Big Ten's 12th team?

[BCWWF]

Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Missouri, Notre Dame, Kentucky, Syracuse, Indiana State, Miami U of Ohio, Louisville, Cincinnati, Ohio?

[Supreme Olajuwon]

I don't know how conference realignments work, but if the conferences have a say in it, I can't see the Big 12 being willing to give up the revenue from their football championship game which is what would happen if Mizzou went. No way the SEC lets Kentucky's basketball revenue leave. And I can't see the Big East being willing to give up one of their football teams since they only have 8 now.

I could see Notre Dame leaving the Big East, but that all depends on NBC. The Big Ten has wanted Notre Dame for years. They already play Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue every year in football, so why not just make it official? Everyone and their mother wants to see Notre Dame and Ohio State schedule each other. It makes so much sense.

[BCWWF]

Notre Dame is the only team that really makes sense, but they get so much money from NBC. I don't think the Big Ten would be interested in Notre Dame minus football.

As for other stuff, I'm not sure if this is true, but somebody told me that the Big Ten had before said they would only take a school from a state bordering the current conference.

[Emperor Smeat]

Rumor is if the Big 12 were to lose a team, it's either going to be Missouri or Nebraska. Missouri fits the requirement of having to border a member college's state while Nebraska has been upset the past few years of the pro-Texas/pro-Big 12 South bias from the conference.

Notre Dame, like Army and Navy, is too deep into tradition of being an Independent to join a conference. If they wanted to join for the money or status of being in a BCS conference, they would have done it years ago. Only reason Notre Dame is in a conference for other sports is because those sports have playoffs and don't allow auto-bids to independent schools.

[Hanso Amore]

Combine the BIg Ten and Big East into a super conference!!!!!!! Then Drop like 5-6 teams to the MAC.

[BCWWF]

My friend and I have been e-mailing a lot about this. He thinks Mizzou has a good chance of joining. I think Nebraska is more appealing and has an enrollment and athletic department that would be more similar to the Big Ten. I also think Pitt fits in well geographically, but playing at Heinz Field probably doesn't help.

Anyway, if something does actually happen here—and I wouldn't be surprised if nothing at all comes of this—I think the Big 12 is in the most danger of being completely re-worked.

If it looks like the BCS system is going to continue as it is, there are some mid-major schools that could definitely fit in a new conference with the likes of Colorado, Kansas State, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa State.

Utah, BYU, Boise State, Colorado State, TCU to name some.

[RatedGSuperstar]

I don't think Nebraska leaves the Big 12, but Missouri might (they already have a big rivalry against Illinois). I think it's much more likely they get someone like Rutgers, which would open up the conference to the New York market in terms of media coverage and players. With players coming into the conference from Chicago and the New York tri-state area, they probably wouldn't have to worry much about not getting the athletes to compete with other conferences. Plus Rutgers could pass the Big Ten's pretty stringent academic requirements -- they've been very clear in the past that academics are just as important as athletic success when looking at possible new members.

The real problems come up when you try to set up divisions. Almost every geographical alignment would either result in lop-sided divisions or splitting up important annual rivalries. If you go East-West, you pretty much have Wisconsin and Iowa dominating what would be the West division; if you go North-South you probably have to split up the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry (unless you do that by design for the occasional Big Ten Championship Game between the two).

[BCWWF]

Theoretically, why even have divisions? With 11 teams, as far as I understand Minnesota plays Wisconsin and Iowa every year while rotating the rest. Pretty sure Michigan plays Michigan State and Ohio State every year. Why not just have a single table with the top two teams playing?

West
Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
Northwestern
Wisconsin
(Purdue)

East
Indiana
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
(Purdue)

That would be no less unbalanced than the Big 12, to be honest. Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech.

[The Genius]

Rutgers

[BCWWF]

The Big Ten has its ties in the midwest, and while the New York City market is obviously intriguing, I just don't think Rutgers fits.

[BCWWF]

Notre Dame, Missouri or Nebraska are the only three that could make sense. Maybe Pitt.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

The money ND gets from NBC has nothing to do with it. If ND joined a conference they would get make more. Right now they make 9 million/year from NBC, teams in the Big 10 make somewhere around 12 million dollars a year. ND doesn't want to join because they would have to eliminate their traditional games with USC, UCLA, Army & Navy.

I'm probably one of the biggest ND haters I know but I agree with them in that regard.

As for the 12th team in the Big 10 I don't know if it's going to happen anytime soon. I bet people are worried about the domino effect like what happened with the ACC expanding.

[Hanso Amore]

Pitt would be a great pick.