Big Ten Expansion Could Benefit Bobcats

New Years Day is a bittersweet time for the college football fan.  For most teams, it means that their season has come to a close. Once offeseason sets in, fans start preparing for next season and discussing the possibilities of conference realignment.  What makes this year different from previous years is that the Big Ten has joined the discussion.  The Big Ten regular season stops around Thanksgiving.  They do not have a championship game like the Big XII, SEC, or ACC.    Some within the Big Ten Conference would like to add a championship game to get another week of media coverage and make additional money off the game.  It has been suggested that the Big Ten should increase to 12 or 14 teams and split into two divisions.  Some of the teams have been suggested include Notre Dame, Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse, and Missouri.

So by this point, you may be asking why am I talking about Big Ten expansion on Bobcatfans? I am talking about this because once the dominoes start falling, Texas State could end up with a home in an FBS conference.  I will look at each of these teams, and show how their movement to the Big Ten could impact our Drive to FBS.

The Big Ten has courted the Irish for a long time.  South Bend, Indiana is in the heart of Big Ten country, and Notre Dame has storied tradition.  The Irish currently participate in the Big East for all sports other than football, where they stubbornly cling to their independent status.  When the Big Ten approached Notre Dame previously, the Irish turned them down in part because they had an exclusive TV contract with NBC.  However, that deal is less lucrative today as conferences like the SEC and Big Ten have signed large deals with ESPN and started their own networks (Big Ten Network / SEC Network).  Because of these deals, Big Ten Conference schools are making more money than Notre Dame.

Does Notre Dame teaming up with Big Ten help the Bobcats? Not really. Their independent status means that no existing conference spots come open.

There has been speculation that the Big Ten would like to look at adding Pittsburgh, Rutgers, or Syracuse in order to increase their media footprint, and develop an eastern half of the conference.  Pitt would give them a natural rival for Penn State, and give the conference access to Heinz Field for championship events.  Rutgers is a large public-ivy that provides access to the New York media market, and Syracuse is a comprehensive-research university in upstate New York.  All three teams are part of the Big East Conference.

Does a Big East team going the Big Ten help the Bobcats? Yes.  I have discussed this topic in previous articles, but never from this particular angle.  The Big East has 16 teams, but only eight play football.  As it stands, the football schools want to add more teams to make scheduling easier.  If the Big Ten pulled one (or more) of these teams, The Big East would look to the MAC or CUSA to fill their spots.  If Memphis or Central Florida left for the Big East, Conference USA would need to pluck from the Sun Belt.  CUSA could add Florida Atlantic to get the Miami market and keep a foothold in Florida, or they could add teams with recent success like Troy, Middle Tennessee, or Western Kentucky.  Pulling teams from the Sun Belt could open a spot for the Bobcats.

The University of Missouri is considered an outside candidate for Big Ten Expansion, but their President has shown interest in the possible move.  Missouri has a strong academic profile, and they belong to the Association of American Universities.  This group of 62 schools includes all of the Big Ten. They would also add the Saint Louis and Kansas City Media Markets to the Big Ten’s Footprint.

Does Missouri going to the Big Ten help the Bobcats? I think so, but it all depends on what other ripples it creates.  The Big XII would have to replace Missouri.  Their media contract is not strong enough to pull Arkansas or LSU from the SEC, and so they would need to look at the Mountain West or Conference USA for a team. Online speculation says the Big XII might look at New Mexico, Utah, BYU , Colorado State, TCU, or Houston. The first three open the Big XII to new markets, but they are pretty far from the existing footprint. Colorado State fits the existing northern footprint, and they are already a rival for Colorado.

As a Texan, I say that they add TCU or University of Houston, and move Oklahoma State to the North (of course, this gets dangerously close to recreating the Big Eight and Southwest Conference). If any of the Mountain West teams leave, they will surely look to the Western Athletic Conference (Boise / Nevada / Fresno) for fresh blood.  The WAC would desperately need new teams and Texas State could benefit from this situation.  If the Big XII added UH, Conference USA could replace them with Louisiana Tech or North Texas.  This frees up spots in either the WAC or SBC, but would any of us want to be in the Sun Belt Conference without North Texas or be in the WAC without Boise and Louisiana Tech?

The Big Ten’s potential expansion raises a number of questions (and opportunities) for Bobcatfans to consider. The best thing we can do is to continue our support of the team, keep expanding our facilities, and get ourselves ready for whatever situation comes our way.

Chris Lehman

chris@bobcatfans.com