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

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Do they want to block FSU, Georgia Tech, etc. just so they can be the only SEC school in their respective states? Is that all it's about, or it there more?

I won't speak as firmly about SC/Clemson or FSU/Florida (not my back yard) but for UGA/GT it's the recruiting advantage that comes with being the only SEC school that's particularly large.

You'll also find at least some minor lingering sentiment about never letting Tech back into the conference since they left of their own accord back in 1964. But it's mostly about keeping that huge advantage.

On a related note, here's an interesting look back at the story behind Tech's departure.

Georgia Tech erred when it left the SEC | The Telegraph

edit to add: Yes, you'll still hear that "hey, they left, screw 'em" sentiment occasionally from people who literally weren't born when it happened.

[murrayyyyy]

You were wondering what Garth Brooks thought about Big 12 expansion? Of course Arkansas comes up first on his list...

WholeHogSports - Garth Brooks says Arkansas would make sense for Big 12

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by digamma

Come on CU, I agree with you on this, but there's no need to embellish stuff. Clemson is what, a year or so out from trying to tack on a Student Activities Fee to tuition?

They did add a student activity fee. $125/yr/student. A the time it was dded they were the only power 5 school that didn't have one and they are now 3rd lowest.

They also are proposing to add a $250 premium student ticket fee to guarantee students reserved seats in the lower bowl. Those are AD revenue drivers for sure. None of that takes away from the $$$ donated by the AD to the general University fund and the 1 Clemson fund.

Originally Posted by digamma

The Grant of Rights is a great marketing ploy, but we all know contracts are broken all the time and buyouts are not paid in full. It's the starting point of the negotiation, which for the ACC as a league is still a very good spot to be.

That is just it. it isnt a marketing ploy. The league member literally "granted away their rights to TV revenue" to the league in exchange for a guaranteed spot in the league. There is no reason for the ACC to negotiate a beak up. Fine, leave. You gave us your rights to money. Its really that simplistic.

The buyouts are an entire separate matter. The ACC willingly removed and waived the previous $50MM buyouts in exchange for the GOR.
That is what makes the legislation have so much teeth. The league waived a $50MM agreement in exchange for your signature. If you want to talk about breaking the GOR the $50MM reinstated PLUS our 10 year revenue number is a starting point.

You guys think I am approaching this as if defending the ACC. I'm not I am approaching this as the damned league has handcuffed its cash cows. While BC, Wake and a few others sit back spend nothing and collect checks.

I'd wager anything I owned on this fact, the Big 12 will cease to exist before another team leaves the ACC prior to 2026

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

That is just it. it isnt a marketing ploy. The league member literally "granted away their rights to TV revenue" to the league in exchange for a guaranteed spot in the league. There is no reason for the ACC to negotiate a beak up. Fine, leave. You gave us your rights to money. Its really that simplistic.

The buyouts are an entire separate matter. The ACC willingly removed and waived the previous $50MM buyouts in exchange for the GOR.
That is what makes the legislation have so much teeth. The league waived a $50MM agreement in exchange for your signature. If you want to talk about breaking the GOR the $50MM reinstated PLUS our 10 year revenue number is a starting point.

You guys think I am approaching this as if defending the ACC. I'm not I am approaching this as the damned league has handcuffed its cash cows. While BC, Wake and a few others sit back spend nothing and collect checks.

I'd wager anything I owned on this fact, the Big 12 will cease to exist before another team leaves the ACC prior to 2026

It's one thing to say what the deal is. It's another thing to see if it withstands a court challenge. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I think the airtight claims are a bit premature.

[CU Tiger]

Good point.

The GOR also includes an arbitration clause that disputes must be arbitrated in the state of NC, since the league is HQ'd there.

Care to guess where most NC lawyers and judges went to law school?

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Good point.

The GOR also includes an arbitration clause that disputes must be arbitrated in the state of NC, since the league is HQ'd there.

Care to guess where most NC lawyers and judges went to law school?

List of Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And in a surprise ruling today, the NC Supreme Court held that 1/7 of Clemson and FSUs football revenues go to . . . Harvard.

