While nothing can be approved until the Big Ten presidents and chancellors meet the first week of June in Chicago, the league has informed the two Big 12 schools, Notre Dame and Rutgers that it would like to have them join. It is not yet clear whether the Big Ten will expand to 14 or 16 teams but sources indicated Missouri and Nebraska are invited in either scenario. Notre Dame has repeatedly declined the opportunity to join the Big Ten. If Notre Dame remains independent, Rutgers would be the 14th team. The Big Ten would then decide whether to stop at 14 or extend offers to two other schools. If Notre Dame joins, sources say an offer will be extended to one other school making it a 16-team league.
Hat tip, Danny O'Donnell.
8 comments:
Rutgers. Ewww.
There was a big article in the New York Times on this a month back or so. The purpose would be to expand the impact and viewership of the Big 10 Network.
It would make a push to a Big 10 hockey conference much more likely, as Notre Dame has a team and the NYT article mention other east coast schools such as UConn who also has a hockey team.
Rutgers would be super-awesome!!!! Since i can then go see the Badgers play pretty often, and have more of their games on local TV. Selfish, but it will also create alot more Big 10 fans in the NJ area.
As a longtime New Jersey resident, you have my sympathy. For me, Dante's levels of hell could've been replaced by Turnpike exits. Instead of Bayonne, you exit into Wrath and Sullenness. Or that ain't 14C into Newark, that's fourth circle -- Avarice and Prodigality.
But hating New Jersey isn't reason enough to dismiss Rutgers. The argument is their presence exposes the Big Ten to the ginormous tri-state market. They're the only D-1 football game in town out there.
Problem with that argument is nobody cares. 49,000 people on average attended their football games last year, which is OK, but it's only a product of their recent blip of success. They start playing in a real league and Princeton will go back to outdrawing their football games. There's no fan equity there. And 5,000 attend their men's basketball games.
No thanks, New Jersey. Keep your Rutgers.
lol tracker, NJ is super awesome and the less people that know it the better, so you can think what you want. unless you grew up in bergen or hudson counties or the philly suburbs - those areas are hellish (can't tell if when you say as a longtime NJ resident you're referring to yourself). morris/somerset counties = super awesome though. Rutgers has a ton of alums, if they ever get any good than they'll get alot more eyeballs. Which will eventually happen one day, given the amount of in-state talent (perhaps being in the Big 10 will convince more of that talent to stay put).
I trust that few people know how super awesome New Jersey is. Anyway, I lived in NJ as an adult for 7 or 8 years, Jersey City Heights. Its redeeming quality is that it's a PATH ride from civlization. While morris/somerset counties appear to be an endless string of Brookfields, I must admit I haven't spent a lot of time there, and cannot attest to their super-awesomesness, or relative lack thereof.
While I agree Rutgers has a ton of alums, it's a commuter school. UWM has a ton of alums too, but their support dried up the second their NCAA appearances stopped happening.
I don't think much of this. They'll weaken and dilute the Big Ten brand. Let's get Syracuse instead.
Sorry for the hijack Paul, have to stand up for my state. Lots of people know how awesome the Morris/Somerset region of NJ is, thats why they (and neighboring Hunterdon Co) are 3 of the 7 richest and most educated counties in America, rich people like to live in awesome places. Not really like Brookfield, or my impression of Brookfield, which is a kinda ok suburb with tons of Red Lobster/Chili's type strip malls everywhere. And as you know, it still has the close proximity to the greatest city in the world (civilization as you put it), without having to live in the squalor of city life (personal preference i suppose, i enjoy doing things in urban environments but not living in them). But yea Jersey City blows, doesnt have anything to do with totally different parts of the state. Rutgers does suck, as i said i just want them in for selfish reasons.
Defend away.
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