Big 10 Expansion Thread -Big Ten ready for a playoff .. finally?

[CU Tiger]

Dola - PSU and ND would eb an interesting 15,16 for the ACC...I keep hearing that we are infatuatd with Texas for some reason but God I hope not that is a miserable road trip.

Of course the Clemson Rivals board is full of speculation that the never proactive ACC just aded 2 members to back fill its 2 soon to be open spots...with their rumors being WVU, FSU and Clemson/VT being 14-16 for the SEC.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I wasnt talking academics. Im talking culture. Midwest vs. East coast. They do play a B1G style of football but Penn State has always felt out of place in the B1G, in my mind.

Agreed, and I feel the same way about Maryland and the ACC

[Suicane75]

PSU is Western Pennsylvania, it's hard labor and blue collar. PSU is as Midwest as it gets, just replace corn with coal.

[cuervo72]

It's pretty central, actually. Almost on line with Hagerstown, MD.

Looking at the roster, this is where the players are coming from:

PA - 54
MD - 12
NJ - 8
NY - 8
DE - 6
MI - 5
VA - 5
OH - 4
TX - 4
NC - 3
CT - 2
IL - 2
IN - 2
LA - 1
ON - 1
AZ - 1
TN - 1

Now does that look like PSU is pulling from the Midwest, or the Mid-Atlantic?

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

It's pretty central, actually. Almost on line with Hagerstown, MD.

Looking at the roster, this is where the players are coming from:

PA - 54
MD - 12
NJ - 8
NY - 8
DE - 6
MI - 5
VA - 5
OH - 4
TX - 4
NC - 3
CT - 2
IL - 2
IN - 2
LA - 1
ON - 1
AZ - 1
TN - 1

Now does that look like PSU is pulling from the Midwest, or the Mid-Atlantic?

PSU has always made their living in PA/MD/NJ, but it is hard to believe that they don't have a single player from Florida on their roster.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Evidently the NCAA just figured out what started happening 18-20 months ago........

NCAA President Mark Emmert calls for caution

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Evidently the NCAA just figured out what started happening 18-20 months ago........

NCAA President Mark Emmert calls for caution

I seriously can't believe they used this as an example in that article:

Syracuse, for example, will be shipping teams and players more than 1,200 miles for ACC games at Miami (Fla.). Pittsburgh is more than 1,000 miles from south Florida.

Really? I guess Syracuse and Pitt were closer to Miami when they were in the Big East together.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Evidently the NCAA just figured out what started happening 18-20 months ago........

NCAA President Mark Emmert calls for caution

Emmert needs to go sit in the corner with Dan Beebe and John Marinatto (I'm almost hoping for a Big 12/BE leftover merger so that these two clowns can get fired, rather than just having their conferences disintegrate).


I did like this part from the article:

Syracuse, for example, will be shipping teams and players more than 1,200 miles for ACC games at Miami (Fla.). Pittsburgh is more than 1,000 miles from south Florida.

Wow... It is really hard to envision Syracuse and Pitt in a conference with Miami. Not to mention the Big East already has a team in, well, South Florida and is adding one in Texas.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I seriously can't believe they used this as an example in that article:



Really? I guess Syracuse and Pitt were closer to Miami when they were in the Big East together.

Doh. You got to it first.

[albionmoonlight]

Idea:

Keep the current conference setup for men's football and basketball.

For all other sports, create regional areas that dictate who plays whom. Is the world really going to end if Miami, Fla. St., Florida, USF, UCF, Fla. Atlantic, etc. all play in the same women's volleyball league? Why must they be tied to football?

[Ksyrup]

BryanDFischer Bryan Fischer
Lolz. RT @SBNTheNovaBlog: ACC Commissioner John Swofford Confirms #Villanova Has Applied For ACC Membership

[Logan]

If the ACC accepts Villanova, any ACC football fan should just jump off a bridge. It would indicate an even greater "basketball over football" mentality than the Big East.

[Ksyrup]

Rutgers, possibly.

Just because a team has applied doesn't mean they are going to be accepted. ACC said they got 10 applications so far, and publicly named or confirmed Villanova as one of them.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

New post from the TT poster on Tigerboard. Says Mizzou will notify early next week and deal should be done by end of next week. Also seeing more buzz that OU/OSU are just about ready to hit the eject button and will do so if Mizzou jumps.

