Accelerated Timetable For Big 10 Expansion

[MeanGreen61]

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/04/big-ten-reps-to-talk-expansion-in-dc-on-sunday.html

An accelerated timetable has emerged, according to sources familiar with the process.

High-ranking Big Ten representatives will meet Sunday afternoon in Washington D.C. to discuss expansion. The timing and location of the session make sense considering the Association of American Universities is holding its semi-annual meetings in D.C. from Sunday-Tuesday, and all 11 Big Ten schools are AAU members.

[forevereagle]

Going to 16 would be a very interesting move. If they do that, could the other leagues follow? That would be the most interesting development of Big 11 expansion.

[GrayEagle]

I believe that the Big 10 will go to 16 if they can get Notre Dame. That would definitely wrech the Big East which would go back to being a basketball conference. If Notre Dame turns them down (which I don't think they will) they would only add Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse. If Notre Dame accepts then I believe that they take Connecticut over Missouri.

At this point, I believe that the Southeastern Conference is the only other conference to expand to 16 teams. They will do it by taking the southern end of the ACC...Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Miami.

The ACC would then probably take West Virginia and at least three from East Carolina, Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida, Central Florida, and maybe Army and Navy. Memphis might also be in that group. Marshall is hurt by a small market and is probably excluded if West Virginia is taken.

I think that the Big 12 and the Pac-10 are both 12 team conferences for now.

The Mountain West, smelling a chance to become a Big Six member will expand to 12 or 14. They might consider adding Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Houston, and UTEP

From there it gets crazy. There could be as few as five left in the WAC and six left in CUSA and too far apart for a merger. San Jose and Idaho may be forced to drop down or drop out. Utah State is going to be a long way from anywhere and they barely meet the attendance standard.

In fact, one way to curtail the influx of FCS teams and oust some current members would be to raise the attendance figure to say, 20,000. That could eliminate three from the Belt, three from the WAC and about five from the MAC. That could be some consolation for those that are not chosen for a higher profile conference and have to join the SBC or the MAC.

If the dominoes start falling it's going to make for a very interesting summer.

[MeanGreen61]

ESPN CollegeFootballNation Blog

Big 10 expansing heating up

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation

[MeanGreen61]

Tis the off season and rumors/articles about conference realignments abound

If the below were true, CUSA would be gutted and forced to rebuild with 4 teams or somehow merge with another conference.

Post from CUSA board EagleRockCafe Wrote:

The rumors and "guaranteed to be true rumors", have been all over Hattiesburg. BE officials have supposedly made two visits to USM to inspect facilities and visit. "Inside sources" say it is a 99% probability that USM is getting an invite to join the BE along with ECU, Memphis and UCF. All the schools were sworn to secrecy, so that is why nothing is being said at those schools.

Now I guess since this is speeding up we will find out if the so called "insiders" are full of crap or not. Not being an "insider", I have no clue.

Edited April 18, 2010 by MeanGreen61

[GrayEagle]

Tis the off season and rumors/articles about conference realignments abound

If the below were true, CUSA would be gutted and forced to rebuild with 4 teams or somehow merge with another conference.

Post from CUSA board EagleRockCafe Wrote:

The rumors and "guaranteed to be true rumors", have been all over Hattiesburg. BE officials have supposedly made two visits to USM to inspect facilities and visit. "Inside sources" say it is a 99% probability that USM is getting an invite to join the BE along with ECU, Memphis and UCF. All the schools were sworn to secrecy, so that is why nothing is being said at those schools.

Now I guess since this is speeding up we will find out if the so called "insiders" are full of crap or not. Not being an "insider", I have no clue.

I'm not an "insider" either but that rumor defies reason.

Not saying that the Big East wouldn't benefit from those additions in some way, or that they're unworthy, but the Big East is already sixth in attendance among the "Big Six" and this would push them further down.

I would not be completely surprised to see the Big 10 grab four from the Big East and reduce them to a basketball conference again. If they should do that then we know that the above expansion rumor won't hold water.

[BeanCounterGrad'03]

What is the probability of Navy and/or Army joining Big East to plug any holes created by Big Ten expansion? If this happened, there would probably be no effect on CUSA.

Edited April 21, 2010 by BeanCounterGrad'03