Pitt to the Big Ten?

[Frozen Sooner]

That's the rumor...

[Leroy Lizard]

Where did you hear it?

[Crucifax Autumn]

The rumor mill, pay attention!

[JLEW1818]

sounds good to me

[misplacedsooner]

good fit

[Frozen Sooner]

Where did you hear it?

The wind, when it stops crying Mary, whispers of Pitt to the Big Ten.

Supposedly the Pitt athletes have already been told it's a done deal and have been asked to keep it quiet. Which they haven't. Which actually makes me think it's not true, since who'd try to keep sensitive information quiet by giving it to a bunch of Facebook-addicted kids when they don't have any need to know?

[JLEW1818]

so will they do a East/West or North/South kinda thing?

(if true)

[Frozen Sooner]

The big reason to get a 12th team is for a championship game, and for a championship game you need divisions, so probably. I think the Big 10 finally figured out the month layoff was hurting them in perception and money.

[JLEW1818]

it is kinda goofy there is always 1 team that won't have to play Ohio St or Michigan

i remember reading about it a few years back, i think it was Indiana


yah it was 2008 Indiana. they did not have to play Ohio State or Michigan.

http://espn.go.com/ncf/teams/schedule?teamId=84&year=2008

[badger]

I was worried that Mizzou would be tempted to bolt the Big 12. Lord knows we don't need more schools from the state of Texas joining the Big 12.

[JLEW1818]

Tulsa!

[Crucifax Autumn]

Are they gonna change the conference name or continue to pretend they ran out of fingers to count on?

[fadada1]

so will they do a East/West or North/South kinda thing?

(if true)

penn state + "others" region
ohio state + "others" region

[soonerboomer93]

yeah, they're goin for the Big 12 name

[SoonerMom2]

Penn State joined and they stayed the Big 10! Pitt would be a good fit for them.

They could actually do a north/south combo like the Big 12 with Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota and Wisconsin against the South of Pitt, Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois and Iowa.

[Crucifax Autumn]

yeah, they're goin for the Big 12 name

Too bad they don't have more NCAA scandals going, they could be The Dirty Dozen. :D

[Scott D]

It'll be East/West and like the Big-12 Ohio State and Michigan will be in the same division.

[silverwheels]

Pitt doesn't add a new TV market nor do they have one of the best fan followings. Oh well, better Pitt than Mizzou, because this conference doesn't need to change.

[BoulderSooner79]

The Extremely Large Ten ?

[Scott D]

Pitt doesn't add a new TV market nor do they have one of the best fan followings. Oh well, better Pitt than Mizzou, because this conference doesn't need to change.

The St. Louis/KC market is smalltime compared to getting deeper feelers into the NY market.

To be quite honest, Rutgers would have been a better candidate academically.

[silverwheels]

The St. Louis/KC market is smalltime compared to getting deeper feelers into the NY market.

To be quite honest, Rutgers would have been a better candidate academically.

Yeah, Rutgers would probably have been the best choice after Notre Dame. Man, the Big East has not had a good decade.

[Jacie]

Mmmm . . . I have to see this one to believe it. The closest Pitt ever came to winning the Big East was when they were chosen to be the BCS represtative after a four-way tie in 2004. Becoming fodder for Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin sounds like a great way to enhance that program.

[silverwheels]

I've seen another unconfirmed rumor that the Pitt talk is just a smoke screen and that the Big Ten really wants (and will get) Missouri.

[yermom]

when does the Pac 10 follow suit?

[SoCal]

Sunday, January 31, 2010 5:45 PM
Posted By: Adam Jacobi
In: Big East, Big Ten, National, Big 12
ShareThis

New York Times reported today, the implications of the Big Ten's impending expansion would be wide and far-reaching--probably enough to shake up a couple other conferences in response:

“The Big Ten study puts everyone on notice that opportunities may be available for change,” Terry Holland, the athletic director at East Carolina, which is in Conference USA, said in an e-mail message. “Positioning will intensify.”

However any Big Ten expansion would shake out — possibly adding one member, or even three or five, to the current 11, said Bill Martin, the outgoing athletic director at Michigan — it could have a domino effect on other conferences. The goal for any university would be to realign allegiances within, or to join, one of the six Bowl Championship Series conferences that control hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. As costs rise at a rate that the National Collegiate Athletic Association says is unsustainable, only 25 of 119 major-college athletic departments operated in the black in 2007-8, with the others averaging deficits of $9.87 million.