This was posted on 8-31. Any follow-up from TT poster on Tigerboard?

(meanwhile my Big East/ACC tip looking good!)

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Rutgers, possibly.

Just because a team has applied doesn't mean they are going to be accepted. ACC said they got 10 applications so far, and publicly named or confirmed Villanova as one of them.

Yeah I would never expect Villanova to get in; hell, we know how desperate the Big East was and they wouldn't take them. They play in an 18k soccer stadium and just lost to Monmouth of all teams...it's not like they're a I-AA power at this point.

[Butter]

Yeah, I'm hoping for Rutgers and UConn as the final 2 ACC to bring it to 16. But even then, I'm not crazy about Rutgers. But I think any other school would have to be a Div. I-A (yes, I know it doesn't exist anymore) football and basketball school which would rule Villanova out.

[I. J. Reilly]

God help me, but I really love reading all of the negotiations going on through the media.

Texas opens with:

Originally Posted by Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman

The Longhorns would be able to keep all of their revenue from the network if that amount is greater than one-sixteenth of what the entire Pac-12 receives for its third-tier rights. However, if one-sixteenth of the money the Pac-12 receives from third-tier rights ends up being a larger amount, the schools would divide the revenue evenly and everybody would receive the same amount, the source said.

"Nothing has been definitively confirmed. But that's in the zip code," a source very familiar with the realignment discussions said Sunday. "This is not yet a done deal. It appears that (Pac-12 commissioner) Larry Scott is going to be able to work some magic and help Texas keep the Longhorn Network and their revenue stream."

Larry Scott responds with basically a giant fart noise:

Originally Posted by Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News

That is, at its very best, misleading.
For one thing, the Longhorn Network would have to be folded into the Pac-12 regional model — it wouldn’t exist as a separate entity.
What’s more, there is no chance that any school will have more than 1/16th of the revenue, whether it comes from the conference’s first, second or third-tier rights. NO CHANCE.
We’re more likely to see USC give up football and join the Big West.

Did Bohls even read that before he cut and pasted it into his column? I thought this guy was the voice of reason from the Texas side.

[Toddzilla]

Sorry if this is a repost - it's from a dude from Pitt who's been spot-on with his analysis and information. I'll just post it here rather than link it. tl;dr?

As people who read this forum regularly will tell you, I have given you guys some good stuff in recent weeks - things that have subsequently been proven true - and hopefully you will like this as well. As always you are free to believe/disbelieve whatever you choose to believe/disbelieve.

Wow, I have a TON to share so I'll try my best. Before we get started this is an incredibly long post so please don't complain about it's length. If you prefer short, sweet stuff then click elsewhere. This is a very complicated story and it requires full context.

I spoke with some of my Pitt connections tonight - mostly over text - after a LOOOONG spell of radio silence (which I took to be a good sign - at least from a Pitt perspective). Here is what I have learned/figured out on my own by piecing together accounts:

1.) The loss to Iowa today was one of the biggest choke jobs of all-time. Holy cow that was an epic collapse. We were up 27-10 in the fourth quarter and somehow managed to lose the game. Amazing! This could have a devastating impact on the rest of this season. I'm still stunned that we somehow managed to lose that game.

2.) Okay, now onto the things you all care about.

3.) This is a done deal. Pitt and Syracuse are definitely going to the ACC and that is going to be announced tomorrow afternoon at a press conference in Greensboro, NC. My guy thinks it will likely be a 3 p.m. presser but that is not yet confirmed.

I don't wish to hurt anyone's feelings but I am extremely relieved to hear this news. More on that later.

4.) Anyone who has read my stuff knows that I have had grave doubts about this conference's long term viability and I have not been remotely shy about stating that it has long been my desire for Pitt to land in the comparatively more stable ACC. It's just a better fit for us on a host of levels. Fortunately for me, a number of decision makers feel the exact same way. I wasn't always convinced that was the case but apparently I was wrong about some of the people I have cursed out so many times in the past.

5.) Until this past year, Pitt was 100 percent committed to the future of the Big East and I would argue that no president has fought harder for the league than has Nordenberg. However I would say that the school's belief in the league and its future began wane last spring over the whole Villanova debacle.