[albionmoonlight]

The ACC made such a tough contract to break because it is in such danger of being poached. IMHO, there are only two conferences that are not in danger of being poached. The PAC 12, because they are the only big dog out West and the SEC because
https://youtu.be/wMEq1mGpP5A?t=1m27s

Every other conference should at least be aware of its neighbors.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

The ACC made such a tough contract to break because it is in such danger of being poached. IMHO, there are only two conferences that are not in danger of being poached. The PAC 12, because they are the only big dog out West and the SEC because
https://youtu.be/wMEq1mGpP5A?t=1m27s

Every other conference should at least be aware of its neighbors.

Do you really think the B1G can be poached?
2 things prevent that:
1. The HUGE amount of money each school will get off this TV contract and then the next, which happens in 6 years.
2. The HUGE amount of research dollars that each university gets.

The B1G will not lose any teams.

[dawgfan]

The Big Ten is safe for the foreseeable future. At some point demographics may reduce the alumni base of those schools (given the much slower population growth in their main footprint), but we're talking decades and there will certainly be other, more immediate factors that could change the landscape before then. And hell, climate change might reverse that slow growth and send more people back to the rust belt...

[tarcone]

Shoot, I could be closer to the Pacific Ocean when the San Andreas fault lets loose.

That would certainly put a damper on the PAC 12.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Do you really think the B1G can be poached?
2 things prevent that:
1. The HUGE amount of money each school will get off this TV contract and then the next, which happens in 6 years.
2. The HUGE amount of research dollars that each university gets.

The B1G will not lose any teams.

Thing is, the other conferences aren't particularly interested in poaching them - okay, what's left of the Big 12 might- but otherwise I'd say they're all pretty content to let them do their thing.

If one were to judge from from this board though it's hard not to get the impression that there's a major inferiority complex up that way.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Thing is, the other conferences aren't particularly interested in poaching them - okay, what's left of the Big 12 might- but otherwise I'd say they're all pretty content to let them do their thing.

If one were to judge from from this board though it's hard not to get the impression that there's a major inferiority complex up that way.

Thank god most rational people dont judge an attitude on the responses from a message board. They are content to let them do their thing that part is correct. They also arent looking to expand into the middle north of the country. I am sure if they(anyone including the SEC) felt Ohio State or Michigan were an easy poach they would latch on in a heartbeat.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

The Big Ten is safe for the foreseeable future. At some point demographics may reduce the alumni base of those schools (given the much slower population growth in their main footprint), but we're talking decades and there will certainly be other, more immediate factors that could change the landscape before then. And hell, climate change might reverse that slow growth and send more people back to the rust belt...

I think college football dying is a lot more likely a scenario. Whether because of increased lawsuits/drying up youth numbers due to brain damage worries, or more likely because the courts (or Congress) finally step in and effectively force the NFL to pay for and create it's own minor league system that is no longer officially tied to colleges. Or with the advances in technology maybe the current college model where large groups of students live in/near a central location becomes anachronistic.

I don't think any of that's likely by 2050, but I'd say that's slightly more realistic and likely to happen before the stagnant demographics of the rust belt or global warming starts playing a role

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I think college football dying is a lot more likely a scenario. Whether because of increased lawsuits/drying up youth numbers due to brain damage worries, or more likely because the courts (or Congress) finally step in and effectively force the NFL to pay for and create it's own minor league system that is no longer officially tied to colleges. Or with the advances in technology maybe the current college model where large groups of students live in/near a central location becomes anachronistic.

I don't think any of that's likely by 2050, but I'd say that's slightly more realistic and likely to happen before the stagnant demographics of the rust belt or global warming starts playing a role

Exactly. My point being, the Big Ten is safe for a long time.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Shoot, I could be closer to the Pacific Ocean when the San Andreas fault lets loose.

That would certainly put a damper on the PAC 12.

I know this is not a serious response, but my inner geology nerd can't resist - the San Andreas is a transform fault, so what happens when it "lets loose" is the land west of the fault (a thin sliver of California and all of Baja California) moves north relative to the rest of North America. And north of the San Andreas, the Juan De Fuca plate subducts under the North American plate (hence the volcanic Cascade Mountain range from northern California up through southern British Columbia), which results in more material added to the western edge of the continent.

