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Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan
Absolutely not. They've been waiting for a scenario where they could be left out of the championship picture as an independent. That time would be now if the B12 was dissolved.
They just had a Rivals writer on local radio in KC. Said that the Big 10 expansion invites are expected very soon due to the Pac-10's move, possibly as soon as the next two weeks.
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Agreed. And not just that, but ND may decline the Big Ten now if they knew the door was still open (ie the Big Ten at 12 or even 14 would potentially have open spots to invite ND down the road.) If the move toward 16 happens now, which suddenly looks more likely, they would likely accept rather than run the risk of being left out for good, since 17+ (at least for now) starts to seem a bit excessive. It's kind of been a poker game. The Big Ten said if they added ND they would stop at 12. They didn't realize that ND would be much more interested if the move toward 14-16 was a go.
The word today, if this all goes down, has Syracuse in, so the next interesting question for the Big Ten becomes Rutgers or Pitt for the last spot. I'd think Rutgers makes more sense from a BTN market perspective. I also am curious to see how Boeheim reacts. He pretty publicly stated he is against a move to the Big Ten, and he made sure Syracuse turned down the ACC in 2003, which ultimately lead to BC being the 12th ACC team. (Cuse is an anomaly as their basketball brings in more revenue than their football, so he has a lot of power.) I don't think there's anyway they could turn the Big Ten down, of course. I am curious to see his comments, though.