Adding VU for football just was - and remains - among the very the dumbest ideas in the history of major college athletics and I think it shocked, alarmed and disappointed Pitt that so many other schools fought so hard to implement it and that so many other football schools were willing to leak it to the press (cough, Louisville, cough South Florida) in an effort to pressure Pitt into capitulating. Incidentally I believe that West Virginia and Rutgers hold the exact same view on the matter but you will have to ask them.

Pitt wanted to add Central Florida but was willing to settle for East Carolina and maybe even Houston. However as the process dragged along it became clear that some of the football schools and just about all of the basketball schools - minus ND, which always manages to stay above the fray in these matters - were not going to allow any package of teams in the league that did not include Villanova. Pitt (and West Virginia and Rutgers) just couldn't understand that mentality and that caused a deep rift. Honestly until this morning I had always been led to believe that SU was on the other side of this issue but obviously that was a misperception on my part.

6.) Syracuse president Nancy Cantor and especially Pitt president Mark Nordenberg (by virtue of his position on the league council) are being eaten alive right now by the critics for how poorly they handled themselves throughout this process and my first thought was, "Rightfully so. They really should have called Marinatto before this all leaked." I can't tell you how disappointed I was to hear that Marinatto learned of this whole deal while in the press box prior to the WVU @ UMD game.

However according to the people with whom I have spoken, it is a bit more complicated than has so far been reported.

Basically, the ACC was afraid that they were going to lose Florida State and likely Virginia Tech - they believe that the SEC would like to go to 16 teams, not 14 teams - so it made an aggressive overture towards both Notre Dame and Texas to see where they stood.

ND was cool to the whole thing (but is still possibly in play in some capacity - at least in the opinion of one person with whom I have spoken) but Texas was another story altogether. The Longhorn brass seemed eager to speak with the ACC so off they went to try and hammer out a deal.

While talking to the Longhorns it became clear that Texas' priority was the LHN (big surprise there, right?) and for reasons that I don't quite understand that didn't fit into what the ACC was looking to do. However the real killer was that Texas wanted basically the same deal that ND has with the BE (or with some minimal number of guaranteed games against ACC schools) and they insisted on Texas Tech coming along as well. And to get to 16 teams that also likely meant other B12 schools.

That was a killer for the ACC because it is very market hungry. Remember four of that league's 12 teams are located in the same Raleigh, NC DMA. That is a problem for that league and why they were always going to be forced to go outside their footprint. Now they have the only major college football program in the entire state of heavily populated New York and one of two major programs in similarly heavily populated (and recruiting rich) Pennsylvania. That is a BIG deal for the ACC and way more than Kansas or K-State (the other schools believed to be in the discussion) could have given them.

Still, even despite that, Texas was STILL in play because they are Texas. However after speaking with the UT officials for a few days the ACC people began to believe that they were being used as leverage for what Texas really wanted - either a reconstituted B12 (with the LHN of course) or an invitation to the Pac-16 (also with the LHN as part of the deal).

I'm told that the reports out of Kansas City have been the most accurate and that the report last week or the week before that said that the B12's targets were Notre Dame, Arkansas, Brigham Young and Pitt were "100 percent true" according to one of my peeps. However ND and ARKY were completely uninterested and BYU was on the fence and leaning towards staying indie.

Pitt was initially not interested in changing conferences either but when the other schools mentioned were replaced with Louisville and West Virginia, that all changed. Also, Pitt believed that if another B12 team left for the ACC, they would be replaced with TCU. That is a pretty good group to defect with.

What the ACC began to suspect was that Texas was using them to bluff others into staying in the B12 and that the meetings on Monday were going to be to announce that they presidents had the sole authority to find the right league for their schools and that they were first going to try to make the B12 work - with the BE programs in tow.

It made the ACC nervous that the B12 was going to aggressively pursue the Northeast and they were worried that their inactivity was going to cost them the Noles and the Hokies to the SEC so they acted first and instead offered Pitt and the Cuse - the two BE football programs with the best overall academic profiles and the best football traditions. No offense to WVU or Louisville or anyone else but if you put an all-time team from all of the rest of the BE schools combined it would not compare to either Pitt's or SU's.

However the ACC's offer was conditional on the schools immediately accepting their invites/applying for membership. If they hesitated, the ACC was simply going to move down their list until they found some teams in the NE that were willing to say yes. I'm told that this all happened "incredibly fast."