An important consideration to admitting any new member [...] would be academic credentials. All Big Ten members belong to the Association of American Universities, a consortium of the nation’s 62 leading research institutions. So are four universities being mentioned for potential Big Ten inclusion — Missouri of the Big 12, and Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse of the Big East.

When the Big Ten first announced their plans to look into expansion (that this required an announcement tells you all you need to know about the way the conference operates), they announced a timetable of "12-18 months." Nonetheless, there's already some talk that Pittsburgh could be tabbed as the 12th team as early as next week. Important disclaimer here: it's just on a message board, there's no name attached to the poster, and no sources are named (as if they ever are). Still, interesting:

I have heard from what I deem to be a reliable source that the Pitt to big ten rumors have much more substance than many on this board understand. Gene Parmesan one of my favorite posters in particular believes that Pitt is not even thought of. Well, Just minutes ago I received a message stating "Pitt to Big Ten Announcement this Friday". I trust this source and believe in his contacts. I also have been wrong on some things before and was reluctant to post this. But I am willing to go out on a limb here. I don't necessarily believe the announcement will come this friday, but I do have enough voices telling me this is likely going to happen.

Finally, I hope that some of you will remember what I stated when this expansion talk first started. THE big ten is looking for a championship game and relevant football after NOV first and foremost. And they wanted a team that wouldln't compromise their academics, and overall prestige.

I may be eating a lot of crow with egg stuck to my face for this might just be the offspring of talking heads, but too many people I trust have told me.

Though we really have no idea whether this guy's track record on information is worth mentioning, it helps that nobody on the site (who, ostensibly, would have a good enough frame of reference) is calling baloney on the original poster. That's not to say that they're experts on whether Pitt will join the conference or anything, but we can at least trust that the rumors aren't coming out of thin air.

As for the pick of Pitt itself, it's an interesting decision. Pitt seems to be a typical Big Ten school; it's in the Great Lakes footprint (see above), the academics are in line with the other schools, and their athletic programs are typically strong. Moreover, the inclusion would be great news for Penn State, who are currently shoehorned into a ridiculous protected rivalry (complete with ridiculous trophy) with Michigan State, which, whatever. No.

And yet, Pittsburgh seems to be too good a fit; they add no new major markets to the conference, which means the Big Ten Network's revenue will likely stay flat while the number of open hands grows by one. Are eight of 11 schools really going to approve of gettiing their TV revenue cut by nearly 10%?

Missouri, on the other hand, puts St. Louis and (perhaps) Kansas City into play, while having similar academic and athletic bona fides. It would be an expansion in a truer sense of the word. And yet, Missouri's never been "Big Ten country"; western Pennsylvania seems to be fitting in well enough, though, and adding Pittsburgh would shore it all up. It just remains to be seen if that's what the conference actually wants

[oudavid1]

Suggestions:

The Northern Athletic Conference or The Conference Formally Known as The Big 1O

[SoCal]

Check this link out....http://frankthetank.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/the-big-ten-expansion-index-a-different-shade-of-orange/

[JLEW1818]

when does the Pac 10 follow suit?

they have 9 college teams and 1 NFL team $

[sooner ngintunr]

Mmmm . . . I have to see this one to believe it. The closest Pitt ever came to winning the Big East was when they were chosen to be the BCS represtative after a four-way tie in 2004. Becoming fodder for Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin sounds like a great way to enhance that program.

You forgot about 2009?

Cinci had to come from behind after being down by over 20 points to beat Pitt with less than a minute to go to win the Big East title.

I don't know the tiebreakers, but if Pitt would have won they would have had the same conf record as Cinci. Thats pretty close, IMO.

[MrJimBeam]

This would **** off Penn St. They'd have to play Pitt every year, they don't want to do that.

[OUDoc]

yeah, they're goin for the Big 12 name

Taking a cue from "The Ohio State University", they will be known as "The Big 12 Conference" whereas we will be the "Big 12" conference. ;)

[TexasLidig8r]

Not going to happen. It makes no sense financially for the Big 10/11 to agree to this.

Pitt does not bring any new television markets the Big 10/11 doesn't already have a strong presence in. Pittsburgh? Please... Pittsburgh is a "Steelers" town. . . Penn State has just as much, if not a greater presence in the Pitt metro area.

