Big 10 wants to expand

[carolinaoriole]

I'm not sure I buy this argument. National University for football but regional catholic university for every other sport? They are independent in football because it makes sense financially and the Big East has been foolish enough to allow them membership for everything but football. Take away that crutch for all sports other than football and I don't see how they can possibly stay independent.

It is all about the football.

The other sports pale in comparison to Irish football.

I am a Irish football fan I do not really care about the other sports.

Most ND fans are the same.

They can go play in any conferance for all I care.

[carolinaoriole]

Which is exactly what I've been advocating the Big East should do' date=' ASAP. Go to ND and say "you're either 100% in, or you're out." Of course they would do this knowing full well that ND would never join the BE in football, so it would in essence be expelling ND from the conference. Then, without a conference in which to play other sports I believe ND would have almost no choice but to join the Big 10. And if ND joins the Big 10, I'd bet the Big 10 would be more than happy to add them and stop right there. That would prevent the Big 10 from poaching any of the BE's full members and would easily preserve the conference's status as an AQ member of the BCS. They could also go out and replace ND with a school that would join as a football playing member, like UCF of ECU, and have a much more desirable 9-team football conference.[/quote']

The only way the Irish will join a conferance IMO is that if there are 4 16 team conferances.

And a rule change that a scholl belong to a conferance to be eligable for a bcs berth.

[carolinaoriole]

Well' date=' if ND would prefer to cling to the past rather than look forward, then that's their business. But unless Congress or the DOJ intervenes, the future of college sports (and namely football) is in the formation of expanding cartels that can use their collective pull to get the most lucrative television deals. And those that aren't a part of the cartels will struggle to be relevant in the big picture, and some may not make enough money to even continue fielding a football team. And as much as ND might want to bury their heads in the sand and deny it, the luster is slowly fading from the golden dome...and the on-field performance and NBC ratings prove it. And ND might really want to think about what will happen if/when Comcast's controlling purchase of NBC goes through. Comcast has their own sports properties that I'm sure they would love to have a chance to showcase on a broadcast network....will they have any interest in ND football once the current contract expires? Who knows? But I'd be concerned enough about it to look long and hard at any Big 10 offer.[/quote']

I agree ND has to win and I hope that they do.

There is no sand burying going on.

It is just who Notre Dame is.

They do not think they are doing anything but protecting who they are.

For what it is worth Most ND fans do not want them to join a conferance.

But if they were ever to join one The Big 10 is the last one that we would want them in.

I would rather see them in the ACC or the Big East or anywhere besides the Big Ten.

I believe that if NBC were to not renew the tv contract when it is up that the Irish would have little trouble finding a new one.

Whoever your team is I wish them well.

P.S. I hope it is not Fredo er I mean B.C.

GO IRISH.

[geschinger]

It is all about the football.

The other sports pale in comparison to Irish football.

I am a Irish football fan I do not really care about the other sports.

Most ND fans are the same.

They can go play in any conferance for all I care.

It may be all about football for the fans but it's all about the $ for the administration. A few years ago ND was #1 in profit w/their football program. In recent years they've been passed by - in some cases by significant margins by teams in conferences with huge TV deals. If they get shut out of conference play for all the other sports it would take a fiscally irresponsible administration to take the millions of dollar hit staying Independent would lead to.

[carolinaoriole]

It may be all about football for the fans but it's all about the $ for the administration. A few years ago ND was #1 in profit w/their football program. In recent years they've been passed by - in some cases by significant margins by teams in conferences with huge TV deals. If they get shut out of conference play for all the other sports it would take a fiscally irresponsible administration to take the millions of dollar hit staying Independent would lead to.

I can see your point.

But

What the administration will look at will be the pros and cons of joining a conferance versus the branding of Notre Dame as an Independent in football.

In the long run they could stand to make milloions of dollars from that brand.

Or they could be just another member of a conferance.

Nothing really differant just another team.

Winning would make that brand worth more but Either way they feel that Independance is what has kept them in the forefront as a brand.

Jack Swarbrick the AD and Father Jenkins the president of the University will do there best to keep N.D. Independent in football because it is a huge part of Notre Dame.

A good place to get a better feel for this and from folks that are a lot better than I am at expressing themselves is at www.ndnation.com and click on to

rocks place at the upper right hand part of the screen.

That is kind of the hangout version of Notre Dame Football plus they have a lot of great articles from time to time on conferance expansion.

GO IRISH.

[geschinger]

I can see your point.

But

What the administration will look at will be the pros and cons of joining a conferance versus the branding of Notre Dame as an Independent in football.

In the long run they could stand to make milloions of dollars from that brand.

Or they could be just another member of a conferance.

Nothing really differant just another team.

Winning would make that brand worth more but Either way they feel that Independance is what has kept them in the forefront as a brand.

Jack Swarbrick the AD and Father Jenkins the president of the University will do there best to keep N.D. Independent in football because it is a huge part of Notre Dame.

A good place to get a better feel for this and from folks that are a lot better than I am at expressing themselves is at www.ndnation.com and click on to

rocks place at the upper right hand part of the screen.

That is kind of the hangout version of Notre Dame Football plus they have a lot of great articles from time to time on conferance expansion.

GO IRISH.

I am relatively certain the admin would love to keep football Independent and there is probably no reason great enough to push them to a conference as long as they are given a sweetheart deal by the Big East for all of the other sports. If that ends - if they were booted from the Big East I don't see how they avoid joining a conference as I can't imagine any other conference giving them the flexibility to stay independent in FB like the Big East has.

[PrivateO]

Is anything ever going to end up happening for this? It feels like this thing is dragging out way too long without any changes.

[Birds of B'more]

The Big 10 will be the first domino in the chain. The Pac-10 could act independently and move first, but any move the Pac-10 makes probably isn't going to have the sort of ripple effect the Big 10 will. Anyway, when they first went public with expansion back in December, they set a timeline of 12-18 months. And despite speculation several weeks ago, the Big 10 insists it is sticking to that timeline. If so, that means anywhere from another 6 months to a year before they're done. I would guess that any moves that happen subsequent to that by other conferences will happen shortly thereafter, since I'm guessing most of them will have made contingency plans.