Conference Realignment

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#401      

champaignchris

C
champaignchris
ChiefGritty said:
In the 90's NASCAR experienced a big boom in popularity and visibility.

They responded with massive national expansion, taking their product to new and big markets with huge untapped potential viewer bases. For awhile, it jumped to never before seen heights of mainstream popularity.

But, as the years went by, the casual viewership that expansion had attracted started to flag a bit. They tweaked the cars, tweaked the rules, messed with the schedule, expanded more and more and more, but that slippage just kept going.

All along, a rump of cranky old fans stuffed into the dustbin of history had been saying: these gleaming cookie-cutter oval tracks all over the country aren't NASCAR, they're selling out, they're spoiling this. Easy message to ignore, you have those fans anyway, take a seat old man, growth is the future.

Turns out? The legacy and aesthetic and history, the vibe if you like, of that old Dixie NASCAR that was tossed aside for glittering megabucks modernity was what the appeal of the sport was to outsiders in the first place. They'd been tuning in for the vibes. Bringing the product to their doorstep wasn't serving these customers when it was an anonymized soulless shadow of itself.

NASCAR still lives. Anyone who works in the Loop knows all too well that it does, lol. The sport is anything but dead, anything but bankrupt, anything but invisible. It's all still there. But it has unmistakably shrunken since those 90's salad days. The expansion has rolled back for lack of interest. And they're starting to realize where they went wrong. North Wilkesboro Speedway, a grimy old relic in the middle of nowhere North Carolina which had literally been left to seed by the sport in the heart of its glittering expansion has been reclaimed and reopened and it just hosted NASCAR's All-Star Race. More events are planned. Why? Because now that the throngs and their dollars have lost interest, the powers that be can hear the voice of their actual fans above the roar.

So it shall be for the Big Ten.
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NHL did the same during the 90s, but a geographic mirror image. 7 expansion teams, with 6 going to “Sun Belt” states and four more franchises all moving south or west.

Went from a league with 20 of 21 teams in Canada, the Midwest or North East in 1990 to a league with 11 of 28 teams in the Sun Belt or American West by 1999.

And then went through a major dip in popularity in the 00s as many of the most successful teams were in areas that didn’t care about hockey, several of the teams in traditional hockey markets went through bad stretches, and a work stoppage wiped out a whole season.

Since then, they’ve had four expansion teams, 3 of which have been in traditional hockey areas, and one team moved from the American South to Canada.
 
#402      

Ramrod2010

R
Ramrod2010
Dan said:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1687517387749244928
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Qouy.gif
 
#404      

cookie86

C
cookie86
at this point just go get Cal, Stanford, and Oregon st so we can keep the divisions- We could keep the Big Ten east and west and then just add the Big Ten Pacific
 
#405      

KnoxIllini2

KnoxIllini2
KnoxIllini2
spotter said:
I could see North and South divisions. The boundary line runs from San Jose to Detroit.
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Or East/West and have Northwestern be in the West with us in the East? Then we really would get Michigan and tOSU annually.
 
#406      

illinistephen

I
illinistephen
At the rate this is going, I'd be surprised if they didn't eventually go from 12 to 14 games and play the Saturdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas. If it's just about money why leave those extra dates unused? With 4 west coast teams I do wonder if the conference will lock in those games every year and how often those games will be late night games.
 
#407      

redwingillini11

redwingillini11
White and Sixth
North Aurora
redwingillini11
illinistephen said:
At the rate this is going, I'd be surprised if they didn't eventually go from 12 to 14 games and play the Saturdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas. If it's just about money why leave those extra dates unused? With 4 west coast teams I do wonder if the conference will lock in those games every year and how often those games will be late night games.
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That would be a monumental change, but you have to imagine it will come one day. Maybe it is part of the negotiation for when players can be designated as university employees and get paid.
 
#411      

JJE

JJE
Bethalto, IL
JJE
If the BIG hypothetically has 4 spots left and we're done raiding th PAC 12, who do we target?
1. ND
2.
3.
4.
 
#415      

Battle89

Battle89
Battle89
JJE said:
If the BIG hypothetically has 4 spots left and we're done raiding th PAC 12, who do we target?
1. ND
2.
3.
4.
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Torn a bit on #1, between of course we want them, and to heck with those arrogant jerks.
Then 1 of UVA / UNC, and 2 of Clemson / FSU / Miami.
Each has pros and cons, although I am most enamored of taking 2 in Florida and taking that state away (somewhat) from the SEC.
 
#416      

Pikeillinifan

Pikeillinifan
Pikeillinifan
Username said:
1. ND
2. UVA (bc I live in Richmond VA)
3. FSU
4.Stanford - need this to balance out the FSU academics
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FSU
Clemson
Miami
ND

Media execs have taken the wheel, this is about brands and geographies now.

Heck, we may as well add in UNC and Virginia or Georgia Tech and call it a day at 24.
 
#417      

chrisRunner7

chrisRunner7
Spokane, WA
chrisRunner7
Just wanted to chime in because a lot of the more vocal folks are pessimistic about the continued expansion. I mean, who knows, maybe most people don't like it. Would be a good question for a poll. I am not critical of those posters and there are many good arguments why this might not be good (tradition, travel time, uncertainty about cord cutting, etc.). I don't think anyone can say with any certainty that this will work out or that it won't work out in the long term.

