Voice of the Hawkeyes Board

^this^

the B1G logo will have to change if it goes to 20....otherwise it makes no sense.

it stops at 16

B10X2 or B10*2 or B10** or B10(2) or The Big Ten Doubled or....

I would have been fine with the conference sticking with 10 schools...or 11...or 12. But unfortunately, tradition and conference fit are no longer concerns in this day and age of college athletics. It's all financially driven. This is the direction things are headed in, and there doesn't look to be anything that can stop it.

here are my thoughts on this topic posted recently on another board...

i don't think UVA will join the B1G without UNC, and UNC won't leave the ACC unless it's in real jeopardy of collapsing, and especially without a soft landing spot for NCSt (which probably ends up in the SEC or Big 12, so no worries there) and they will most likely insist on Duke joining the B1G with them....basketball rivalry is too strong, equal to the UM-OSU rivalry in fball.

my preference would be to take BC and Mizzu to round out the 16....this way you've got leverage in convincing ND to join some day with BC as a member, and you've got a legit Midwest school in Mizzu (who really should've been added before RU or UMland imo)...then stop there for at least 10 years. When/if ND is ready (or forced) to join a conference, you'll have to add at least an 18th i suppose...maybe GT?

Let's assume/hope the ACC remains intact....

Herk's Big Ten (18) circa 2024 in a 2 division alignment:

EAST
-Illinois ...(Indiana)
-Iowa ...(Purdue)
-Michigan ...(Ohio State)
-Michigan St ...(Notre Dame)
-Minnesota ...(Rutgers)
-Missouri ...(Georgia Tech)
-Nebraska ...(Penn State)
-Northwestern ...(Boston College)
-Wisconsin ...(Maryland)

WEST
-Boston College (Northwestern)
-Georgia Tech ...(Missouri)
-Indiana ...(Illinois)
-Maryland ...(Wisconsin)
-Notre Dame ...(Michigan St)
-Ohio State ...(Michigan)
-Penn State ...(Nebraska)
-Purdue ...(Iowa)
-Rutgers ...(Minnesota)

*permanent crossovers in ( )

Interesting. I think your "circle jerk" theory of UVA-UNC-Duke is a good one. Kind of a chicken/egg thing--which one goes first? If it happened, half the B1G East would be ex-ACC teams. They'd get to maintain their rivalries but what does that do for Rutgers, PSU, OSU and rest of that division? I can't remember who said it but if UVA, UNC, Duke, GT were to join, I don't see that division as loaded as much as divided with two halves with their own traditional rivalries. It would be more like the B1G West with 10 teams, B1G the Northeast with 5 or 6 teams and the B1G Southeast with 5 or 4 teams.

I don't see NCSU joining the B1G; for starters, they're not AAU. Neither is Boston College but it's an intriguing option because it's a great school academically; otherwise, it offers very little other than Boston, which is a pro sports town. I have a hard time seeing Mizzou bolting the SEC any time soon; they're still in their first year so it's premature to think that move was wrong. I'd love Notre Dame but I think their hand would need to be forced and that means the ACC imploding. The domino effect would start with the SEC and Big 12 picking off ACC schools like FSU and Clemson (Big 12) and NC State and Virginia Tech (SEC) so that ND has to reassess but even then, a 10-team ACC of GT, UNC, UVA, Duke, Wake, Louisville, Miami, Pitt, Syracuse and BC plus ND in basketball and other sports isn't chopped liver. They could easily add 2 out of Cincinnati, UConn and USF to get back to 12 and have a conference championship game. I don't want to say never but I just don't see ND ever feeling like it has no other options but to join the B1G.

Personally, I wouldn't mind taking a shot at Kansas, which is in the AAU, and UVA so that each division picks up a team to maintain geographical balance and calling it a day.

I think Mizzou's pretty happy in the SEC. At least for now, anyway, half a season in, there's still a lot of shine on that penny. They'll be bottom feeders in football but in the top half in a weak basketball conference. So I figure they're a no.

As far as future expansion goes, the ACC is the most logical target but while the Big 12 has gotten stronger, it's not immune from being poached. Nebraska and TAMU both left, largely to get away from Texas's greed and/or shadow, and the Pac-12 rejected Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Okie State for unspecified reasons but I wouldn't be surprised if it was because of Texas's greed and unwillingness to share revenue (Longhorn Network). Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Okie State are surgically attached to Texas--they're like remora fish attached to Texas's Great White Shark but the Longhorns don't need them; in fact, the Longhorns don't need anyone as they could go independent and get even richer. And all three of those schools would schedule an OOC with Texas in a heartbeat.

Haste, as the expression goes, makes waste and if Delany would just take a couple breaths and a back seat and wait to see how expansion plays out by seeing if SEC and/or the Big 12 make a move first, that might open up some unexpected opportunities, i.e., UVA making the jump because they see themselves being left out as the more Southern ACC schools start jumping to the SEC or Big 12, while KU might not like the idea of being in a conference with so many Southern schools plus Texas's greed and might make the B1G's revenue-sharing plan very attractive, enough to leave K-State. After all, Mizzou left the Jayhawks for the greener pasture$ of the SEC.

In college football, loyalty has obviously become a commodity for sale to the highest bidder.