Wake and duke were my next guesses. no one is arguing on behalf of wake being a valuable addition to the P3, and rightfully so, and duke is in its own category thanks to having the most valuable bball brand in the country
I don't think bringing in Rutgers and Maryland was a bad move over the long run, but neither school has shown much so far. Both of those schools have football potential if they get alumni/donors to support them and they make the right coaching hire. Schiano and Locksley are not the right coaches. Look at Iowa. Middle of nowhere with no local recruiting base and from 1961 until 1980, they were bad until they hired Hayden Fry.
So then where’s our BIG invite?? We check 5 of those 6 boxes. All but endowment.
When the Big Ten brought in Rutgers and Maryland, there was a P5. The ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten were just feeding from the Big East buffet and yes, Maryland was the biggest surprise leaving the ACC. I don't think the B1G envisioned a complete consolidation to a P2 and having the Big Ten invite the PAC schools and having the SEC invite Texas and Oklahoma. If they envisioned this is how things would play out, I don't think they would have invited Rutgers and Maryland. Every program has football potential if you have P2 money and hire great coaches. It's been 11 years and Rutgers and Maryland are just barely average programs.
Those choices are readily explainable. You may not like the explanation, but there is no doubt it made financial sense.
Add AAU to the list
If all we have to do to get Iowa State's vote is build a Sally's in Ames then that is a very good deal.
Its all about economics...never really been about winning. And as we enter the new world of the prof paid athlete model - its all about economic capacity and depth.
Need AAU...need a much bigger endowment.... need a football culture that is closer to the B1G. We are making some progress.
I don't see how conferences are going to drop schools. At least not for a long while yet. They would need to fail to meet certain min spending levels on sports, some sort of objective criteria that is not W-L related.
Maryland has had 3 head coaches (plus an interim) since joining the Big 10: Edsall, DJ Durkin, and Mike Locksley. I wouldn't call any of them great coaches. Rutgers has had 3 coaches as well: Flood, Ash, and Schiano. Again, not good coaches. Schiano has not had a winning Big 10 record in any season and he is 13-34 in the Big 10 since he returned.
www.usatoday.com
Shame on Rutgers and Maryland, they should have done better. To be fair, it would be very difficult for any new member no matter their pedigree to become a top 20%-er in that conference with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Oregon, USC... More likely any new member is going to be like Nebraska, or Rutgers
FSU is obvious. UNC over Clemson might be the better overall play vis-a-vis CR and eminent domain. The top 30 "most valuable programs" not in the P2 include FSU, Clemson, Miami, UNC, Utah, TCUFrom USA Today this morning.
No time to stand still: SEC needs Florida State, Clemson to close gap with Big Ten
Florida State and Clemson showed last weekend what we've known all along: they're the perfect fit for the SEC. Sooner than later.
www.nytimes.com
Maryland and Rutgers still aren’t receiving full shares, but they are close to it now. They have been at a financial disadvantage compared to the rest of the B1G. They are now close to being an equal share member. Doesn’t mean that will translate to success, but it’s hard to be successful in a conference where you are paid less than everyone else in that conference.
If you are mediocre or worse heading into a new conference, you will continue to be mediocre or worse unless you make wholesale changes.
FSU is obvious. UNC over Clemson might be the better overall play vis-a-vis CR and eminent domain. The top 30 "most valuable programs" not in the P2 include FSU, Clemson, Miami, UNC, Utah, TCU
Followed by:
Va Tech, NC State, Texas Tech, Okie State, Arizona State......
College football program valuations: Ranking every Power 4 team by how much they’d sell for
College football programs may not be for sale, but what if they were? Here's our best guess at how much the Power 4 would sell for.
I know Nebraska has basically fallen off a cliff from where they used to be but they stll aren't close to Rutgers' level of ineptitude.
That makes sense but I don't think the SEC should concede North Carolina. Population and geography make it so valuable and would really lock the Big Ten out of the south-east.
Shhhh, don't say that too loudly. Although UConn has hit a home run with Mora but wholesale changes would include that elusive on-campus stadium
You know they joined the Big 10 in 2014, right? How long is long term? Other than a brief burst in the early 2000s Rutgers has been pretty dreadful. Maryland, other than a few teams under Fridgen has not been a significant player since the 1980s. I believe they have 1 outright ACC championship. They too have been a mess since joining the Big 10. They don’t draw crowds. They are the 3rd option behind 2 NFL teams in their region.