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Who would be a logical fit to round out the Big Eleven?

West Virginia, Pitt, or Syracuse would be my guess.

I don't know if West Virginia fits their academic profile. Cuse could be a goal but are they really want to leave the Big East for basketball?

I have seen people say Rutgers because the Big Ten would like to have a presence in the NYC area

This gets talked about every single year - Rutgers, WVU, 'Cuse, Pitt, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Mizzou, Iowa State, Texas, ... . Ain't happening I don't think.

MarkL wrote:This gets talked about every single year - Rutgers, WVU, 'Cuse, Pitt, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Mizzou, Iowa State, Texas, ... . Ain't happening I don't think.

Mark - spot on. This has been in the rumor rotation since Penn State joined a dozen years ago. Like Congress - lots of talk, no action.

The bottom line is that there is only one high profile school located within the Big Ten's footprint that also fits the conferences academic profile, and that school is Notre Dame. They aren't behind a move to the Big Ten, so nothing's going to happen.

Of course, once their national tv contract doesn't get renewed...then things might change pretty quick.

bgsufalcon24 wrote:The bottom line is that there is only one high profile school located within the Big Ten's footprint that also fits the conferences academic profile, and that school is Notre Dame.

Uh, Toledo? Hello? Once the new stadium is in we're positioned perfectly-the new natotorium and baseball stadium are just gravy but will help with the minor sports. The academics are already in place (hey, I went there-they must be great). See ya, MAC!

h2oville rocket wrote:Uh, Toledo? Hello? Once the new stadium is in we're positioned perfectly-the new natotorium and baseball stadium are just gravy but will help with the minor sports. The academics are already in place (hey, I went there-they must be great). See ya, MAC!

You can always count on h2o for some comic relief.

This decision would have nothing to do with athletics. All these rumors and stories have always been sparked by somebody with ties to B11 athletics. The expansion power is in the hands of the University presidents, and they couldn't care less about the B11's athletic footprint in the NJ/NYC area.

The only school the presidents let in is Notre Dame, and ND has about zero motivation to give up the cushy position they're in right now.

I couldn't care less what happens with this conference.

The real question is, what do they name the conference if it gets a 12th member? The Big 10 moniker has been ridiculous for 20 years, so I suppose there's no guarantee they won't let it get even more ridiculous.

Just saw this on CBS Sportsline...

http://www.cbssports.com/general/story/ ... -expansion" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I sort of like Cincinnati in the discussion too. Would help expand the Big 10 south, has a pretty good academic prestige and the revenue sports are already very strong. The only issues I see is the capacity of their football field and I don't think OSU would allow another Ohio school to join.

If they expand, the smart money is on Rutgers. It fits their profile-- flagship public state university, large research profile.

Notre Dame pissed them off in 1999 by rejecting the invite, and won't be invited again.

Lord_Byron wrote:flagship public state university, large research profile.

No those are the same reasons why I like Missouri to join. To me, the Bit Ten is a true mid-western conference and Rutgers just doesn't fit well into the geography. Missouri would be competitive for conference titles in almost every sport but football. But they would not be a doormat there either. And it would be great to see Illinois lose their asses every year! Zook would not be able to just stop the series like he is doing now.