[deethythitoth]

You ask me, the Big East is annually the #1 or #2 conference in college basketball. But it is a basketball conference, and the huge sports money is more closely tied to football. There have been some rumblings over the past couple weeks about some major football conferences looking to pick off some Big East schools - everyone is rushing to deny a breaking story:

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Big Ten denies inviting Nebraska, Notre Dame, Missouri and Rutgers
May 11, 6:00 AM
College Football Examiner

It just did not sound right to me at first, and the Big Ten and Big 12 have confirmed that no invitations have been extended by the Big Ten. Yesterday a report by Sports Radio 810 WHB suggested that the Big Ten had moved forward with expansion plans by inviting four teams (Nebraska, Notre Dame, Missouri and Rutgers). This report was quickly denied by the Big Ten and the Big 12 by The Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein.

The teams involved made enough sense to make the story on the Kansas City based sports station sound legit at first, but I remained skeptical of the source. Thankfully Greenstein at The Chicago Tribune followed up on the story as soon as he did. Greenstein has been monitoring the Big Ten expansion process every step of the way, and if anything happens he will likely be among the first to report it.

A Big Ten spokesman denied the report, telling the Tribune "nothing has changed" since Delany told reporters at the BCS meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz., that everything regarding expansion was "to be determined."

Lending credence to that is the fact that Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Delany has not contacted him regarding Missouri and Nebraska. Delany has insisted he would contact affected conference commissioners before proceeding.
- Teddy Greenstein, The Chicago Tribune, May 10, 2010

Before the Big Ten moves on with the expansion process commissioner Jim Delaney has insisted he would contact the affected conference or conferences in advance of sending an invitation to the prospective members. Nothing seems to have changed that sensitive philosophy.

Nebraska, Missouri, Notre Dame and Rutgers have been in the Big Ten rumor mill since the beginning of this whole process, and it is possible they will remain candidates for the expansion. Notre Dame though has continued to stand by their desire to remain independent in football, although if the paycheck is worth it they would be foolish to say no. The popular belief is that if the Big Ten starts picking apart the Big East, then Notre Dame will want to join the party, despite what they say right now.

Nebraska and Missouri fit geographically but bring little to the table in terms of television marketability. Nebraska though can carry their weight in terms of attendance as the Cornhusker fans travel well, which is a key nugget to remember when it comes time to bowl games. Missouri would bring the St. Louis market as well, and fans of the Tigers have been campaigning for the university to accept an invitation if and when it comes.

Rutgers fits the Big Ten academically but is attractive solely for the New York City market. I still fail to see Rutgers as the best fit on the football field and only see Rutgers joining the conference in a scenario in which more than one Big East school are invited to the Big Ten (Syracuse?).

Everybody form the Big Ten continues to say that the conference expansion timeline remains on their originally announced 12-18 month schedule, but many people are doubting it. I remain skeptical on the schedule as well and still expect somehting to happen sooner than announced.

The entire college athletics world waits to see what the Big Ten will do. Stay tuned.

http://www.examiner.com/x-30425-Coll...ri-and-Rutgers

[mpzoFeJs]

I would like to see Iowa State join the Big Ten and TCU move to the Big 12 to replace them. That way you don't mess up any huge rivalries and each league is good geographically.