Why would the Big 10/11 universities agree to split their television revenue 12 ways instead of 11 if the 12th member doesn't bring additional revenue to the table?

Also, the Pitt athletic program is hardly a juggernaut... they were $8.2 million in the red as recently as 2006.

In essence, the conference would be going to each university and saying.. ok.. each school needs to take approximately $2 million LESS to have Pitt join the conference... yes, we will have a title game in football (and we know we will have that with any 12th program we bring in)... but.. suck it up and take less financially so we can go into a market that we already have a presence in...

Don't hold your breath.

[JLEW1818]

they should at least change their name to big 11 then

[Leroy Lizard]

The Bigger XII Conference?

[JLEW1818]

Great Lakes Conference

[OUDoc]

Large 12

[OUDoc]

Size 12 conference

[crawfish]

"The Increasingly Inaccurately Named Big 10"

[goingoneight]

The "Plus-Two" BIG 10.


"Notre Dame said 'No' again"


"We needed a Baylor, so we added Pitt."

[Soonerfan88]

I think they should go after Rutgers or no one. Yes, Missouri brings a little bit more to tv but not much. Big 10(11) already has a good share of the St Louis market because of Illinois and KC is more dominated by KU/KSU/NU than MU even with UMKC. As many have already said, Pitt offers them nothing. ND has already said no too many times and won't budge until they lose their personal tv deal.

[Crucifax Autumn]

Wow...2 threads I've looked at in a row and I've learned that not only is Lid a Saint, but he's also smarter than everyone else. I feel so enlightened.

[SbOrOiNaEnR]

"We needed a Baylor, so we added Pitt."

Change their name to the Big 12 and we can become the "Ann Richards Memorial Conference."

[SicEmBaylor]

Change their name to the Big 12 and we can become the "Ann Richards Memorial Conference."

I don't know how many more times this has to be said, but Ann Richards wasn't responsible. It was Bob Bullock.

:eyeroll: Ann Richards didn't give two ****s about her alma mater.

[King Barry's Back]

So no one is going to comment on the incredible story that Texas should be the Big 10 invitee?

Have you thought about that? If TX, and especially if they took A&M with them, goes -- the Big XII loses the TV sets in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, etc.

That leaves our current conference badly exposed -- with only the Denver market (which is pretty ho-hum re: the Buffs) as a major player, and the KC and part-of the St Louis market as back ups, to generate any TV money.

You think our TV contract sucks now, wait til you see the results of this change.

Even if Missouri were to go, then the whole conference would be beholden to the TX TV markets to keep this thing afloat.

And the next step -- if the Big XII is financially undermined by the loss TX, A&M or Missouri [or some combination of them] -- what's left for OU?

We are not a big TV school, and we don't have a sterling academic reputation, and we don't have outstanding research facilities.

So, what are we and the Big XII leftovers going to do to make up the losses?

There would be few options. Bringing in a mid-major like TCU or Tulsa would bring us almost nothing in TV "attractiveness." And if we could get a school like Arkansas, they are small market too.

We'd need to get a big TV market school in to anchor our conference and make it financially secure -- but those schools that would be attractive for those reasons already have homes, because they are already so attractive.

Geez, we would be in a world of hurt. Oklahoma could well be in the position of shopping for a new conference, and not being very attractive because we wouldn't bring many TVs with us.

I remember reading a bunch of doomsday scenarios back when the old-Southwest Conference broke up -- about what could happen to OU if the Big 8 didn't take in TX and A&M. And I was worried sick in those days -- but the Big 8 did take in the TX schools and that's bought us over a decade of stability.

And before any of you say "TX won't go because they don't want to pay to travel to all those games, or have the athletes away from school for so long," remember this: Joining the Big 10 would immediately increase TX's TV revenues by over $10 million a year -- which buys a lot of hi-speed travel.

[Frozen Sooner]

We are not a big TV school, and we don't have a sterling academic reputation, and we don't have outstanding research facilities.

1. OU is consistently one of the leaders in ratings for televised games. This has been the case for decades. When OU is on TV, ratings go up.

2. OU is now in the USN&WR Tier One. No, we're not an Ivy, or even a New Ivy, but OU has a perfectly good academic reputation and the research facilities are comparable to all but a very few publics.

If OU wants to find a new conference, we will not have a problem finding one.