Expansion: Duke/UNC?

Raziel

Raziel

Well-Known Member
We all know that the following two things will be, without any doubt, the two largest factors driving expansion: TV sets and academics. Everyone focuses so much on football schools as the revenue generators, and I agree with that to an extent, however, I believe there is a way that the Big Ten could focus on basketball and create nearly as much revenue. Without a doubt, two of the most prestigious basketball schools in the country are Duke and North Carolina. It is one of the greatest rivalries in all of college sports. Why would the Big Ten not consider approaching North Carolina and Duke? If we accept that the Big Ten will expand to 16 teams, lets say the Big Ten offers Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Nebraska, and a fifth team (I prefer not to believe Mizzou will be brought into the Big Ten for 3 reasons: 1.) They are not an academically prestigious school 2.) They have a very apathetic fan base and .) St. Louis already carries the BTN on basic cable in many cases, and adding Nebbie would only increase that carriage, so we'll just dream big and hope for Texas in the fifth spot....I will contend it will not be Mizzou until I am proven wrong....a more likely fifth would be a team like Rutgers/Maryland). If you lock down North Carolina, the BTN is guaranteed to be on basic cable in a state with a combined population of over 9 million. Adding Syracuse to the above conference would also grab a portion of the NYC market. I think the above would be a huge home run in terms of new markets gained. The most important thing about adding all five of the above schools is this: all five add a national brand name. Syracuse basketball, Duke Basketball, North Carolina Basketball, and Texas and Nebraska football - that is HUGE for advertisers. The divisions could look like this (I am a fan of the 4 division alignment for a 16 team conference):

Division 1

Iowa
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Nebraska

Division 2

Texas
Illinois
Indiana
Purdue

Division 3

Michigan
Ohio State
Michigan State
Northwestern

Division 4

Penn State
North Carolina
Syracuse
Duke
 
I'll house any action for anyone who wants to agree with the OP and bet on what he proposed.

The opening odds are a million to 1 that it would ever happen

Place your bets!!!!


Seriously though, thanks for the laugh. Great way to start my day
 
Academically Duke would be a great fit for the Big 10 as they have an outstanding research program but geographically it would be a horrible move.
 
We'll never see them break down the rivalries games between all the schools on the tobacco road. Thus, it's not only highly unlikely ... this event truly occurs with probability ZERO. They'd just push for a super ACC conference, that's all.

If the Big 10 possibly guts the Big East to expand to 16, I'd look for the ACC to pick up USF, WVU, UConn, and maybe ECU in order to form their own "super" conference.
 
Does duke even have a football team? The answer is sort of. Their stadium capacity is 33,941. Hardly Big Ten caliber. UNC holds about 60,000.
 
I would love it, because I live in NC and would get to see the Hawkeyes in person more often.:)
But it's a very, very long shot, and I'm being generous.
 
You think a NC school will leave the ACC for the Big Ten? Not a chance, ever, never, no way.
 
If we had Duke and UNC, the Big Ten would have power... ultimate power!

Yes... yes... Can they be turned to the dark side?
 
Palpatine said:
If we had Duke and UNC, the Big Ten would have power... ultimate power!

Yes... yes... Can they be turned to the dark side?
Click to expand...
STOP IT. There is no place for such nerdiness on a sports thread. You are making every one else feel like a loser just for reading your posts. I'm sure there is a nerd forum somewhere that you can go talk about how your wizard has more magic points than my dwarf.
 
Along with what everyone else has already said - slim to zero chance of this, heavy on the zero - someone did a breakdown of Missouri academics on another thread. Sorry, not gonna take the time to link it, but it was very impressive, to me anyway, expecially the research they perform and amount of money they recieve for it.
 
Check out the reputation post I just got. I got a red box, whatever that means. It doesn't say who posted it, so I'll post my response here.
"Whos the bigger nerd, the one who pretends to be a SW character or the one who is so obsessed w/ something he is not personally part of that he names his kid after someone who has had zero personal impact on his life? If you don't like it, block him."

Actually I think Hayden Fry is a great role model. I named my son after him because I think he is the type of person I want my son to strive to be like. Sorry I offended you. I shouldn't have been so rude. Seriously though, why bring star wars into a sports board?
 
HaydensDad said:
Check out the reputation post I just got. I got a red box, whatever that means. It doesn't say who posted it, so I'll post my response here.
"Whos the bigger nerd, the one who pretends to be a SW character or the one who is so obsessed w/ something he is not personally part of that he names his kid after someone who has had zero personal impact on his life? If you don't like it, block him."

Actually I think Hayden Fry is a great role model. I named my son after him because I think he is the type of person I want my son to strive to be like. Sorry I offended you. I shouldn't have been so rude. Seriously though, why bring star wars into a sports board?
Click to expand...

Haha. This exchange reminds me of this:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIUQw1w5OqM"]YouTube - Man in the Box - Star Wars vs. Sports[/ame]
 
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