Conference Realignment

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#26      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
ChiefGritty
Just a Wikipedia dump that ran through my head today, re: the name "Big Ten".

Here were the stadium capacities for the Big Ten and ACC in 1970

Illinois - 71,227
Indiana - 52,324
Iowa - 60,160
Michigan - 101,001
Michigan State - 76,000
Minnesota - 56,652
Northwestern - 55,000
Ohio State - 81,455
Purdue - 69,200
Wisconsin - 77,280

Clemson - 43,451
Duke - 44,000
Maryland - 34,680
North Carolina - 48,000
NC State - 41,000
South Carolina - 42,238
Virginia - 23,848
Wake Forest - 31,500
 
#27      

Pikeillinifan

Pikeillinifan
Pikeillinifan
I thought we were down to 60K after the west side renovation. Regardless, we need to figure out how to fill it up.
 
#34      

redwingillini11

R
North Aurora
redwingillini11
The one wildcard for future expansion it seems is Amazon.
www.cbssports.com

Conference realignment: Amazon interest may affect Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 composition as talks continue

Further realignment could be on the horizon as media rights packages remain outstanding
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
There would be no other reason for the Big Ten to be mentioned re: Amazon unless there is a possibility more content (more games -> more teams) is being considered. Not sure what order things would fall in, but perhaps if the Big Ten can negotiate with Amazon to get to the amount of additional revenue to make it worth it to the current schools, then maybe we see the mega expansion to 20 teams.

Not sure I'd really be excited for a 20 team conference that probably then ends up with us being in one of two 10 team divisions where we play some traditional B1G opponents once every 5 years. But if this helps ensure that we permanently end up in one of the two superconferences rather than being left behind when the big schools leave the NCAA, I'll accept it.
 
#35      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
ChiefGritty
redwingillini11 said:
The one wildcard for future expansion it seems is Amazon.
www.cbssports.com

Conference realignment: Amazon interest may affect Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 composition as talks continue

Further realignment could be on the horizon as media rights packages remain outstanding
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
There would be no other reason for the Big Ten to be mentioned re: Amazon unless there is a possibility more content (more games -> more teams) is being considered. Not sure what order things would fall in, but perhaps if the Big Ten can negotiate with Amazon to get to the amount of additional revenue to make it worth it to the current schools, then maybe we see the mega expansion to 20 teams.

Not sure I'd really be excited for a 20 team conference that probably then ends up with us being in one of two 10 team divisions where we play some traditional B1G opponents once every 5 years. But if this helps ensure that we permanently end up in one of the two superconferences rather than being left behind when the big schools leave the NCAA, I'll accept it.
Click to expand...

"The likes of Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Purdue and Rutgers would be unlikely to support expansion. It's some of their games that would largely be placed on Amazon if the conference grows further."

Bless you Dennis Dodd for not putting us on that list you beautiful man.

(EDIT: Literally have been reading that guy saying his name in my head as "Dennis Dobbs" for like decades. What a brain I have.)
 
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#36      

spotter

S
spotter
ChiefGritty said:
"The likes of Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Purdue and Rutgers would be unlikely to support expansion. It's some of their games that would largely be placed on Amazon if the conference grows further."

Bless you Dennis Dodd for not putting us on that list you beautiful man.
Click to expand...
Agree. Similar to when the BTN announced there would be Friday night games. Back then I said, "This (Fri nite) has Illinois written all over it."
 
#37      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
ChiefGritty
redwingillini11 said:
The one wildcard for future expansion it seems is Amazon.
www.cbssports.com

Conference realignment: Amazon interest may affect Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 composition as talks continue

Further realignment could be on the horizon as media rights packages remain outstanding
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
There would be no other reason for the Big Ten to be mentioned re: Amazon unless there is a possibility more content (more games -> more teams) is being considered. Not sure what order things would fall in, but perhaps if the Big Ten can negotiate with Amazon to get to the amount of additional revenue to make it worth it to the current schools, then maybe we see the mega expansion to 20 teams.

