Smoke your cigars and enjoy the band while you can....

[Lucas Scoopsalot]

Dan Patrick: With the first nine months of the college football postseason out of the way, the playoff picture is starting to emerge.
Kenny Mayne: So, with last night's victory over Texas, next week the Kansas State Wildcats must beat Florida State in order to advance to the Sugar Bowl. That's in an effort to reduce their magic number to three.
Dan Patrick: Right, and then the Cats can advance to the Big 12 Eastern Division North to play Louisville.
Kenny Mayne: So, if the Cats beat Kansas and Oklahoma beats TCU in the Big 12 Southwestern Division East Northern, then Kansas State goes to the playoffs, unless Clemson can upset Texas Tech and Alabama ties Georgia, then K-State would play South Carolina and West Virginia in a blind choice round robin. And if no clear winner emerges from all of this, a two-man sack race will be held on consecutive Sundays until a champion can be crowned.

    

[catzacker]

@ChipBrownOB: I'm hearing the #BigTen may not be done with expansion yet.

Headshot to the ACC. New teams dont have to pay buyout and free ups more money for new TV contracts. Also force ND to Big 10 on the Big 10s terms.

I think they're after KU

yep.  would be why chip/texas/deloss knows.   

[wabash909]

If KU leaves for the Big 10, I wish them farewell.  I've always envisioned them more as a Big 10 school anyhow.

["storm"nut]

If KU leaves for the Big 10, I wish them farewell.  I've always envisioned them more as a Big 10 school anyhow.

Kind of agree. They are more of an Academic centric school than sports. Much like the Big 10

[Panjandrum]

If the Big Ten wanted that lucrative Kansas City market, they would have taken Mizzou and gotten St. Louis, too.

If the Big Ten expands, they go east.

[wabash909]

You really can't blame the Big 10.  If a Lebron sized free agent is out on the market you owe it to yourself to at least make an attempt.

[ednksu]

You really can't blame the Big 10.  If a Lebron sized free agent is out on the market you owe it to yourself to at least make an attempt.

sometimes being the bigger man in TSCing is knowing when to let them go.

[ednksu]

Dan Patrick: With the first nine months of the college football postseason out of the way, the playoff picture is starting to emerge.
Kenny Mayne: So, with last night's victory over Texas, next week the Kansas State Wildcats must beat Florida State in order to advance to the Sugar Bowl. That's in an effort to reduce their magic number to three.
Dan Patrick: Right, and then the Cats can advance to the Big 12 Eastern Division North to play Louisville.
Kenny Mayne: So, if the Cats beat Kansas and Oklahoma beats TCU in the Big 12 Southwestern Division East Northern, then Kansas State goes to the playoffs, unless Clemson can upset Texas Tech and Alabama ties Georgia, then K-State would play South Carolina and West Virginia in a blind choice round robin. And if no clear winner emerges from all of this, a two-man sack race will be held on consecutive Sundays until a champion can be crowned.

excellent reference

[catzacker]

If the Big Ten wanted that lucrative Kansas City market, they would have taken Mizzou and gotten St. Louis, too.

If the Big Ten expands, they go east.

what does virginia offer that maryland already didn't/doesn't?  ku is a better add when talking about brand value and tv sets compared to anything virginia could offer (with maryland already in the big 10).  KC is 31, Norfolk is 48, Richomond is a 58, Wichita/Hutch is a 69, not that much difference.

[wabash909]

They're gone.

[MakeItRain]

No more rough ridin' cable discussion.

Can we talk about the Pac 12 putting Oregon vs. Oregon State on their third tier.  A third tier not carried by the nation's largest cable or satellite provider.
 
The Pac clearly hates advertising dollars and exposure.

["storm"nut]

No more rough ridin' cable discussion.

Can we talk about the Pac 12 putting Oregon vs. Oregon State on their third tier.  A third tier not carried by the nation's largest cable or satellite provider.
 