So no, you're actually getting farther away from the Pacific Ocean.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Thank god most rational people dont judge an attitude on the responses from a message board.

Which is why I left the conference largely blameless.

I am sure if they(anyone including the SEC) felt Ohio State or Michigan were an easy poach they would latch on in a heartbeat.

I think you'd be surprised at the difference in enthusiasm about that. Those two, yeah, the credibility is there enough that anybody would take them. But they're also the only two teams in the conference that can be said about.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I think you'd be surprised at the difference in enthusiasm about that. Those two, yeah, the credibility is there enough that anybody would take them. But they're also the only two teams in the conference that can be said about.

I would say its pretty much regional/conference based. As a Missouri fan I cared about Iowa State, Kansas State, Colorado athletics more than most for years and now follow teams like Miss State, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt of which I previously had zero (not 0.1% but 0) interest. What does any conference really have? 2-3 big names, several more moderate names? Even the SEC has Bama and then rotations of LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, etc...

Tarcone's homer-ism has a much larger view of the Big Ten's importance (especially Iowa) than reality but same could be said for random Baylor fan, UCLA fan, Tennessee fan (see what I did there?), NC State fan and their conference. The Big Ten is not some jewel that the ACC will dissolve knocking each other over to join but it also isn't the Mountain West and isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

[Kodos]

Yeah, tarcone goes a bit overboard on the homerism, but don't we all at times? I know I have.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

I know this is not a serious response, but my inner geology nerd can't resist - the San Andreas is a transform fault, so what happens when it "lets loose" is the land west of the fault (a thin sliver of California and all of Baja California) moves north relative to the rest of North America. And north of the San Andreas, the Juan De Fuca plate subducts under the North American plate (hence the volcanic Cascade Mountain range from northern California up through southern British Columbia), which results in more material added to the western edge of the continent.

So no, you're actually getting farther away from the Pacific Ocean.

So...no Otisburg?

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Yeah, tarcone goes a bit overboard on the homerism, but don't we all at times? I know I have.

Bah, I went to a DIII school. Speak for yourself.

[Logan]

I read that Cascadia fault line story in the New Yorker which won a Pulitzer. The Pac 12 is totally fucked.

[tarcone]

Yes, I admit to homerism and an inferior complex. But, i also, know the B1G is as big a fish as the SEC.
As the thread title says, the B1G is finally ready for a playoff. And guess what happens? A playoff.

So, while, I am a die hard and,probably overzealous. I know the B1G will be the driving force in the next seismic shift in expansion.

[tarcone]

College Sports: College football analysts: Texas, Oklahoma have eyes on 'greener pastures' | SportsDay

[Honolulu_Blue]

So long as Harbaugh is coaching in the B1G, it'll be fine.

Harbaugh > SEC
Harbaugh > NCAA
Harbaugh > The Sun
Harbaugh > Oxygen

[Logan]

Can we get a ruling against Ditka please?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by panerd

What does any conference really have? 2-3 big names, several more moderate names? Even the SEC has Bama and then rotations of LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, etc...

Here's the difference, I believe, in what I was getting at.

In some quarters there seems to be an undue amount of enthusiasm for the Big 10 getting those "moderate names" from anywhere/everywhere else than would be the case for other conferences.

Steal FSU away, okay, I get the enthusiasm. They're a traditional draw that has history of having national appeal. Pretty much anybody else in the discussion though, honestly ... c'mon. (As noted previously UNC & Duke ain't going anywhere). GT doesn't generate much excitement in their own city, much less state, so why would someone get overly jacked up about them as some sort of hypothetical coup?

[tarcone]

The enthusiasm is Atlanta.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Here's the difference, I believe, in what I was getting at.

In some quarters there seems to be an undue amount of enthusiasm for the Big 10 getting those "moderate names" from anywhere/everywhere else than would be the case for other conferences.

Steal FSU away, okay, I get the enthusiasm. They're a traditional draw that has history of having national appeal. Pretty much anybody else in the discussion though, honestly ... c'mon. (As noted previously UNC & Duke ain't going anywhere). GT doesn't generate much excitement in their own city, much less state, so why would someone get overly jacked up about them as some sort of hypothetical coup?

In terms of enthusiasm for this Big Ten fan, bringing in GT would leave me as enthusiastic as when they brought in Rutgers and Maryland. I.e. Not at all

Nebraska was a different story. Geographic and cultural fit. Beyond that, Notre Dame is about the only school that would tick those two boxes on the enthusiasm meter.

If only Mizzou would've went to the Big 10...... Pandemonium

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by tarcone

The enthusiasm is Atlanta.

Except that hardly anybody in Atlanta actually cares.

They don't care about GT or the Big 10 now, they won't care tomorrow, they won't care three years from now.

Yeah yeah, "but the TV market" ... problem is that only fools buy into a market that doesn't deliver eyeballs. Sooner or later, you may not run out of fools but fools do tend to run out of money.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by lungs

In terms of enthusiasm for this Big Ten fan, bringing in GT would leave me as enthusiastic as when they brought in Rutgers and Maryland. I.e. Not at all

Nebraska was a different story. Geographic and cultural fit. Beyond that, Notre Dame is about the only school that would tick those two boxes on the enthusiasm meter.

If only Mizzou would've went to the Big 10...... Pandemonium

I think Mizzou and ND would be a good fit in the BiG. Never been enthused about Nebraska, Rutgers, or Maryland.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Logan

Can we get a ruling against Ditka please?

Harbaugh >>>> Ditka

[digamma]

Atlanta is an SEC city.

It has been a few years and numbers could have changed, but Ga Tech used to actually do pretty well in national tv ratings, much better relatively than in Atlanta. That isn't the point of expansion, by any means, just an interesting tidbit.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I think Mizzou and ND would be a good fit in the BiG. Never been enthused about Nebraska, Rutgers, or Maryland.

Yeah my guess is it was a joke about MBBF but the Big Ten makes a lot more sense than the SEC. Illinois has always been a rival, Nebraska was an old Big 8 rival, Iowa could quickly become one, and a lot of the other state schools are very similar to the Tigers in lots of ways. The SEC on the other hand is such a cultural mismatch. I love the football, hate the basketball, and don't really feel much in common with any of the schools outside of maybe UK and Arkansas.

[tarcone]

But the BTN will get a cut of the TVs that buy the tier that has the channel., even if they don't watch.

That's the enthusiasm. Not Geo Tech.
Who, by the way, would be the Easts version of Northwestern.
There is the other thing about adding them.

[tarcone]

I was really hoping Mizzou would have joined the B1G. A short drive to watch Iowa athletics would have been awesome.

[Kodos]

Yeah, I know he was joking about MBBF there. But as a fan of the Big Ten, Mizzou would be a great fit. No offense to Nebraska, Rutgers, and Maryland fans. They just don't feel like Big Ten schools, mostly due to being out of the footprint. I love Penn State, and even they seem like a bit of a mismatch.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by panerd

Yeah my guess is it was a joke about MBBF but the Big Ten makes a lot more sense than the SEC. Illinois has always been a rival, Nebraska was an old Big 8 rival, Iowa could quickly become one, and a lot of the other state schools are very similar to the Tigers in lots of ways. The SEC on the other hand is such a cultural mismatch. I love the football, hate the basketball, and don't really feel much in common with any of the schools outside of maybe UK and Arkansas.

Tongue in cheek, yes, but I do think Mizzou would have fit in well with the Western schools of the conference. Pretty much for the reasons you outlined.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I was really hoping Mizzou would have joined the B1G. A short drive to watch Iowa athletics would have been awesome.

Yeah we used to play you guys all the time in basketball and in football and it was fun. Two similar Midwestern schools. Don't get me wrong it was fun beating Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the other blue bloods of the SEC but those road trips were like a whole other world. (And distance wise sort of were)

[lungs]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I think Mizzou and ND would be a good fit in the BiG. Never been enthused about Nebraska, Rutgers, or Maryland.

Nebraska fits in pretty well with the schools in the West, football wise at least.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Except that hardly anybody in Atlanta actually cares.

They don't care about GT or the Big 10 now, they won't care tomorrow, they won't care three years from now.

Yeah yeah, "but the TV market" ... problem is that only fools buy into a market that doesn't deliver eyeballs. Sooner or later, you may not run out of fools but fools do tend to run out of money.

Unfortunately as a UMass fan I'm guessing the ACC and B1G realized the truth in this only after they added BC and Rutgers (though Rutgers does have sleeping giant potential.)

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

(though Rutgers does have sleeping giant potential.)

Honest question about fandom; say Rutgers gets good in oh, 2020. Will alumni from thirty years earlier much care, or does enthusiasm for a program start with the students who were there when a sport was big? In other words, if football wasn't a thing when you were in school, will you much care if it becomes a big thing? Are bandwagon fans as big as they can be in the pros (where it is largely a geographical)? Or are we just thinking of the NY/NJ area getting into it rather than just alumni?

[Logan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Except that hardly anybody in Atlanta actually cares.

They don't care about GT or the Big 10 now, they won't care tomorrow, they won't care three years from now.

Yeah yeah, "but the TV market" ... problem is that only fools buy into a market that doesn't deliver eyeballs. Sooner or later, you may not run out of fools but fools do tend to run out of money.

We've talked about this before. It's not eyeballs, it's carriage rates. All those BTN subs (actively or passively subscribing) in states containing B1G schools. Rutgers and Maryland have been a goldmine for the B1G. No other way to say it.

Will that last for 10 more years as people get smarter about what they subscribe to and what they will no longer pay for when they don't use the product? Who the hell knows. But while everything involving TV and cable is sure to change, I'm still willing to guarantee that the component that will be the most resistant to change and come the closest to maintaining its subscriber base, when compared to virtually every other cable network, are these sports networks. And the advertising dollars will continue to go where the most active and engaged viewership is...DVR proof sports.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Honest question about fandom; say Rutgers gets good in oh, 2020. Will alumni from thirty years earlier much care, or does enthusiasm for a program start with the students who were there when a sport was big? In other words, if football wasn't a thing when you were in school, will you much care if it becomes a big thing? Are bandwagon fans as big as they can be in the pros (where it is largely a geographical)? Or are we just thinking of the NY/NJ area getting into it rather than just alumni?

Even if Rutgers turned into a dynasty, NY/NJ will always be a pro sports town. You would need to overcome literal generations of people being interested, but not obsessed, with college football in order to become the big thing. That being said, the benefit of the area is that even having a portion of such a large area being fans results in being a pretty big fanbase compared to a lot of areas.

The B1G affiliation helps a lot there. If we didn't get in, stayed in the AAC and made some kind of ridiculous run as a G5 school to the playoff, I don't think that would go as far in sustaining and building a large fanbase. Every Rutgers fan in the NYC area knows plenty of Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin fans and playing these schools so often will help build up college football here. Again, please note I said "help"...I'm talking incremental in the grand scheme of things.

As for the timing, there's definitely a dedicated core group of fans who are dying for success going back to the 70s. If we popped now, it would be a pretty big thing. Just not "Giants Super Bowl run" like.

FWIW, I think Bishop meant more of a giant based on the fertile recruiting ground than a giant fanbase waiting to explode, akin to an SEC territory, but obviously that goes partially hand in hand.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Logan

We've talked about this before. It's not eyeballs, it's carriage rates. All those BTN subs (actively or passively subscribing) in states containing B1G schools. Rutgers and Maryland have been a goldmine for the B1G. No other way to say it.

Will that last for 10 more years as people get smarter about what they subscribe to and what they will no longer pay for when they don't use the product? Who the hell knows. But while everything involving TV and cable is sure to change, I'm still willing to guarantee that the component that will be the most resistant to change and come the closest to maintaining its subscriber base, when compared to virtually every other cable network, are these sports networks. And the advertising dollars will continue to go where the most active and engaged viewership is...DVR proof sports.

