The Big 16

I don't like it...and for so many reasons...just would make it harder for the Hawks to win the Big 10 or whatever the hell they would call it...- no way there could be a round-robin in regular season play......expanding to 16 is just ridiculous...add ND and call it something other than Big 10...but let's not water things down with stupid U. Conn, Syracuse and Rutgers....zzzzzz....terrible idea
 
I really don't think we have to add any other schools. Notre Dame is going to be under considerable pressure as it stands right now, financially. I think Delany succeeded in hooking the Irish with all the Pitt/Mizzou/Rutgers/Texas rumors that were swirling around. It's just a matter of time now.
 
I would like 16 as long as they did pods and added the right schools. That way you would still play everyone every couple of years. Would love to see us get Nebraska and Notre Dame both. Show them how they would do having to actually play a real schedule.
 
I think the first thing we need to do to force their hand(and I am assuming Delaney is doing this right now) is stop letting mich/msu/purdue play them every year. If we want to force them into something we got to hit them where it hurts and that's their "tradition". I'm sure they can easily replace these teams with big 12 and SEC schools, but will their fans feel the "tradition of playing Missouri and Miss ST vs Michigan and Purdue. I doubt it, threaten their tradition and they will fall in place.
 
The article loses all creditability because it was written by Dodd.

That being said, he brings up an interesting point about [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] Delany taking over the world. While I don't hate the idea of 16 teams, I'm not crazy about it either. For me, if they do go to 16 they would have to add the right 5 in terms of income potential and prestige (even if it's perceived). My five would be:

Notre Dame
Nebraska
Pitt
Syracuse
Rutgers


[/FONT]
 
I like things how they are. If ND is up for joining the B10, so be it. Otherwise, why change? B10 has it good. No conference championship means 2 BCS teams nearly every year (i.e., more B10 teams play in more big bowl games). How is that a bad thing? I understand the TV market idea but the more B10 teams, the more TV time to share (unless the B10 network ends up having 10+ overflow channels). Plus, in the next 5-10 years, every cable service provider in the country will at least offer the B10 network on a sports tier (most already do - in the B10 footprint it is on extended basic). For Iowa, this just means a smaller piece of a bigger pie and more competition (i.e., possibly less coverage, less bowl games, etc.).
 
I like the idea of 16 if one of the teams is Texas. I'm not excited about adding UConn or Syracuse. I think 12 or 14 is more plausible and could keep a lot of the natural rivalries & tradition in place. Below are the possibilities that I would like, again I think that Texas is a pipe dream and I don't want to add random Big East teams just to get to 16. 16 also only allows you to play an opponent from the other division once every 8 years.

16 Team Conference
West
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Illinois
Missouri
Nebraska
Texas
Texas A&M
East
Northwestern
Purdue
Indiana
Michigan St
Michigan
Ohio State
Penn State
Notre Dame/Rutgers/Pitt

14 Team Conference
West
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Illinois
Northwestern
Missouri
Nebraska
East
Purdue
Indiana
Michigan St
Michigan
Ohio State
Penn State
Notre Dame/Rutgers/Pitt

12 Team Conference
West
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Illinois
Northwestern
Notre Dame/Nebraska
East
Purdue
Indiana
Michigan St
Michigan
Ohio State
Penn State
 
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There are ten good reasons I don't want the Big Ten to go to 16 teams. Those reasons are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Penn State. I want to see the Hawkeyes play all of these teams as much as possible. We have rivalries, history, and traditions. We have an outstanding conference. Why risk what we have for such a wild, uncertain gamble?

With 16 teams, you now have half of these traditional rivals all but disappearing from Iowa's schedule. Anybody looking forward to the Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State games this year? Well, enjoy it while it lasts, cuz in the "Big 16" we would almost NEVER get to play them. "Big 14" would be almost as bad. If this is what it would take to twist the Domers' arms into joining up, then it's just not worth the price. To paraphrase George Harrison, we may gain Notre Dame but lose our souls.
 
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Hawkeye80 said:
I like the idea of 16 if one of the teams is Texas. I'm not excited about adding UConn or Syracuse. I think 12 or 14 is more plausible and could keep a lot of the natural rivalries & tradition in place. Below are the possibilities that I would like, again I think that Texas is a pipe dream and I don't want to add random Big East teams just to get to 16. 16 also only allows you to play an opponent from the other division once every 8 years.

16 Team Conference
West
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Illinois
Missouri
Nebraska
Texas
Texas A&M
East
Northwestern
Purdue
Indiana
Michigan St
Michigan
Ohio State
Penn State
Notre Dame/Rutgers/Pitt

14 Team Conference
West
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Illinois
Northwestern
Missouri
Nebraska
East
Purdue
Indiana
Michigan St
Michigan
Ohio State
Penn State
Notre Dame/Rutgers/Pitt

12 Team Conference
West
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Illinois
Northwestern
Notre Dame/Nebraska
East
Purdue
Indiana
Michigan St
Michigan
Ohio State
Penn State
Click to expand...


How about this

18 Team Superconference

West
Nebraska
ND
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Illinois
Purdue
Indiana

East
Michigan
MSU
OSU
PSU
Syracuse
Rutgers
WVU
Pitt
UConn

Heck you could even go to 20 and poach Missouri and a team from the ACC, like BC, Maryland, etc.
 
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How about we say screw the conference and just create our own damn Division. Screw the NCAA.
 
CAARHawk said:
How about this

18 Team Superconference

West
Nebraska
ND
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Illinois
Purdue
Indiana

East
Michigan
MSU
OSU
PSU
Syracuse
Rutgers
WVU
Pitt
UConn

Heck you could even go to 20 and poach Missouri and a team from the ACC, like BC, Maryland, etc.

That way you could just add an s to the end of the conference name.
Click to expand...
 
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