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I keep seeing the "14 team Big Ten" idea punted around online, and I'm not sure I think its a good idea. College Super Leagues strike me as being more unwieldy than its worth; and I dislike the thought that a football player could theoretically go all 4 years without playing every team in their own Conference. The WAC ended up imploding, and I see minor signs that all is not rosy in the Super East either. That said, adding those teams pretty much would give Jim Delany the ability to drive around the country in a solid gold carriage drawn by albino penguins screaming "I'm rich bitch!" at the top of his voice. Texas alone might do the trick for that. I still think the Texas Legislature is going to be the major obstacle in all of this; the Big Twelve exists because of them, and they will not take kindly to the meal ticket/centerpiece of the Conference running off to join them Yankees. Think about it this way...the Great Midwest (now C-USA) was originally a basketball only conference, so a super conference can work, if it wants to. The Big East is primarily a basketball conference with football just because. The BTN is jointly owned by the conference and Comcast. The conference receives $0.75/subscriber per month in the eight states which have Big Ten Teams and $1/subscriber elsewhere. The 'horns would always be aired nationally, always be in HD (BTN, ESPN, ABC) and get that add revenue. 75 million households (currently) ads up. Meanwhile, The Mtn., is in more when combining Vs., the MTN, and CBS College Sports, and not all events are in HD. The Pac Ten will face the same distribution issues, and near the same scheduling issues. . State colleges receive less and less state funding every fiscal year, but fan backlash in terms of away travel may seem more if an issue. Heck even today, I heard OU fans openly tell me that the Sooners are the "franchise program" in the Big XII. It was Bob Bullock, the TX representative, who truly forced the issue of the Big XII to take only Tech and Baylor, as he was an alumni of each school, not Gov. Ann Richards. He died in 1999.

With the Big XII, Baylor or TCU was the key point which the Texas Legislature debated. Heck, they could take aTm to give Texas a travel partner then Pitt as Penn State's travel partner. In terms of funding, both schools receive state funding via the PUF (Permanent University Fund), an endowment specific for those two school. UT System receives 2/3 of the profits with the other third going to the TAMU system. That could be their main legislative funding stumbling block, but they account for less than 20% of each operating budget. Plus current Gov. Rick Perry is a former Aggie cheer, er yell-leader and his main opponent US Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is a Texas Ex. Academically, any possible move may also allow UT to enter the CIC (Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), a consortium of the 11 Big Ten universities plus the University of Chicago. CIC universities confer, on average, 15% of all PhD degrees awarded annually in the US. In addition, CIC members engage in $6 billion in research funding (3.2 billion which is federal), accounting for 12% of the total federal research funds awarded annually. Also take note that the Pac-10 has hired former Big XII commissioner (1998-2007) Kevin Weiberg as a Deputy Commissioner and COO this week.

Texans Just jealous they have their own power grid, huh?

If admitted, nearly all of the state of Texas which does not have BTN will have to get it due to the Texas Exs who would always see their teams (football, basketball, volleyball) in national games and never in Standard Def. Athletics, academics, research, graduate studies, incremental TV households for the BTN, national reputation/fan base, the "in" to a football recruiting hotbed of La/Tex, a great college town...what's not to like? Losing Tech and Baylor as rivals is worse for those schools than for UT. Sort of makes the thought of adding Mizzou or Rutgers seem silly.

Welcome. You may want to read all the posts on the FAQ pages first. http://boards.sportslogos.net/index.php?showtopic=16820&st=20&p=866898entry866898

And the second part of the Rutgers AD quote was, "?It is not our place to speculate on the expansion plans of any other conference.? Plus, he wont be making any decisions, the school president will have the invitation brought to him/her and the school's Board of Trustees to look over. The Big Ten said the process on even deciding to expand will take 12-18 months, so no need to pull the e-break after 48 hours.

Houston is not small, with 30,000 students, it is just that they have a stadium which seats 12,000 less than TCU but like TCU in the Metroplex, the city of Houston has other options for the entertainment dollar. They only average 25,000 fans, but both schools would sell out their home games if given entry to the Big XII. As for making the Mountain West a BCS conference by adding Boise is still a mystery to me. The conference made the decision to start their own network (which is not even seen in the states they occupy), Versus, and CBS College Sports because they and their fans did not want play at non-traditional times/days. That is the opposite of what Boise does as they rightfully believe that a Friday night game on ESPN means that the nation sees you. Plus, adding Boise as a market does not really assist you, especially if you get rid of San Diego. You add Boise and still nobody will watch since nobody CAN watch.

Too small, too outdoors. That thing is locked in Indy, with perhaps an occasional token gesture in Detroit. Considering The University of Michigan is all of about 20-30 minutes west of Detroit on I-94 I think Ford Field will be more than just a "token gesture." My guess is if it is always an indoor game then it would alternate between the two. The Metrodome could be in play as well. But, early December is still very reasonable for football in these parts so an outdoor game isn't at all out of the question. That could put Soldier Field, Browns Stadium, Heinz Field, and Paul Brown Stadium into the mix as well. Even if Pitt is the choice (which I think it should not be), Heinz Field will be hard to have a game at. The Big Ten will move to add permanent BYE week effective in 2010, thus allowing for a game following Thanksgiving. The WPIAL title games are held there and that may be too much impact on the grass without the possibility of reseeding or replacing it that late in the year.

