Wolverine247 Board

Wow, I really disagree. Obviously the bottom of that division is amazeballs bad, but that's three of the Big Ten's four traditional powerhouse teams jammed in one division. I would trade OSU for Wisconsin to even things out.

Or, maybe think about a North-South split

Big Ten North: Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota, Rutgers
Big Ten South: Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Maryland

maybe flip Iowa or Illinois to the North for MSU or Northwestern to even this out

And, as I said yesterday, I like this move. The people talking about how this is only about Lear Jets for ADs are completely missing the point. Gene Wojciechowski wrote a really good piece on this in ESPN this morning, read it.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8651833/big-ten-shores-weakness-latest-expansion-college-football

Please to be adding Georgia Tech and either UNC or Miami (FL) next!

Here's another good post about expansion from someone on another forum I read
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Several points here..

1. The B1G needs to expand because it intends to add Fox or NBC to its ABC/ESPN deal in the next round of negotiations (see the PAC-12). That means supplying three networks, including the BTN, with games, which is hard to do with 12 teams, easier with 14, and a lot easier with 16.

2. When the B1G started looking at expansion several years ago Jim Delany noted that the Midwest's share of the population (i.e., tv audience) is falling. Given that there's no reason to expect that to change in the forseeable future, the only way to keep up with the growth in other regions is to expand geographically, bringing in new (existing) population centers/tv markets. For the B1G, that pretty much means the Northeast. Nebraska has a national reputation, but its addition did not address this need.

3. Ideally, Delany would love to pair a couple of Northeastern schools with Notre Dame, which has a huge following in the region. But ND does not want to be pigeonholed as a Midwestern school, which is why it joined the BE and then moved to the ACC. It also wants to keep its football independence, which is a central part of its identity. So, if not Notre Dame, who?

4. Rutgers and Maryland hardly are football powerhouses. But they have something valuable to offer: tv markets. RU now is the biggest draw in the NYC media market. People will tell you that NYC is not a CFB town, but it's twice the size of the Chicago market, which means you get just as many eyeballs (=ad revenue) if NYC produces only half the ratings of Chicago. In fact, it does much better than that. Maryland sits in the 6th-largest tv market in the country. And, unlike the Virginia schools, it is in the DC suburbs, and also a big draw in Baltimore.

5. On top of that, the BTN's agreement with the cable companies provides for a much better placement of the network on systems within the B1G footprint than those outside it (i.e., you don't need to buy a sports package to get it). And the per-household carriage fee is much higher (something like $.70 vs. $.09). In short, adding a couple of big media markets translates into a bonanza for the BTN, and thus for each member of the B1G. RU and U-MD easily will pay for themselves.

6. In addition, adding these two would (finally) leverage PSU's presence in the Northeast for the conference. In 2012, PSU persuaded Indiana to move their game from Bloomington to DC. They got nearly 79,000 to show up, even more than the 70,000 who showed up for Notre Dame-Maryland at the same venue. And adding Maryland would renew their long rivalry with PSU.

7. PSU is not leaving the B1G for the ACC. For one thing, they have signed a Grant of Rights with the B1G that lasts until 2027, meaning that if they change conferences the new conference has no claim on their media rights, which belongs to the B1G. For another, they would lose a lot of money, even if the GOR didn't exist.

8. If this expansion happens, the B1G will have twarted the ACC's strategy of monopolizing the East Coast from Boston to Miami. And it might make other members restless: FSU certainly, VT and NCSU possibly. An anxious ACC would make ND's position precarious, providing one last shot for Delany to entice them into the B1G (frankly, I think they'd join the PAC-12 first, but that's a different topic), along with another "name" member.

Maryland fan here. Looking forward to hating Ohio State

its very easy

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN

Maryland prez tells regents MD, RU in Leaders Division w/OSU, PSU, Wisconsin, Purdue & Indiana. Illinois moves to Legends

Wow. We just got jobbed. How can you give OSU and PSU, which already are located (with no other B10 schools) in the two best B10 recruiting states, a leg up in NJ and MD too? My guess is this is just a very brief step toward 16 and these divisions will never take effect. Or at least it's my desperate hope.

Plus 1 for you. Welcome!