The Pac clearly hates advertising dollars and exposure.

No crap. WTF PAC 12. Glad the Big 12 did not eff this up.

[bunter]

16 teams and pods aren't only where we're going, they're a good thing.
1 non con game (vs Pud U)
1 extra protected conference game
3 pod games
3 inter-pod games (between each pod, keeping footprints in TX and south/east, not playing same team two years in a row)
3 inter-conference games b/w other super conferences (rotating pods, power matching opponents based off of last seasons record)
1 game between neighbor pods to play for cc (conference semi final)
Conf champ game
Eventual format requiring 4 super conference champs get playoff bids

Ends up with 8 conf games, plus one for cc game
This would make for better football, and keeping schedules more equal in difficulty.

I really think this is best for EMAW too.
KU won't leave, because we quit this teste tuck we've been conducting business with and add some teams.

[Panjandrum]

If the Big Ten wanted that lucrative Kansas City market, they would have taken Mizzou and gotten St. Louis, too.

If the Big Ten expands, they go east.

what does virginia offer that maryland already didn't/doesn't?  ku is a better add when talking about brand value and tv sets compared to anything virginia could offer (with maryland already in the big 10).  KC is 31, Norfolk is 48, Richomond is a 58, Wichita/Hutch is a 69, not that much difference.

A few comments...

With Virginia, you don't have to worry about screwing with a team that has a Grant of Rights.  Before everyone gets into a huge debate about whether or not a team can get out of it, it's a lot harder to deal with extracting a team inside of a GOR conference than it is dealing with a team that has to settle a buyout.  For that reason alone, Virginia, and other ACC schools, are vastly more attractive than Kansas.  You will NOT spend that much time and money to extract KANSAS.  Texas, yes.  Oklahoma, maybe.  Kansas? No.  Everyone needs to use common sense.

Also, the second UVA leaves the ACC, Virginia Tech will go to the SEC.  If the Big Ten goes to 15 teams, the SEC will, too.  And VT will finally succumb to the wooing of Mike Slive's siren song if there is no real political binding holding them with UVA any longer.

Once the ACC has lost three teams, a couple of things happen.  First, with all of the instability, Notre Dame could go on the market again.  Second, it may put North Carolina on the table, and you'd have to think that the Big Ten and SEC will go hard after them.

If the Big Ten is spurned by Notre Dame and UNC, they can go to Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Duke, UConn, etc.  Duke has better academics and a better brand than Kansas.

Virginia is a critical domino in this because once they're free, VT is free.  Once VT is free, they're going to the SEC.  It's two for the price of one.

[Trim]

I love the pac-12 network.

[CHONGS]

I think 16 teams and pods is very bad for EMAW, but I am paranoid about the fact that its about $$$ not programs.

[Panjandrum]

Dan from Des Moines, Iowa, writes: Adam,Love the blog. If the BIG tries to go to 16 who do you see as the most logical fits for the conference? I know Virginia, UNC, G. Tech are on the radar as potential candidates. All are in the AAU but none of the potential targets really brings in much to the table for football sake. One that no one is talking about is Vanderbuilt. I think Vandy is a better fit than Maryland and Rutgers, still adds a TV market (Nashville/Tenn.) and none of the schools would have to travel as far = win win. Thoughts?

Adam Rittenberg: Dan, this is clearly all about demographics, so I see the Big Ten looking to the southeast next. Vanderbilt certainly fits academically, and the Nashville market is decent. But I think the other schools you mention, particularly North Carolina, would be more attractive to the Big Ten. North Carolina is a strong academic school with great basketball tradition and some tradition in football, and the location in a growing area is a big plus. It doesn't hurt that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany played hoops for the Tar Heels. Virginia would strengthen the Big Ten in the Mid-Atlantic region and help build the "bridge" from Penn State, as Delany has discussed. And Virginia's academic reputation would make the Big Ten presidents drool.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/65909/big-ten-mailblog-187

["storm"nut]

If the Big Ten wanted that lucrative Kansas City market, they would have taken Mizzou and gotten St. Louis, too.

