New Expansion Ideas

Based on the report that Nebraska is almost certainly going to go to the Big Ten (11), here are my new safe and extreme expansion visions.

Safe Plan-

-Big 10 (11) adds Nebraska. Mizzou goes with them. Two scenarios follow:
1. Notre Dame caves in and joins, moving from the Big East and stopping Big 10 expansion at 14.
2. Notre Dame stays independent, Rutgers jumps to the Big 10, which will now be known as the Big 14, or the Big North, or the Big Midwest, though most of our schools are east of the Mississippi. New conference still considers adding other teams, but doesn't.

- Pac 10 dismantles the Big XII, taking Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, OK St., and Colorado. These 6 teams, along with Arizona and Arizona St, make up one division. The Pac 8 schools (Stanford, USC, UCLA, Cal, Washington, Washington St., Oregon, Oregon St.) make the other division, setting up a conference championship game every season (Arizona Cardinals' stadium as the likely sight?).

- Big East's scenarios:
1. Rutgers leaves and is not missed all that much. Conference adds UCF to fill the void left. Considers adding other teams but doesn't yet.
2. Notre Dame leaves. Football is not affected at all. Basketball is. Conference considers either adding a basketball only school (Xavier?), or adds UCF, ECU or Memphis for both main sports.

- Big XII leftovers Kansas, K-State, Iowa State and Baylor join the Mountain West Conference along with Boise State, and they are awarded a BCS automatic birth within 3 years.

- ACC does nothing. SEC does nothing. Expansion is over.

Crazy plan!-

1. Everything above concerning the Big Ten (11) and Pac 10 happens. Moving forward-


- The SEC panics and offers Miami, FSU, Georgia Tech and Clemson spots in the SEC. They join, and the ACC loses it's presence in the deep south.

- The Big East gives an ultimatum to Notre Dame, telling them to join or get out. If they get out, they join the Big 10 and all is well. If they join, the Big East gets that delicious ND money. The following scenarios:
1. Notre Dame and Rutgers leave the Big East, dropping them to 7 football teams and 14 basketball. The Big East really only loses ND basketball. They offer spots to Kansas, KState, and the remaining ACC schools, seeing if any are interested. They also talk to ECU, Memphis, Xavier (cross town rivalry with Cincinnati) and UCF. Xavier accepts, along with 5 football schools. The Big East now stands with 20 basketball schools and a sold 12 football schools. No ideas which would join, but I think BC would come back, the Virginia schools would consider it, maybe Maryland. Duke and UNC would be harder to crack. NC State might come if ECU joins, would definitely if UNC joins.
2. The above happens, but adjust the numbers for one of the two schools (RU or ND) staying.
3. The ACC and Big East merge into the Gigantic East Conference, or GEC. 24 basketball teams, 16 football teams with the inclusion of team(s) to replace RU or Notre Dame.

- The Big XII leftovers latch on to some conference and wait till basketball season... or take Houston, Rice, UTEP, Boise State, Akron, Miami (OH), Tulsa and Marshall and reform the Big XII! NEVER SAY DIE!



What is the moral? Money matters more than anything else. As the Wu Tang Clan said, "Cash rules everything around me". Academics no longer matter. Traditional rivalries go out the window. The NCAA finds itself in danger of losing its top teams. And the ratings go up...