New Hampshire DB Jake Kiley Commits to Penn State
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New Hampshire DB Jake Kiley Commits to Penn State
July 26, 2011 – | No Comment

States like New Hampshire are often overlooked by college recruiters scouring the northeast. With a population of a little over 1.3 million (barely 14.5% of the population of New York City), the talent pool in …

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Who needs an expansion?

Submitted by on May 6, 200913 Comments

Pittsburgh can’t pay their fans to attend their games, Rutgers have as much media appeal in New York as Rosie O’Donnell at a GOP convention and Nebraska has a great thing going in the Big 12 by playing in the weaker of the 2 divisions. Why would we want any of them to begin with?

Forget whether it’s Pittsburgh, Rutgers or even Nebraska. Can anyone first explain to me how an extra championship game is remotely beneficial to winning the National Title?

Greater exposure? Try convincing the Big East and their relatively insignificant Thursday and late November games of that argument. The last time the Big East was even mentioned in the same sentence as the BCS title game was when West Virginia romped through the the league until a season ending loss (yes, on Championship weekend) that sent the Mountaineers spiraling down the polls without a chance of moving back up. Ironically, all the losses in the final weekend allowed Ohio State to sneak into the Top 2 courtesy of finishing their season early.

Benefits of an extra championship game? Ask Alabama what they think about that extra championship game. Even get-rich Saban would gladly give up the extra revenue of last season’s SEC championship game that ruined their shot at the Title game. Instead, a Florida team that lost to an unranked team at home earned the nod simply because the loss happened earlier than Alabama’s, USC’s or Penn State’s.

Extra revenue? You only have to look to the ACC for a prime example of what an embarrassing failure looks like if a championship isn’t done right. Just consider where a Big Ten championship game could even be played. Indy, Green Bay, or Chicago isn’t exactly as enticing as Atlanta, Kansas City or Tampa in the dead of winter.

Sure, I’d like to let my mind wander and imagine a 12th Big Ten team, but it would purely be because of matchup possibilities. Think Illinois-Missouri, Penn State-Nebraska, and Michigan-West Virginia. But let’s not kid ourselves by claiming an extra game would benefit the Big Ten in any way.

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  • http://twitter.com/quebecpenspinning quebecpenspinning

    Who needs an expansion?: Pittsburgh can’t pay their fans to attend their games, Rutgers have as much media.. http://tinyurl.com/ck3uuw
    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • formerlyanonymous

    While I’m neither for nor against expansion, I think some of your points could be expounded on. As far as those being the only teams being brought in, I think you should expand to look at Missouri (which you hint at the bottom), Cincinnati, and Louisville. While Missouri is also in the weak Big 12…

  • formerlyanonymous

    While I’m neither for nor against expansion, I think some of your points could be expounded on. As far as those being the only teams being brought in, I think you should expand to look at Missouri (which you hint at the bottom), Cincinnati, and Louisville. While Missouri is also in the weak Big 12…

  • BK

    You could not be more right about Rutgers’ share of the NYC sports pie. It is certainly more of a New Jersey market share gain than an New York City one. With regards to the ACC championship game, it should be considered the leading example of what not to do. Game attendance could be impro…

  • BK

    You could not be more right about Rutgers’ share of the NYC sports pie. It is certainly more of a New Jersey market share gain than an New York City one. With regards to the ACC championship game, it should be considered the leading example of what not to do. Game attendance could be impro…

  • Chris

    I am surprised you and I seem to be in the minority on this topic. I couldn’t agree more that the last thing the Big Ten needs is a 12th team.

  • Chris

    I am surprised you and I seem to be in the minority on this topic. I couldn’t agree more that the last thing the Big Ten needs is a 12th team.

  • http://quebecpenspinning.com/ Charlie

    Great responses all around. With its members so spread out, the ACC is at a huge disadvantage, but you can’t really blame them for having their championship game in sunny Florida late in the season. What’s their alternative? Baltimore or Giants Stadium during winter? That would be even less attractive than their current situation.

    It would be interesting to see if Big Ten fans would bother attending a championship game knowing full well they will be paying to attend the bowl game less than a month afterwards.

  • Charlie

    Great responses all around. With its members so spread out, the ACC is at a huge disadvantage, but you can’t really blame them for having their championship game in sunny Florida late in the season. What’s their alternative? Baltimore or Giants Stadium during winter? That would be even less attractive than their current situation.

    It would be interesting to see if Big Ten fans would bother attending a championship game knowing full well they will be paying to attend the bowl game less than a month afterwards.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/THC3VVSTPPRFWBOPQ565NLEYGU Bob

    Missouri is the best speculation. West is more likely than East for alignment reasons and Iowa State, Nebraska, and Mizzou are the best candididates. I still think ND is a possibilty. I can't believe they need 12-18 months to study this. What a joke. Shouldn't they be constantly thinking about the money, the glory, and what is best for their conference and network and trademark sales? It makes me think that the people at the top don't think or manage well and while I'd like to see a conference championship game maybe we should leave things alone. Are these the same guys who gave us 11 Big 10 teams?

  • http://quebecpenspinning.com Charlie

    Adding Penn State was a major coup for the Big Ten. But at this juncture, scanning down the list of potential candidates for the 12th team, there are simply no teams that brings the same value that Penn State brought academically and athletically that is worth even expanding and eliminating all possibility of Notre Dame joining the conference in the far future. It's ND or nobody for this conference and in 12-14 months, the recommendation will say exactly so.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/THC3VVSTPPRFWBOPQ565NLEYGU Bob

    Missouri is the best speculation. West is more likely than East for alignment reasons and Iowa State, Nebraska, and Mizzou are the best candididates. I still think ND is a possibilty. I can't believe they need 12-18 months to study this. What a joke. Shouldn't they be constantly thinking about the money, the glory, and what is best for their conference and network and trademark sales? It makes me think that the people at the top don't think or manage well and while I'd like to see a conference championship game maybe we should leave things alone. Are these the same guys who gave us 11 Big 10 teams?

  • http://quebecpenspinning.com Charlie

    Adding Penn State was a major coup for the Big Ten. But at this juncture, scanning down the list of potential candidates for the 12th team, there are simply no teams that brings the same value that Penn State brought academically and athletically that is worth even expanding and eliminating all possibility of Notre Dame joining the conference in the far future. It's ND or nobody for this conference and in 12-14 months, the recommendation will say exactly so.