Big TelEveN To Explore Expansion.

[Zip Watcher]

I have to believe CUSA will be raided heavily by the "new" Big East before any MAC school would appear on their radar.

I concur.

Unfortunately I don't see any way a 16-team Big 10, and the fallout, would help Zips athletics.

I think there's any number of ways that post Big TelEveN expansion chaos can benefit the Zips.

- BE gets raided and goes hunting for teams, decimating the C-USA. Eastern C-USA teams band together and need a new home within an established conference. MAC provides that home & moves to 14 or 16 teams. Stronger conference for the Zips.

- BE gets raided hard and picks a mix of teams, not decimating C-USA. C-USA needs a few teams and goes shopping for ones that provide a solid media market for expansion and good facilities, even if not at BE levels. A few MAC schools including UA take a flyer on C-USA and end up in a 12-14 team North-South conference with more TV coin and marginally better bowl tie-ins. Stronger conference and financial situation for the Zips.

- Planets align in just the right way. BE gets raided, and the FB & BB sides of the BE complete a split, with the Catholic schools forming a new 12 team Metro League, Rutgers and one other team leave for other conferences. FB schools are left needing 6 FBS teams. Plusquellic wins the PowerBall and donates it to start the building of the 9500 seat Don Dome on Main St (Sorry Jake). BE in looking to minimize the buyouts needed to bring in the new 6 teams without infringing on existing fan bases, takes only Memphis from C-USA and opts for a strategy to strengthen its presence in the Great Lakes. Zips sneak in as team #12. Stronger conference, benefiting the Zips.

The current lay of the land would seem to indicate that #1 above is the most likely of these 3. But the Zips need to keep taking steps to be ready and selectable in the event that TOTAL chaos breaks out this summer.

Go Zips!

[Zip Watcher]

Toledo, Akron and Buffalo are the schools that I hope would lead the charge.

I'm with Johnny!

[GP1]

Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Missouri....

They will wait to announce the 5th team. They will tell ND, "We are about to rip apart the Big East. Do you want to be in the Big Ten or not".

ND says yes, they are team #5. If they say no, hello Kansas or Nebraska or UConn.

I would be interested to know what the opinions of the current Big Ten teams are. I would like to see WVU in this group in lieu of Rutgers. If ND says no thanks to the Big Ten, which I think they will because they don't want the competition, then Rutgers makes sense. My guess is tOSU will lobby heavily against the expansion of the Big Ten. Games involving Pitt, WVU and PSU instantly become more interesting than the tOSU vs. Michigan game. Not only that, but tOSU would have to play WVU, PSU and Pitt every year. I doubt they want to do that.

Kansas and Nebraska will never join the Big Ten. They are already in a better conference than the BT. It doesn't make sense for them to leave. Texas will NEVER join the Big Ten. Some of you give the BT more respect than it deserves. It's a good confernce, but it isn't better than the PAC 10, Big 12 or SEC.

My guess is all of the speculation will amount to nothing by the end of the summer.

[Zip Watcher]

The question isn't really ?better? is it? .. isn't the question "more lucrative?"

BTW, how about the old SU AD (in link posted here I think) predicting that which the Great GP1 has been advocating, namely a split between the BCS and the rest of the FBS teams.

[GP1]

The question isn't really ?better? is it? .. isn't the question "more lucrative?"

BTW, how about the old SU AD (in link posted here I think) predicting that which the Great GP1 has been advocating, namely a split between the BCS and the rest of the FBS teams.

I would bet the Big Ten makes a lot off of their network. It doesn't seem to me though that having your own network would be that difficult. If the Big Ten can do it, the SEC, Big 12 and PAC 10 could do it as well.

Speaking of lucrative, the split between the BCS and FBS would rake in a ton of cash for the non-BCS schools. College football needs to do something. Simply leveling the playing field financially will not work because the non-BCS schools wouldn't know what to do with a pile of cash if they had it. The big schools got big for a reason....they knew what to do and they did it. The smaller schools sort of know what to do and can't execute on a plan because anyone with any vision goes to a big school and becomes the AD there.