Finally, this has flown somewhat under the radar but the ACC also agreed this week to raise the exit fee from $12 million to $20 million. That is a LOT of loot for an athletic department - especially in these cash strapped times.

7.) What nobody seems to know - and what I think is the key to this whole story - is who leaked the story to the NYT in the first place?

Judging by their stunned reaction, I don't believe that it was anybody associated with the Big East office - which would have been my first guess. And from all of the things I have read the BE media guy in Iowa City was on the phone all day and "looked like his dog had died" and Marinatto found out in the press box of the game at Maryland.

As an aside, how is it that many of you knew about this last night and the freaking commissioner of the league still had no idea that this was happening until about 11 a.m. this morning? THAT is precisely why people should be very afraid for the future of this league. Okay, now back to my previously scheduled question of who leaked this story?

Also, it seems pretty unlikely that any of the league's AD's leaked the story because they all seemed flummoxed as well. Hell, I don't think that UConn even has an AD at this point - which is absurd in this climate.

My first guess was that Daryl Gross - or "Dr. Gross" as some of Syracuse's most pretentious fans insist on calling him - was the culprit. Gross has a HUGE mouth (like Oliver Luck big) and he has been telling anyone who would listen for years now that his primary objective was to get SU out of the BE and into either the B1G or the ACC. This is an ENORMOUS coup for that dude on a lot of fronts and it would make sense that he would be the one to leak this story to Pete Thamel (an SU alum and a guy who writes in a market that SU covets). However his "no comment” and then awkward add at the end casts doubt on my suspicions. Let's call him "a person of interest."

On the surface it makes no sense for the ACC folks to have leaked it, so who leaked it?

My guess is that if it wasn't SU then it would have to be either ND or Texas as they would be the only other two programs who might have known this was coming. I'll be curious to see how that all gets reconciled. The people with whom I spoke today were all just as flummoxed as I am about who leaked it and that is what they have been trying to figure out all day. The working theory seems to be that it may have been Texas by way of ESPN - who would have been informed by the ACC of their intentions as a matter of contractual obligation.

We'll see.

8.) Okay, one more then I'm tapped out and off to bed.

The ACC's plan is not to stop at 14 teams but rather to go to 16 teams and they plan to do so quickly. I am told that they actually asked both Pitt and Syracuse who they would recommend for those extra spots if push came to shove? I found that piece of info absolutely fascinating. I don't know who SU's preferences were but Pitt's were believed to be West Virginia and Rutgers. My personal choices would be WVU and UConn but I guess I can live with Rutgers.

Apparently the goal is to make one more run at ND and perhaps Texas - and Texas alone - for those spots to see if they can make a deal work. However that is considered a very long shot so then they are likely to go after two of Rutgers, Louisville, Connecticut and West Virginia. If the league loses two schools - which could still happen even after raising the exit fee to $20 - I'm told that all four schools would likely get in.

Wouldn't that be something else?

9.) Finally, everyone I spoke to tonight believes that Texas will end up in the Pac-16 with Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. They believe that the LHN will end up being a very successful regional package and that 20 years from now Texas will thank its lucky stars that it worked out as well as it did for them.

10.) Oh, one more and then I really am done for the night. Let's just make this an even ten. It may surprise many of you to learn that most of the people with whom I have spoken about this issue (both insiders and outsiders alike) are anything but celebratory. This is very different than VT's reaction in 2003 or BC's reaction a year later. Everyone with whom I have spoken is a little bit sad that it has reached this point and everyone is lamenting losing the Big East Tournament in MSG. However they are also mostly resolved that this is probably in our best long term interests because of the stability the new league will provide us. Also, most believe that WVU is a at least a decent bet to get an SEC invite.

[Young Drachma]

I guess that whole Big East football expansion thing left a sour taste in the mouth of our friends in suburban Philly. Wonder how their anything but football situation will work in the ACC.

[timmynausea]

I'd be shocked if Villanova actually gets into the ACC. The number floating around was that 10 teams applied. Villanova will rank right around 10th on that list.

[Ksyrup]

Particularly when Villanova appears to be what pushed Pitt and Syracuse out of the Big East.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

Sorry if this is a repost - it's from a dude from Pitt who's been spot-on with his analysis and information. I'll just post it here rather than link it.

