Hawker, Buckeye, Penn Staters - Big 10 Expansion

So on CNNSI.com today they had a short blurb about an announcment on possible Big 10 expansion.
What is the rumor in Big 10 land. Is there a team identified? also if you go to 12 will you do like Big 12 and SEC and split into divisions and play a conference championship?

Just curious on the chatter.
Big Ten plans to announce possible expansion - NCAA Football - SI.com

 

Barry Alvarez re-ignited this chatter a week or so ago. Maybe there's something to it.

I don't have any inside info, if that's what folks are hoping, but a lot of this "new" talk centers around the Big Ten Network, the conference "suffering" from ending its season too early and the layoff before bowls being a hinderance. (I think it's all about $$)

There has always been this automatic assumption that the 12th team would be the Domers. At this point, that would be a big surprise for me... and not so good a choice. Other schools that pop up are Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse and Missouri.

If I had to take a wild guess, I think the Big Ten is quite partial to state colleges, making Rutgers (State University of New Jersey) and Missouri the most logical.

However, I have also read on some blogs that the Big Ten could break tradition and solicit a school in a major metro area outside the Big Ten footprint. I find this intriguing... say a Georgia Tech or a South Florida.

There was also a "contest" of sorts to renamed the conference in the Chicago Tribune a few years ago. I remember the Great Lakes Conference and the Great 12 (after the Great Lakes) got the most votes. Again, I would hope for a new conference name that could be shortened to letters... like the ACC, SEC, WAC, etc.....

That's all I know and it ain't much...

 

Wow, they should annex Notre Dame for one. Maybe Central Michigan, and Iowa State should be kicked out of the Big 12, Oklahoma should move to the Big 12 north and TCU should be annexed by the Big 12.

 

Cincinnati seems like a good choice to me. Great bball program and football at a peak now. A big school w/ enrollment of 35,000 in a large city. Or maybe Louisville. Iowa state wouldn't really add much, but it'd be cool to have both Iowa schools in the same conference.

 

i think the mountain west will annex houston, boise, and fresno st and add a cg in a push to become a BCS conf.



although it would make more sense for ND to join the big ten, i see them going after Pitt or rutgers. either would be a natural rival for penn st although those schools geographically are a little out of place in that conf anyway.

going after a school somewhere way far away like USF or whoever would be a horrible idea imo.

 

here i've already divided the great 12 into divisions

west
minnesota
illinois
northwestern
wisconsin
iowa
purdue

east
PITT
penn st
ohio st
michigan st
michigan
indiana

OR and it would probably be more even this way

North
minnesota
wisconsin
michigan
michigan st
northwestern
iowa

south
pitt
ohio st
penn st
illinois
indiana
purdue

 

Whats' wrong with the Midwestern Conference or MWC?

 

I nominate Tulane !!:lol:.

 

Or, if they used the Great Lake Conference - the GLC - has a good "ring" to it, IMHO. It would be wonderful to include Notre Dame, but about 99.94% of what I have read since football began says that ain't gonna happen. But those Catholics love $$$$$$$$$$. :wave: