JMO but all future B1G Expansion will be eastward looking. It will continue to be driven by markets not brands. With this said I don't see a "football revenue generator" among the potential options in the east.
Delany's original vision was likely to try to shake UNC and UVA loose from the ACC by grabbing UMD. The ACC Lawsuit against UMD and subsequent GOR obviously complicated this plan.
IMO UNC is a lost cause, and is further South than The B1G should ever go. They favor The ACC first and The SEC second. It is a bad marriage. Their T-shirt fan base is too obsessed with the idea of Southern Identity, and would likely see a B1G Invite as some sort of capitulation to a yankee carpetbagger.
UVA is a completely different animal. They are Mid Atlantic as opposed to Southern Leaning. They are an exact match for every academic metric the conference covets. They sit in the shadow of an important and wealthy media market, that when combined with UMD and PSU is handed to Delany on a silver platter.
Delany knows that greater exposure and resources through B1G Membership can improve UVA's pedestrian AD. There is no excuse for why they have been so average for so long. They are blessed with tremendous homegrown talent and have quality athletic facilities.
UCONN and UVA should be the play. UCONN would jump right now, while UVA would take some convincing. The B1G would have the following markets under its control. Chicago, Indy, Milwaukee/Madison, Omaha/Lincoln, IC/Des Moines, Minny/St Paul, Detroit/AA, Cbus/Cincy/Cleveland, Pitt/Philly/SWB/ Hburg, Newark, Hartford, Baltimore, DC/Nova, and a reasonable percentage of NYC.
The crux of this discussion is that a school from the ACC becomes available despite the exit fee and GOR. This seems highly unlikely; however, for the sake of this discussion let's say this is the case as I agree with you that the Big Ten is still looking toward the East for further expansion.
The Big Ten may have interest in UVA and the conventional wisdom is that UVA would be the next target for Big Ten expansion. However, it is my impression that UVA is content in the ACC, values being a conference partner with UNC and has no interest in the Big Ten.
There is another ACC school that is rarely mentioned as a Big Ten expansion candidate but could be a better fit for the conference than most would think: Virginia Tech. Please everyone put away the slings and arrows for a moment. I realize this is a UConn board but you need a partner for the Big Ten so let me explain my rationale.
Virginia Tech is a public land grant university and of their 25 peer institutions 10 are or will be Big Ten universities. Virginia Tech has a larger enrollment than UVA. Virginia Tech has larger total research & development expenditures than UVA as well as Iowa, Rutgers and Nebraska. Virginia Tech is not AAU but has a strategic plan in which the university anticipates " that approximately three to five years would be required to approach the impacts necessary to make us more American Association of Universities (AAU) competitive."
Virginia Tech does not have historic ties to the ACC conference since it joined the ACC in 2004. The conventional wisdom is that Virginia Tech would just be a candidate for SEC expansion. However, Virginia Tech, through prior membership in the Big East, has a history of competing in a northeastern conference and their OOC football schedule features upcoming games against Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State which indicates at least an interest in competition against Big Ten teams.
It is a concern that future Big Ten expansion must include a football addition. Although not on the level of historic success achieved by Penn State and Nebraska, with 6 BCS bowl appearances including 1 BCS national championship appearance Virginia Tech would provide this football addition. The addition of Virginia Tech as a football addition coupled with UConn as a basketball addition is another consideration for the Big Ten if the ACC exit fee and GOR could be overcome as well as any political resistance to a Virginia Tech and UVA separation.
Since I have taken up space on a UConn board touting the idea of Virginia Tech to the Big Ten, please feel free now to fire away at me and my idea with your slings and arrows.