If the Big Ten expands, they go east.

what does virginia offer that maryland already didn't/doesn't?  ku is a better add when talking about brand value and tv sets compared to anything virginia could offer (with maryland already in the big 10).  KC is 31, Norfolk is 48, Richomond is a 58, Wichita/Hutch is a 69, not that much difference.

A few comments...

With Virginia, you don't have to worry about screwing with a team that has a Grant of Rights.  Before everyone gets into a huge debate about whether or not a team can get out of it, it's a lot harder to deal with extracting a team inside of a GOR conference than it is dealing with a team that has to settle a buyout.  For that reason alone, Virginia, and other ACC schools, are vastly more attractive than Kansas.  You will NOT spend that much time and money to extract KANSAS.  Texas, yes.  Oklahoma, maybe.  Kansas? No.  Everyone needs to use common sense.

Also, the second UVA leaves the ACC, Virginia Tech will go to the SEC.  If the Big Ten goes to 15 teams, the SEC will, too.  And VT will finally succumb to the wooing of Mike Slive's siren song if there is no real political binding holding them with UVA any longer.

Once the ACC has lost three teams, a couple of things happen.  First, with all of the instability, Notre Dame could go on the market again.  Second, it may put North Carolina on the table, and you'd have to think that the Big Ten and SEC will go hard after them.

If the Big Ten is spurned by Notre Dame and UNC, they can go to Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Duke, UConn, etc.  Duke has better academics and a better brand than Kansas.

Virginia is a critical domino in this because once they're free, VT is free.  Once VT is free, they're going to the SEC.  It's two for the price of one.

IMO, there is some coordination between the SEC, BIG 10, and the BIG 12 to kill off the ACC. PAC 12 has no do in the fight anymore.

[catzacker]

there's no reason to think that the GOR can't be negotiated just like the buyouts.  there's no barrier for conferences to get what they want. 

[Panjandrum]

IMO, there is some coordination between the SEC, BIG 10, and the BIG 12 to kill off the ACC. PAC 12 has no do in the fight anymore.

Coordination?  Maybe.  I think everyone knows where the others stand more or less.  They can probably predict what the moves are from here.

[Panjandrum]

there's no reason to think that the GOR can't be negotiated just like the buyouts.  there's no barrier for conferences to get what they want.

It's not a dollar value.  KU signed over their television rights to the Big 12 conference.

They'd essentially have to sue the Big 12 to get them back, or that's what I understand.

That's a lot harder than just telling an East Coast school with better academics and a larger fan base to come up with the money and negotiate a smaller buyout.

Again, KU offers the Big Ten absolutely nothing.  As I said, if this all plays out, they could get Duke instead, which would be a much, much better addition all around.

["storm"nut]

there's no reason to think that the GOR can't be negotiated just like the buyouts.  there's no barrier for conferences to get what they want.

The school leaving does not get hurt, they will still get there money. It's the conference that gets the new team that gets no new value until the GOR runs its course.

[bunter]

Remember when the Big XII was first chair fiddle?

[BostonPancake]

there's no reason to think that the GOR can't be negotiated just like the buyouts.  there's no barrier for conferences to get what they want.

Schools like texas negotiate out of GoR contracts.  Schools like KU don't........unless the Big12 doesn't want them.  Plus, it makes the GoR for the BIG look weaker.  I just don't see ku being a target before Georgia Tech.  I don't care if there are more KU fans than GaTech fans, or national branding.  You get to add then entire state of Georgia as a BIG state, and all the extra money they get for the BIG network.  Much more than adding the state of Kansas.  Throw in UNC when they finally see the ACC collapse, and it's a nice southeastern pick up for the BIG.

["storm"nut]

Remember when the Big XII was first chair fiddle?

Kstate beating Texas every year helped knock The 12 down a few chairs.