The New Big Ten

Rumblings of a Big Ten Expansion have been going on for awhile but especially since the end of last season. The push has begin to move again with a meeting of various school heads will happen in May, though doubtful we will learn anything concrete. I think it will be a fascinating story to follow since the Big Ten hasn't expanded since 1990 when it added Penn State, and actually makes it 11 schools. I really wonder who the next school will be, since some interesting names have come up like Notre Dame.

Notre Dame has been chased after by the Big Ten for awhile, considering its in the perfect location regionally and its a historic program that has a lot of fans. Notre Dame is unlikely because it has no need to be in a Conference, it gets to set its own schedule and basically brings more than enough money on its own. I would like Notre Dame to join since it seems like the best possible choice overall but its incredibly unlikely. Another fun scenario could be the Big Ten poaching a team from another conference like Cincinnati from the Big East, which might lead to an intrastate rivalry for Ohio between OSU and UC. The two hardly ever plan one another considering they are like 2-3 hours a part.

A argument for expansion had to do with both money and competition. The other major conferences like SEC and Big 12 have a set championship game between their divisions, which the Big Ten doesn't. Having 12 teams would allow for an extra game, one that would be a big drawn in viewers and money. Some also were pushing that it would improve the level of competition in the Big Ten which had been on a decline in terms of Bowl Game Wins.

Though I think this year that later argument fell away, the Big Ten was 4-3 in bowl games in this year. Its not total domination by any means but OSU won the Rose Bowl and Penn State took down LSU. They did sweep their BSC Bowl games, so thats a definite improvement over last year where the Big Ten lost in both of the BSC games.

Hopefully something will come out soon...