I said before this whole soap opera this would make a great book. After what I've read and heard, I think you could make a whole book just related to the manipulation that UT has engaged in during this whole 18 month process, both through the media and in private circles. I'm glad that Mizzou isn't an option for the Pac-XX at this point just because I don't think anyone at the university wants to deal with them in any way, shape, or form.

[Toddzilla]

The list (according to people in Blacksburg who have been on top of this mess)

Pitt
Syracuse
WVU
UConn
Rutgers
Villanova
ECU
Marshall
Memphis
"Texas"

[timmynausea]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Particularly when Villanova appears to be what pushed Pitt and Syracuse out of the Big East.

I actually wouldn't blame Villanova for that individually so much as all the basketball schools collectively. I think a nuance that the Toddzilla pasted Pitt post missed is how the football schools interpreted the basketball schools pushing Villanova as mandatory for any further football expansion. Villanova would merely be a way for the basketball schools to maintain a voting majority. They'd essentially be a basketball school in football school's clothing as they'd still vote right along with Providence and the others. Adding TCU made it so there will be 9 football votes and 10 basketball votes. That's all it was really about.

It also meant Big East football was probably never going to expand to even 12. The basketball schools just wouldn't take the stability concerns seriously and do anything to try to strengthen the Big East's position. Marinotto basically hung a "Raid me!" sign on the conference last summer.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

PSU is Western Pennsylvania, it's hard labor and blue collar. PSU is as Midwest as it gets, just replace corn with coal.

Coal defines WVU massively. Would you honestly say it feels B1G as a result?

[Toddzilla]

Should add...

If UConn wants in, they're in. ACC would love to have the mens and especially womens basketball teams in.

Rutgers, WVU, Villanova? Non-starters according to Swofford, particularly WVU and Villanova.

Anyone else? No chance in hell for a myriad of reasons, although you'd have to believe if a program like Texas, ND, PSU was interested (which, for the record, they are NOT), the ACC would make it happen.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I meant that as shorthand for "the Villanova football thing." Seems Villanova has the same idea with the ACC that it had with the Big East, which obivously Pitt/Syracuse and probably all 12 other ACC teams would balk at.

In a way, I feel bad for Villanova, because they are about a decade behind on the football thing. You look at where USF, UCONN, UCF, even FIU right now are at, and Villanova's lack of a major football program is going to relegate them to second class school.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I said before this whole soap opera this would make a great book. After what I've read and heard, I think you could make a whole book just related to the manipulation that UT has engaged in during this whole 18 month process, both through the media and in private circles. I'm glad that Mizzou isn't an option for the Pac-XX at this point just because I don't think anyone at the university wants to deal with them in any way, shape, or form.

Missed your inside straight draw?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by digamma

Missed your inside straight draw?

Death of Online Poker thread is several pages down.

[Ksyrup]

At bat: Texas

On deck: Oklahoma

In the hole:
@AP_Top25: Oklahoma St regents schedule special meeting Wednesday to “consider matters relating to athletic conference membership.”

[RedKingGold]

Don't want to push pause on the hyperbole and venom in this thread, however, think it's possible Villanova, if they applied for ACC membership, did so only for its non-football sports (i.e. basketball)?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Article on where Mizzou lies in the discussion........

PowerMizzou.com - Mizzou's options are many, certainties are few

Discussion concerning WVU to SEC rumors........

West Virginia to the SEC Makes No Sense, Won't Happen : Outkick The Coverage

No surprise here, but Big East is on verge of collapse........

Big East football close to collapse after conference defections - College Football News | FOX Sports on MSN

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

dola

OU BOR meeting just started. UT board meeting at 3:00 PM. OSU just announced a meeting Wednesday to likely make the same moves that OU/UT are making today.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Don't want to push pause on the hyperbole and venom in this thread, however, think it's possible Villanova, if they applied for ACC membership, did so only for its non-football sports (i.e. basketball)?

I don't think the ACC would go for that. However, if the football schools jump ship, the Big East basketball schools could get their wish, add Villanova, and just drop football entirely or even be happy as a Mountain West or Conference USA equivalent in football.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

In a way, I feel bad for Villanova, because they are about a decade behind on the football thing. You look at where USF, UCONN, UCF, even FIU right now are at, and Villanova's lack of a major football program is going to relegate them to second class school.