But for me, personally, I like it. I think it's exciting. I would love to drive over to Seattle and see the Beloved play Washington, or go see Illinois play USC when I'm down visiting family in southern California. There are B1G alumni everywhere and this will give a lot more people a chance to see their favorite team in person every so often. I get all the tradition stuff, but we're not dropping teams, just adding a couple more. I would probably rather watch Illinois-Oregon in basketball or football than any game involving Northwestern or Rutgers. Finally, this move allows the B1G to continue to expand its national footprint while the mighty SEC is still pretty much stuck in the south/southeast.

I imagine a lot of the athletes at Illinois already fly to Rutgers, Happy Valley, Lincoln, etc... I think the basketball team even flies to Iowa City? I doubt athletes will be too upset about a flight to Seattle or Los Angeles once a year for a game, and a lot of classes are online now. The biggest impact will be for the athletes at former PAC-10 schools... I don't deny that they will be doing a lot more time sitting on planes. But hey, they're getting a free education and some of them are getting paid NIL now.

And I do not especially sympathize with the people who do not want to watch games that start at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. EST. :p A lot of games over here in Pacific Time start before work is even over, which I also find to be annoying, and so I don't mind the later games.
 
#420      

mattcoldagelli

mattcoldagelli
The Transfer Portal
mattcoldagelli
ChiefGritty said:
Turns out? The legacy and aesthetic and history, the vibe if you like, of that old Dixie NASCAR that was tossed aside for glittering megabucks modernity was what the appeal of the sport was to outsiders in the first place. They'd been tuning in for the vibes. Bringing the product to their doorstep wasn't serving these customers when it was an anonymized soulless shadow of itself.
Click to expand...

But I feel like I've been the Vibe Guy throughout this!

This isn't NASCAR parachuting in to a land of novices. These are four schools from the conference that the B1G viewed as its western brother for decades (before shifting the definition of "brother" to more of the, uh, Corleone sense). These are traditional Rose Bowl opponents. In the case of Washington and Oregon, these are flagship state schools joining a conference of flagship state schools. From a culture and vibes POV they are going to mesh better than anyone south of the Mason-Dixon line ever would, even if they are in for an awkward moment the first time they come to Champaign and Bielema is running the Barge formation for an entire quarter due to the wind.
 
#421      

Perry Range's Van

P
Perry Range's Van
Kramerica Industries said:
I don't believe Florida State is an academic liability.
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From a research standpoint they would still be considered to be one. However from a student body standpoint they have made great progress (as with all FL schools due to lottery $ actually going into education in the form of scholarships). Their acceptance rate in recent years went from 62% (bad but better than Iowa), to 37% (on par with the beloved). If this holds, other measures will also rise.
 
#422      

redwingillini11

redwingillini11
White and Sixth
North Aurora
redwingillini11
I'm not entirely surprised we haven't heard a whole lot from our insider friends, but I'm wondering if they have a pulse on what our key stakeholders think about expansion. I'm sure Bret and Brad aren't wringing their hands over travel concerns and tradition and whatnot. But they must have some reaction, excitement or otherwise, as to what is happening.
 
#425      

Illiniguy74

I
Illiniguy74
ChiefGritty said:
In the 90's NASCAR experienced a big boom in popularity and visibility.

They responded with massive national expansion, taking their product to new and big markets with huge untapped potential viewer bases. For awhile, it jumped to never before seen heights of mainstream popularity.

But, as the years went by, the casual viewership that expansion had attracted started to flag a bit. They tweaked the cars, tweaked the rules, messed with the schedule, expanded more and more and more, but that slippage just kept going.

All along, a rump of cranky old fans stuffed into the dustbin of history had been saying: these gleaming cookie-cutter oval tracks all over the country aren't NASCAR, they're selling out, they're spoiling this. Easy message to ignore, you have those fans anyway, take a seat old man, growth is the future.

Turns out? The legacy and aesthetic and history, the vibe if you like, of that old Dixie NASCAR that was tossed aside for glittering megabucks modernity was what the appeal of the sport was to outsiders in the first place. They'd been tuning in for the vibes. Bringing the product to their doorstep wasn't serving these customers when it was an anonymized soulless shadow of itself.

NASCAR still lives. Anyone who works in the Loop knows all too well that it does, lol. The sport is anything but dead, anything but bankrupt, anything but invisible. It's all still there. But it has unmistakably shrunken since those 90's salad days. The expansion has rolled back for lack of interest. And they're starting to realize where they went wrong. North Wilkesboro Speedway, a grimy old relic in the middle of nowhere North Carolina which had literally been left to seed by the sport in the heart of its glittering expansion has been reclaimed and reopened and it just hosted NASCAR's All-Star Race. More events are planned. Why? Because now that the throngs and their dollars have lost interest, the powers that be can hear the voice of their actual fans above the roar.

So it shall be for the Big Ten.
Click to expand...
I don't follow NASCAR. INASCAR fan complained to me that the fans used to be loyal to drivers and makes of cars (Dodge. Ford, Chevy). Says now everyone drives basically the same "NASCAR car". Said it's making the sport less interesting.
 
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