Look at revenues and beyond football. The conference is slowly evolving into Texas and the 11 dwarfs. The Big Ten has better revenue sharing, higher revenue PERIOD, and is not dominated by one single institution. There are old Big 8 schools that are not very happy with the current situation in the campus. Add in the academic prestige of being affiliated with these large research institutions, and suddenly the Big XII does not appear to be far superior to the Big Ten. I would class this as unlikely, but Nebraska has apparently frequently come off the worst in challenging Texas over the direction of the Conference and doesn't have THAT much tying it to the Big XII outside of tradition. What bitter rivalry is there precisely to tie Nebraska to the Conference? Oklahoma used to be THE rivalry, but the short-sighted Big XII scheduling setup shot that one in the face. Nebraska-Kansas and Nebraska-Missouri has been very unbalanced historically to the point that well...I don't think of it as a rivalry in the traditional sense. Kansas State might have gotten it going in the late-90s and early 2000s, but then Bill Callahan and Ron Prince happened. Colorado is the closest thing Nebraska has to a division rival, and that is both a recent development and more a rivalry on Colorado's end than Nebraska's. While I highly doubt Nebraska would be invited to, or accept a proposal to join the Big Ten, I wouldn't completely rule it out either in light of those factors. I think the biggest issue would be whether or not Nebraska thinks they can still recruit in Texas if they bail on the Big XII. Come on! From the other thread, you would think you would remember that research dollars NEVER compare to the revenue seen from an athletic program!

When I started this topic, I alluded to the fact that all 11 schools are members of the AAU, and not that it was a requirement for membership. The "source" mentioned AAU because Notre Dame is at the highest level of Carnegie classification, RU/VH: Research Universities (very high research activity). All Big Ten schools possess this classification as well. The "suspected" schools who also have this are: Rutgers, Pitt, Iowa State, Cincinnati, Missouri, Nebraska. Syracuse does not meet this classification.

You cannot have it in Lambeau because teams would have to stay in Appleton and fans would have to stay too far from the city if you want to have a complete celebration weekend. It would be played at Lucas Oil or Ford Field. If a Big XII team is taken, then I think the Big XII would either take in TCU or even try to get Arkansas. If a Big East school is taken, then probably C-USA will be raided.

WVU, Louisville, and Cincinnati are not in AAU. Plus Cincinnati only sponsors five womens sports.

1-Missouri is a founding member of the Big 8. While gaining St. Louis as a market is good, there are others which could be seen as better, namely NJ/NYC for Rutgers. 2-Syracuse was going to jump to the ACC before the Virginia Legislature got in the way to squeeze VT in.

Official Statement Dec. 15, 2009 The Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors (COP/C) discussed the future of the Big Ten Conference at its winter meetings on Dec. 6 in Park Ridge, Illinois. The following statement is issued by the Big Ten office on behalf of the COP/C. Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference in June of 1990 and its addition has been an unqualified success. In 1993, 1998 and 2003 the COP/C, in coordination with the commissioner's office, reviewed the issue of conference structure and expansion. The COP/C believes that the timing is right for the conference to once again conduct a thorough evaluation of options for conference structure and expansion. As a result, the commissioner was asked to provide recommendations for consideration by the COP/C over the next 12 to 18 months. The COP/C understands that speculation about the conference is ongoing. The COP/C has asked the conference office to obtain, to the extent possible, information necessary to construct preliminary options and recommendations without engaging in formal discussions with leadership of other institutions. If and when such discussions become necessary the COP/C has instructed Commissioner James E. Delany to inform the Chair of the COP/C, Michigan State University President Lou Anna K. Simon, and then to notify the commissioner of the affected conference(s). Only after these notices have occurred will the Big Ten engage in formal expansion discussions with other institutions. This process will allow the Big Ten to evaluate options, while respecting peer conferences and their member institutions. No action by the COP/C is expected in the near term. No interim statements will be made by the Big Ten or the COP/C until after the COP/C receives the commissioner's recommendations and the COP/C determines next steps, if any, in this area. Now before everyone goes (insert your school here) in terms of who should be asked to join, please keep this very big point in mind. Every Big Ten school is a member of the Association of American Universities. Membership in AAU is by invitation and is based on the high quality of programs of academic research and scholarship and undergraduate, graduate, and professional education in a number of fields, as well as general recognition that a university is outstanding by reason of the excellence of its research and education programs. Note: Notre Dame does not fully qualify as it is basically a liberal arts university, but they could make an exception for them I take it. AAU Membership

The spires to mimick the University of Tampa's Plant Hall is very cheesy, and would/should be eliminated during value engineering. Outside if that, the can go for it. As for roofs, if a stadia has a retractable roof which is two fold, is it " like Rod Laver Arena/ AmsterdamArenA or any other two movable roofs"? Give it up. If the panels open and close at the same time as it looks as it is designed, then it is like Miller Park. Let's just hope that if apporved, that workers don't die during its construction. And "belly", if this does occur before the Marlins, it jsut means that Tampa is a city which does things, and Miami just wants to be on TV looking like the 3rd world of North America. (Note: I say that from living in both cities before the age of 18).