Conference expansion/realignment...

[FML]

It's really sad what is going on right now with all the expansion and realignment. We are talking about getting away from decades of tradition and rivalries....all for a little bit more money.
Seriously, most of these schools already have more money than they know what do with. College football is great because of it's tradition and rivalries. Luckily Iowa appears to be in a good position, but I could not imagine leaving the B10 and losing the great rivalires we have with Wisky, Minny and the Illini and so on, just so we could have a better tv package or few more million dollars.

 

[DwayneTwill]

It's really sad what is going on right now with all the expansion and realignment. We are talking about getting away from decades of tradition and rivalries....all for a little bit more money.
Seriously, most of these schools already have more money than they know what do with. College football is great because of it's tradition and rivalries. Luckily Iowa appears to be in a good position, but I could not imagine leaving the B10 and losing the great rivalires we have with Wisky, Minny and the Illini and so on, just so we could have a better tv package or few more million dollars.

But look at the conferences that are breaking apart -- the Big East and Big XII. The Big East has been around for just over 30 years and the Big XII only 15. Those aren't the most historical conferences in the country.

 

[DuffMan]

It's really sad what is going on right now with all the expansion and realignment. We are talking about getting away from decades of tradition and rivalries....all for a little bit more money.
Seriously, most of these schools already have more money than they know what do with. College football is great because of it's tradition and rivalries. Luckily Iowa appears to be in a good position, but I could not imagine leaving the B10 and losing the great rivalires we have with Wisky, Minny and the Illini and so on, just so we could have a better tv package or few more million dollars.

Many state schools now require the AD to be fully self funded, which means you need to maximize your revenue regardless of how big your bank account or endowment is. Those types of policies have side effects as we now see. An "extra million or two" a year is enough to fund entire programs within a school. Hell UNI lost baseball essentially because it couldn't come up with an extra 200k per year.

Any school that isn't actively working this re-alignment process to ensure they end up in the most favorable spot possible is foolish, and the leaders of said school should be ousted.

 

[superdorf]

I couldn't agree more... but the Big 10 isn't a saint here either. The addition of Nebraska and the creation of divisions made it so you won't play Illinois every year in football... and maybe you didn't before... but there are prices to pay at every school and in every conference because of expansion.