the same as all you need to say is the NY market for the Big 10. Seems like a win-win to me and just a step below would be Syracuse but their Big East BB history means a lot to them I am sure.
There are so many reasons to join a conference or to invite another school to join besides football...or even sports. I just can't see incorporating an eastern school just to get the New York market... I would think that the B10 would want to stay regional/midwest. Just my uninformed thoughts.
This article is certain to stimulate discussion....what do you guys think? http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/20...money-dwindles-so-too-should-its-independenc/
That article got a lot of play over on NDNation. Most ND people really feel that the author just doesn't get it with regards to ND. I posted today a listing of the top revenue producers in college football, and since we are #5 it's really hard to get all excited that we need to jump into the B10 so we can add another 6 million (?), doesn't really cut it with ND fans. I don't know what the future holds of course, but if our football team can continues to be in the top 5 in revenue production I don't see us joining a conference because IU gets more TV revenue from it's B10 connection than we do with our connection. If the future is that our record will be consistently more Purdue/IU than the "good ole days", the really nobody will care, maybe not even the B10 if our team is mediocre and the fandom drifts away as a result. Here's a link to a well known ND online fans blog and his response to that article. Rebuttal