Not sure I'd really be excited for a 20 team conference that probably then ends up with us being in one of two 10 team divisions where we play some traditional B1G opponents once every 5 years. But if this helps ensure that we permanently end up in one of the two superconferences rather than being left behind when the big schools leave the NCAA, I'll accept it.
Click to expand...
Also something to remember here: it was reported that Amazon outbid CBS for that package of the A inventory and the conference chose CBS anyway (wisely, IMO).

Between the NFL Thursday Night thing and that attempt, Amazon seems more interested in prime events (no pun intended) rather than just trying to build out a deeper library of more niche content.

The Big Ten's prime events are spoken for. That article asks a bunch of really good questions, but they're questions the decision makers have already answered.

The Big Ten finalizing and announcing its media deal was not the beginning of the story, it was the ending. I can understand why an Oregon fan would be desperate to keep drawing blood from this stone, but I remain confused why Illinois fans seem to want to.
 
#38      

spotter

S
spotter
Pac-12 commissioner sends letter to regents. Big push to keep UCLA in the PAC.

www.espn.com

Pac-12 boss: 'Significant' concerns on UCLA move

In a letter given to the University of California Board of Regents ahead of a closed-door session Thursday to weigh UCLA's proposed move to the Big Ten conference, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff detailed "significant concerns" he had with the move.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
#40      

Qwiksilvur

Q
Qwiksilvur
#41      

GrayGhost77

GrayGhost77
Centennial, CO
GrayGhost77
Qwiksilvur said:
Kliavkoff is playing with fire. Let UCLA leave and you still have a conference albeit a weakened one. Don’t and the Big10 has the ability to just destroy the PAC-12 by adding some set of (Stanford, Oregon, and Washington) which will force the UC regents to allow UCLA to leave. And theeeeen PAC-12 is effectively dead.
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Yet another example of pride and ego getting in the way of clear thinking.
 
#42      

Saturdaze

S
Saturdaze
Is the PAC trying to block UCLA or is it the CA system trying to block them? I can see the CA system bluffing as an attempt to get Cal Berkley into the BIG, but I just don’t see that happening. Cal is one of the least attractive teams in the PAC, B12, and ACC.
 
#46      

Ransom Stoddard

Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
Ransom Stoddard
spotter said:
Interesting tweet. Unfortunately the article is behind a paywall.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1577324531349213185
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I've tried to get to that article with no luck. I'd love to know what he's basing his statement about "less than full share" on, because to the best of my memory there's never been anything publicly stated about fractional shares for new or prospective members of the conference.
 
#47      

bluemountain

B
bluemountain
ChiefGritty said:
Just a Wikipedia dump that ran through my head today, re: the name "Big Ten".

Here were the stadium capacities for the Big Ten and ACC in 1970

Illinois - 71,227
Indiana - 52,324
Iowa - 60,160
Michigan - 101,001
Michigan State - 76,000
Minnesota - 56,652
Northwestern - 55,000
Ohio State - 81,455
Purdue - 69,200
Wisconsin - 77,280

Clemson - 43,451
Duke - 44,000
Maryland - 34,680
North Carolina - 48,000
NC State - 41,000
South Carolina - 42,238
Virginia - 23,848
Wake Forest - 31,500
Click to expand...
this is really remarkable. Clemson and USC are now both at ~80k. UVA is 61k. NC state is 57k. UNC is 51k. Maryland is 52k.
 
#49      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
ChiefGritty
bluemountain said:
this is really remarkable. Clemson and USC are now both at ~80k. UVA is 61k. NC state is 57k. UNC is 51k. Maryland is 52k.
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Whereas Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Purdue all have lower capacities.

There's an inequality story there with the bigger programs becoming more dominant. There's a rise in the quality of Southern football as those programs integrated. And then there's also a population story.

From the 1970 US Census to the 2020, all of the original Big Ten states have gone downward in the state population rankings, whereas the original ACC states have all gone up except for Maryland which is holding steady in 18th.
 
#50      

ptgrd23

ptgrd23
ptgrd23
If money was no object I would have no problem adding Stanford, Cal, Oregon and Washington to B10. They would form a nice west coast division. Since money is important I think Cal and Stanford would be tough.. While they are quality schools they don't bring as many football fans and football $$$ to the table.

Unless state of CA decides to start giving UCLA $50M/year sports subsidy I don't see how they can not let UCLA join B10.
 
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