Welcome to my world as a UMass fan. In the mid-90's we were a basketball power and won the 1-AA championship in football (1998), but a lack of vision on the university's part and funding by the legislature kept us in 1AA and (almost certainly) away from the millions per year that being in a super-conference will be worth. We finally got a Chancellor and President that recognized how grave a mistake that was, but it appears to be too late.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

However, if the football schools jump ship, the Big East basketball schools could get their wish, add Villanova, and just drop football entirely or even be happy as a Mountain West or Conference USA equivalent in football.

There's over $20m reasons not to drop football entirely.

The Big Ten, Southeastern and Pac-10, which each had two teams in BCS bowls, will receive about $27.2 million each, while the ACC, Big East and Big 12 will each receive roughly $21.2 million. ... and a new high of $24.7 million for the five conferences that don't get automatic bids to the BCS bowls.

[lungs]

Catholic School Basketball Conference?

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Don't want to push pause on the hyperbole and venom in this thread, however, think it's possible Villanova, if they applied for ACC membership, did so only for its non-football sports (i.e. basketball)?

I don't think that's realistic, and if it is, I hope FSU leaves the ACC yesterday.

[Ksyrup]

@james_ocolly: If any doubt about conference realignment, Gundy just talked about late night games as practice for Pac16 games

[Ksyrup]

Oh hell, this is funny! Someone know something?!


@MikeHumesESPN: Networks set for two 8 pm Big Ten games on Oct 1: Nebraska at Wisconsin on ABC & Notre Dame at Purdue on ESPN

[timmynausea]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Don't want to push pause on the hyperbole and venom in this thread, however, think it's possible Villanova, if they applied for ACC membership, did so only for its non-football sports (i.e. basketball)?

The only way I could possibly imagine this making any sense at all would be to partner with ND if they also joined the ACC in everything but football, possibly even as members 17 and 18 to go along with 16 in football. And wow would it be hilarious for Villanova and ND to stab the Big East basketball schools in the back like that.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Oh hell, this is funny! Someone know something?!


@MikeHumesESPN: Networks set for two 8 pm Big Ten games on Oct 1: Nebraska at Wisconsin on ABC & Notre Dame at Purdue on ESPN

Is Purdue getting kicked out of the Big-10?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Oh hell, this is funny! Someone know something?!
@MikeHumesESPN: Networks set for two 8 pm Big Ten games on Oct 1: Nebraska at Wisconsin on ABC & Notre Dame at Purdue on ESPN

Huh? Either I'm very confused & totally missing your point OR perhaps you aren't familiar with the home team basically being how games are identified for TV/network purposes; i.e. you could have UAB at Tennessee as an "SEC Game of the Week"

That sort of thing is pretty common even before ESPN took such a heavy role in the conference packages, going back to old syndication deals that covered 2nd/3rd tier games. Early in the season games like Florida vs Lil Sis of the Poor was a common "SEC GotW".

[digamma]

Yeah, the ads on ABC the other night for the FSU game kept calling it "the ACC on ESPN." Same thing.

[Ksyrup]

Considering the first game is Big 10 vs. Big 10, I thought it was pretty funny that both games were identified as Big 10 games, when one included ND. It's not identified as Big 10 game of the week, just "2 Big 10 games."

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by digamma

Yeah, the ads on ABC the other night for the FSU game kept calling it "the ACC on ESPN." Same thing.

OU/FSU is not an ACC game, although clearly considering it involves an ACC team, they will brand it as part of their ACC TV package. What I quoted called both of those games Big 10 games. Not the same thing to me. But I just thought it was funny, not a serious suggestion that ND was headed to the Big 10.

[Marmel]

Originally Posted by timmynausea

The only way I could possibly imagine this making any sense at all would be to partner with ND if they also joined the ACC in everything but football, possibly even as members 17 and 18 to go along with 16 in football. And wow would it be hilarious for Villanova and ND to stab the Big East basketball schools in the back like that.

This was one of the problems with the Big East and you see how that is ending. Say no to Villanova.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

the quality of villanova's football team is irrelevant. it's their tv market that everyone covets. it's temple's deal with the linc that is their undoing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

What I quoted called both of those games Big 10 games. Not the same thing to me.

For the purposes of TV, it's the same thing.