Brian Kelly dipping and ripping through the chance to finish a perfect season at Cincinnati surprises me. The fact that the Big Ten wants to expand does not. The Big Ten has sent its Rose Bowl representative to its BCS slaughter the past three years, much to the disapproval of the rest of the nation. In fact, the Big Ten hasn’t won the Rose Bowl since Wisconsin on January 1, 2000. Ohio State breezed through a Big Ten championship only to be dismembered in the Title game twice in the last 3 years.

The Big Ten now wants to play ball Jerry Jones style and beef up  the conference’s reputation by buying a 12^th team. Not even a knit wool sweater on a frigid Minnesota day feels more right. The Big “Ten” has eleven teams and currently misses out on big time conference championship money. Factor in the fact that most Big Ten teams finish their schedule by Thanksgiving and it’s plain to see that viewer revenue is wasting away. Whatever transpires from this move will send a ripple through the college football territories and be felt for some time. Though the Big Ten is not as tough as it used to be, the conference is still very powerful and influential in college football.

I see two scenarios playing out here, both assume Notre Dame avoids being placed in a pecking order that’s established through conference play. One scenario depicts the Big Ten heading east to collect on the New England- New York- New Jersey revenue that lay virtually untapped like bubbling Alaskan oil field. The second scenario includes the Big Ten sticking to state school and namesake tradition by expanding its Midwestern roots.

Scenario One: Look out Big East!Your being raided again. The Big East has their head stuck so far up Basketball’s butt that they haven’t been able to see the potential gold mine waiting for discovery on the northeast coast. New Jersey already hosts great high school talent and ranks right up there with Texas, Ohio, and Florida in ranked recruits per capita. Football in the great white north is far from playing second fiddle to any other recreation. Case in point; look at the loyal and passionate fan bases following the NFL’s Patriots, Bills, Giants, Jets, and Eagles.

With the Big Ten’s bowl affiliations and television deals, taking a program from the Big East conference would be like taking candy from a baby. I believe the Big Ten would start research coastal and work inland to find a viable candidate. Rutgers is the ugly duckling bearing the potential to be a beautiful swan. The prospective of becoming a formidable opponent pales in comparison to the recruiting grounds and market revenue surrounding the Jersey school and being opened up to the Big Ten. Sure, the idea of the Scarlet Knights playing in the Rose Bowl leaves something to be desired, but Rutgers isn’t even challenging for the Big East title yet.

I’d say either Pitt or Syracuse would be next on the list. Pitt’s facilities are NFL grade and they open up western PA to Big Ten recruiting. Syracuse offers the potential of gaining New England’s attention. Michigan’s native son Tom Brady has captivated the audiences with his quarterback prowess and smoking hot wife, now the ties to college football can be intertwined with the expansion of Big Ten country.

West Virginia presents an extremely interesting option because of the heated rivalries and/or savage border wars between Penn State, Ohio State, and now Michigan. The only issue, and a big one in this day and age, is the revenue from viewing audience. Essentially there is no major viewing audience to gain from adding West Virginia. Whether or not that revenue can be captured by the rabid traveling fan base is too much of a risk for the Big Ten.

Scenario Two: The Big Ten digs their River Birch roots deeper into Midwestern territory by targeting Missouri or Iowa State. Both programs make sense geographically, especially Iowa State. The Cyclones bring a solid in-state rivalry with the Hawkeyes as well as good academic attributes. Missouri provides an instant boost to both basketball and football.

The after effect of Missouri or Iowa State joining the Big Ten forces the Big 12 to add another team. My guess is that either Arkansas or LSU would make the leap. LSU seems to fit well into the fanatical outreaches of Deep South football glory. Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana each seep SEC blood into the swampy Gulf’s coast connecting one another with a sacred football bond. Arkansas sometimes seems like a outcast step-brother to the SEC and could renew old Southwest rivalries by joining the Big 12.

The SEC, now short handed would target West Virginia. The state is below the Mason Dixon line, has a passionate fan base, and with an excess of 60,000 seats plus room for expansion, the Mountaineers could be a solid addition.

Any scenario short of the Big Ten taking a mid-major looks like disaster for the Big East. I saw that early on and wrote this http://www.collegefootballvoice.com/pb/the-big-east-revolution/ article prompting the Big East to make moves. I can almost guarantee that the Big East is doomed to become a glorified C-USA conference if proactive measures are not currently on the cooker.

Nevertheless, change in college football is like a speeding freight train of imagination on a crash course with reality. If congress puts down their women, whiskey, and golf clubs for a moment of serious work, change may be even more dramatic than anyone originally anticipate. The Big Ten ensures a seat on that freight train and even a ride beyond the realms of mediocrity by expanding the conference. Look out nation, the Big Ten is making a comeback with added bulk.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 11:31 am and is filed under Authors Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.