[ZachTheZip]

One thing that might happen is that the Big Ten goes hard after the northeast markets and adds Cuse, Rutgers, UConn, Pitt, and BC. It sets up a possible future split where the eastern teams try to create the mythical "Eastern Conference" that Penn State tried to form a while back.

[Blue & Gold]

Speaking of lucrative, the split between the BCS and FBS would rake in a ton of cash for the non-BCS schools.

GP1,

How do you see a split between the BCS and non-BCS schools bringing in $$$ for the non-BCS schools?

[GP1]

Speaking of lucrative, the split between the BCS and FBS would rake in a ton of cash for the non-BCS schools.

GP1,

How do you see a split between the BCS and non-BCS schools bringing in $$$ for the non-BCS schools?

I don't. It was a mistake. It would bring in a ton of cash for BCS schools.

[Zipmeister]

I think the Fallout from Bigger 10 expansion puts Akron in the new Northern Ohio Conference (NOC) with fellow members Can't State, YSU, Toledo, Bowling Green, Ashland, Mount Union, Hiram, Ohio Dominican, Oberlin, Baldwin Wallace, and University of Phoenix. We would be highly competitive in the NOC.

[mes102]

I think the Fallout from Bigger 10 expansion puts Akron in the new Northern Ohio Conference (NOC) with fellow members Can't State, YSU, Toledo, Bowling Green, Ashland, Mount Union, Hiram, Ohio Dominican, Oberlin, Baldwin Wallace, and University of Phoenix. We would be highly competitive in the NOC.

At least that's good for Dambrot...he'll already be playing Mt. Union, Hiram, and U of Phoenix twice every year in that conference...even though Phoenix's branch(Online) could give us some trouble on the hardwood...We may want to try for a different division or conference when playing soccer

[akronkid8]

it doesnt even matter if the big ten expands.. it wont have anything to do with akron what-so-ever. they arent going to go in the big east nor C-USA

[vmd9]

it doesnt even matter if the big ten expands.. it wont have anything to do with akron what-so-ever. they arent going to go in the big east nor C-USA

true. we are stuck in this peace of crap conference forever and there's nothing we can do to change that. sad but true...

[ZachTheZip]

it doesnt even matter if the big ten expands.. it wont have anything to do with akron what-so-ever. they arent going to go in the big east nor C-USA

true. we are stuck in this peace of crap conference forever and there's nothing we can do to change that. sad but true...

That doesn't mean we can't acknowledge that we would like to shoot for something better. At least make a public push to get into C-USA. Let the MAC know that they're not doing enough to make us want to stay. All I want is to see some actual evidence to back up their "thinking beyond the MAC" crap that they've been preaching. So far, all I've seen when it comes to thinking beyond the MAC is administrators jumping at the chance to get out of the MAC. Nobody at a high level but Dr. Proenza actually plans to elevate the school to a higher level, instead they just elevate themselves and their resumes and jump ship.

[vmd9]

it doesnt even matter if the big ten expands.. it wont have anything to do with akron what-so-ever. they arent going to go in the big east nor C-USA

true. we are stuck in this peace of crap conference forever and there's nothing we can do to change that. sad but true...

That doesn't mean we can't acknowledge that we would like to shoot for something better. At least make a public push to get into C-USA. Let the MAC know that they're not doing enough to make us want to stay. All I want is to see some actual evidence to back up their "thinking beyond the MAC" crap that they've been preaching. So far, all I've seen when it comes to thinking beyond the MAC is administrators jumping at the chance to get out of the MAC. Nobody at a high level but Dr. Proenza actually plans to elevate the school to a higher level, instead they just elevate themselves and their resumes and jump ship.

facebook group? haha

[ZachTheZip]

it doesnt even matter if the big ten expands.. it wont have anything to do with akron what-so-ever. they arent going to go in the big east nor C-USA

true. we are stuck in this peace of crap conference forever and there's nothing we can do to change that. sad but true...

That doesn't mean we can't acknowledge that we would like to shoot for something better. At least make a public push to get into C-USA. Let the MAC know that they're not doing enough to make us want to stay. All I want is to see some actual evidence to back up their "thinking beyond the MAC" crap that they've been preaching. So far, all I've seen when it comes to thinking beyond the MAC is administrators jumping at the chance to get out of the MAC. Nobody at a high level but Dr. Proenza actually plans to elevate the school to a higher level, instead they just elevate themselves and their resumes and jump ship.

facebook group? haha

That's too amateurish. I'm thinking a public statement. They should wait until the dominoes already start falling, to see what options might be available. But they need to come out and say it, to the newspaper or even hold a press conference of their own.

