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Message: [QUOTE="Pat125, post: 1260981, member: 4513"] My guess is that the Big Ten would have offered ND a partial membership only as a temporary measure to allow ND to transition from football independence and honor any deals they had. But apparently ND was not ready to give up independence in football at that time. For what it's worth, I think Notre Dame is finally ready to abandon the last remnant of independence and is trying to get their alumni and others resistant to it used to it. If the Big Ten wanted to add UConn, but did not want to wait until an appropriate 16th team was available, I could see, as a possibility, the Big Ten offer UConn a partial membership, with the understanding that UConn accept full membership when a 16th team has been invited. The difference here is that, unlike ND, UConn would accept a full membership. Obviously, I have no idea that this would happen, but see it as a plausible option if the Big Ten doesn't want to lose UConn to another conference while waiting for a suitable 16th team to become available. I agree with you regarding hockey. If the Big Ten did add ASU or anyone else, I don't see the extra urgency to get an eighth team. I don't see why 7 is worse than 6. I i suppose the Big Ten would eventually want at least 8 teams, but can wait until their own membership or future membership can add teams. [/QUOTE]