And what I'm saying - also repeatedly -- is that it isn't about subscribers forever. It's about viewers. The prices that systems are willing to pay for networks that aren't being watched by significant numbers cannot hold.

Any systems outside the footprint of the BTN that are paying them anything more than a pittance are systems run by fucking idiots. Plain & simple. Granted, there's not been a shortage of those in the cable/TV industry but the margin for them to remain in place & continue shrinks every day.

They're essentially buying commercial inventory that has no meaningful value, they can barely give that shit away. (same would be true with SECN inventory in Alaska or Hawaii). They aren't buying a meaningful number of new/continued subscribers since the stuff isn't being watched. Consumers can be stupid too of course but that is starting to show limits as well.

Sports isn't "dvr proof" when it's stuff people don't care about. And the number of people in Atlanta that care about watching Georgia Tech volleyball on TV -- much less Northwestern vs Indiana field hockey -- couldn't fill a small bar. The number of people that will even watch GT football on TV regularly isn't a threat to fill an arena either.

No viewers ultimately = no advertisers (aside from a handful buying it on the relative cheap because they're too dumb to know any better/their egos compel them).

And a hypothetical association with the Big 10 instead of the ACC would only serve to drive interest in GT athletics down even further. For every transplanted northerner you might snare, you drove away 5 viewers that might have stopped on the game to watch if the UAB-Bama slaughter was stuck in a lightning delay.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Honest question about fandom; say Rutgers gets good in oh, 2020. Will alumni from thirty years earlier much care, or does enthusiasm for a program start with the students who were there when a sport was big? In other words, if football wasn't a thing when you were in school, will you much care if it becomes a big thing? Are bandwagon fans as big as they can be in the pros (where it is largely a geographical)? Or are we just thinking of the NY/NJ area getting into it rather than just alumni?

Anecdotally, every Rutgers fan I know cares far, far, far more about college football then when I went to school there (98-02 - when we were TERRIBLE). When the school was really good in the late 00s, Rutgers alumni all over the country really did care quite a bit.

In addition, as Logan pointed out, the switch to the B1G helps a lot. I remember all the Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State fans who lived in NJ. By being in the same conference, it really increases the amount of interest - now you can discuss football with your friends (and how much our team got killed by them... well sometimes we pull a win out)

[CU Tiger]

I think Jon's argument about market size vs viewership rates will ultimately be the crux of the whole discussion.

Now it wont be until the next round of TV negotiation potentially, but I could see a scenario where if viewership falls off and the conference networks arent willing to reneg, they find themselves without a dancing partner at all next go round.

All this is in the face of attendance figures that are declining nationwide (with a limited but significant number of exceptions) and spending that has skyrocketed to untenable levels.

I'm especially sensitive to the spending wars, but Jon knew where we'd be 4 years ago (and said as much) when Radakovich made the move.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Anecdotally, every Rutgers fan I know cares far, far, far more about college football then when I went to school there (98-02 - when we were TERRIBLE). When the school was really good in the late 00s, Rutgers alumni all over the country really did care quite a bit.

In addition, as Logan pointed out, the switch to the B1G helps a lot. I remember all the Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State fans who lived in NJ. By being in the same conference, it really increases the amount of interest - now you can discuss football with your friends (and how much our team got killed by them... well sometimes we pull a win out)

Ok, that last part makes some sense. There is a big mix of those fans all over the PA/NJ/NY area (similarly there is a LARGE number of students from those states at Maryland).

I would not imagine there would be many GT fans up there. Or Penn State fans down in Atlanta.

[Ryno]

I would have liked if Missouri had been added to the B1G. As an Illini fan, it'd be nice to have the rivalry back even as one sided as it tended to be. Unfortunately, they just didn't fit in academically. I guess you could say Nebraska doesn't either, but their football tradition makes up for it.

[tarcone]

There are around 6000 Geo Tech alumni in NJ/NY/PA according to their alumni site.

And about 6500 Penn St alumni in Georgia according to PSUs alumni site.

[cuervo72]

6,000 out of 41M+. Yuge percentage.