[cornbread]

I think the Fallout from Bigger 10 expansion puts Akron in the new Northern Ohio Conference (NOC) with fellow members Can't State, YSU, Toledo, Bowling Green, Ashland, Mount Union, Hiram, Ohio Dominican, Oberlin, Baldwin Wallace, and University of Phoenix. We would be highly competitive in the NOC.

I bet University of Phoenix has a potent air attack.

[johnnyzip84]

I think the Fallout from Bigger 10 expansion puts Akron in the new Northern Ohio Conference (NOC) with fellow members Can't State, YSU, Toledo, Bowling Green, Ashland, Mount Union, Hiram, Ohio Dominican, Oberlin, Baldwin Wallace, and University of Phoenix. We would be highly competitive in the NOC.

I bet University of Phoenix has a potent air attack.

And NO LEAD would be safe with them.

[cornbread]

I think the Fallout from Bigger 10 expansion puts Akron in the new Northern Ohio Conference (NOC) with fellow members Can't State, YSU, Toledo, Bowling Green, Ashland, Mount Union, Hiram, Ohio Dominican, Oberlin, Baldwin Wallace, and University of Phoenix. We would be highly competitive in the NOC.

I bet University of Phoenix has a potent air attack.

And NO LEAD would be safe with them.

They have an accelerated degree program in Business and Kicking Ass

[johnnyzip84]

Our favorite ESPN writer discusses a Newark Star-Ledger article with a new twist on the 6 mega-conference concept. This time a few teams from non-AQ conferences are involved (hint: but not Akron).

Link

[GP1]

Our favorite ESPN writer discusses a Newark Star-Ledger article with a new twist on the 6 mega-conference concept. This time a few teams from non-AQ conferences are involved (hint: but not Akron).

Link

1. Too many teams.

2. No mention of no poaching into lower conferences for ooc games.

3. No mention on how they will keep competition balanced in the league. For example, fewer spring practices for playoff teams.

[scottditzen]

Me: Whoa, it looks like Rutgers was invited to join the Big 10

The Wife: What? Rutgers? That's a real stretch...with their history of losing and all. I only know one person who even cares about Rutgers football.

To put this in further perspective, my wife is from Jersey.

And she chose to attend Akron over Rutgers.

[ksu sucks]

Me: Whoa, it looks like Rutgers was invited to join the Big 10

The Wife: What? Rutgers? That's a real stretch...with their history of losing and all. I only know one person who even cares about Rutgers football.

To put this in further perspective, my wife is from Jersey.

And she chose to attend Akron over Rutgers.

The mentality over there has changed over the years. Believe it or not, they actually sell out that stadium. Big 10 saw an opportunity to capture the NY market and took it.

So if this is true, where does it leave Akron? Or the MAC for that matter? I don't see any huge changes coming, but I would like to see some of the dead weight(cough, EMU) drop to FCS...

[ZachTheZip]

If true, it pretty much leaves Akron in the MAC. But the MAC will be left behind by not changing while every other conference makes moves to improve.

If only Rutgers leaves the Big East, they'll add UCF, ECU, or Memphis. If both Rutgers and Notre Dame leave, they'll two of those schools which helps them with football scheduling, and if one of them is Memphis it might even improve their basketball league. C-USA would take FAU or FIU to get back into Florida, and perhaps Troy since they're really the only good Sun Belt school. MTSU could be another option for C-USA.

The Big XII losing both Missouri and Nebraska is interesting. They could take another Texas team such as Houston or TCU, or they might take Tulsa, Utah, or BYU. If they go for MWC schools, it wouldn't affect us further down the line.

[Blue & Gold]

Obviously I've missed something? Links?

[cornbread]

Obviously I've missed something? Links?

Everyone is denying everything right now.

Schools are being offered now and they have the cover of secrecy until everything gets worked out. But secretaries and interns still work and take calls... the underlings know something is up and word is getting out.