Not so fast, Tony
There's nothing close to confirmation on this one, but the Twitterwebs are on fire with word of Pitt Pittsburgh becoming the 12th member of the Big Ten. The Big East is set to get raided once again and the big announcement is coming on Thursday.
The only thing is... it doesn't add up.
For starters, the Big Ten's study for expansion is expected to take 12-18 months. This is the Big Ten we're talking about. It likes to hang out at the five and dime, says "swell" a lot and still reads the newspaper. It does not hitch up with a girl after a 30 day courtship.
Further, the manner in which the news supposedly leaked is fishy: Pitt athletes receiving word in closed door meetings and then blasting the news on Twitter before deleting the incriminating Tweets. Despite the fact Twitter's search digs up deleted entries, none have turned up. And these days, with Division I athletes 140 characters away from broadcasting something to the world, you can bet there's a good chance they will get the news the same time the general public does.
Still, until there's more of an official denial from Pitt or the Big Ten, this will be talked about. And make no mistake about it, Pitt has a lot of redeeming qualities (AAU member, solid athletics, geography) and they may in fact eventually be the choice, but I'm having a hard time believing the Big Ten moved on expansion just a month into their study on the topic.
Comments
totally agree, no way football players would get this info before anybody else. this smells like BS to me, because despite Pitt being a good fit in the big ten, it doesnt make any real sense from the standpoint of trying to expand viewer base, bringing in new revenue, etc.
IT DONT ADD UP NO SIR
Does anyone know about the Pitt/ Joe Pa beef? Beano Cook hates the man, so this should be fun.
Also, I thought one of the key tenants of the new school had to be that they have an on-campus stadium. Perhaps, part of the deal is that Pitt start construction of its new on-campus stadium tomorrow, but I agree that from a "expand the viewer base" standpoint, this makes no sense. Also, this would make Pitt a REAL recruiting competitor for State Penn, so I can't imagine Happy Valley signing off on this. Mizzu and Rutgers still make more sense IMO.
BuckeyeChris, your cover as an OSU fan is blown. You are just a typical, jealous sPitt fan.
For the record, Paterno doesn't have to sign-off on it. Second, he has now called for your worthless school to be added TWICE. However, I wouldn't expect you to know that as a sPitt grad. You aren't smart enough.
At the end of the day, sPitt is Small Time. Always has been and always will be.
Maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers could stop the Buckeye reign of terror.
I still say if we expand we go balls out and pick up 3 teams: Pitt, Mizzou, and Texas! Then we can be called the Big Whatever the Hell We Want to Call Ourselves Because We Are Better Than All Of You. I know it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but give it a chance to grow on you.
Hope it is true. I predicted Pitt a while back with a B10 South of
PSU, Pitt, tOSU, Indiana, Purdue & Illinois
B10 North then is...
MSU, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minny, NW
pitt cant even fill heinz field...
I'd rather see Mizzou. Having Pitt would really hurt our recently established recruiting prowess in western PA. If they don't go with MO then go after ND again. Hell, I wouldn't mind having them to kick around annually. As for Rutgers, F 'em.
Totally with you on this, maybe even 5, with Pitt, WVU, Mizzou, Iowa St and Nebraska.
that pitt/PSU game every year would be wild though
They will never split up tOSU, Scum, and Sparty. If you think that they will split those three teams up, then you are smoking crack!
Reason why is, the conference and tOSU and SCum don't want to de-emphasize THE GAME.
Put down your mothers crack pipe Ruckus!
They play 8 conference games a year. Figure 4 in the division every year plus scUM, and then 3 rotating non-disision teams; just kinda like they do now.
I'd guess all 5 in the division, and give up one non-division for a fixed game with scUM, along with two rotation non-division games
"and still reads the newspaper....."
You're killing me, Jason!
this expansion talk needs to fricken stop now! i hate the idea for example 2009 lets have ohio state run a november gauntlet again of 1st 2nd and place teams and then their biggest rival. then have to play another team who knows who it would have been in the "championship game" what a joke...was there any doubt who the best team in the big10 was last year or the years before that were no!!!! expansion is gay nuff said. why not see how the next few years ending the season later will end up. besides the old ass douchebag who wants this will be gone soon and soon will be his school being relivant. thats what it is all about he knows when his batteries in his exoskeleton run out that school (which insist they are the rival to tOSU which they are not!) that school will aspire for mediocrity like the indianas and wake forests of the world.
Whomever we get, we can't keep calling it the Big Ten, unless we want to figure the number 12 into the logo. I think the new conference should be named The Conference, with emphasis on theeeeeee. Imagine the anger swelling up in the hearts of the 28 people in the south that have televisions.
"And representing Theeeeee Conference in such and such bowl game, (fill in the blank)"
Will the team that's added (maybe Pitt) begin playing in the Big Ten in 2011?
Probably not until much later, guessing 2014 or later. Keep in mind that when PSU joined, they joined all the other sports 3 years before they could join in football. Schedules are just set way too far in advance to change it much sooner
Maybe he meant other than sports...
JoePa wants Pitt. He started the expansion talk last May, and suggested adding Pitt, Syracuse, or Rutgers. I know he was mad years ago when Pitt cast the deciding vote against letting Penn State into the Big East. I am an Iowa Hawkeye fan, and I would just agree with the earlier comment that the assumption that Eastern teams would add more TV's seems to me to be something that marketing studies need to prove. Check out the Missouri and Nebraska fan sites and notice the true hate the Big Twelve North has for Texas, and the predominant feeling that adding Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas to the Big 10/11 would be a good idea, so there might be quite a bit of competition for open spots. I see a lot of talk about eight 16-team conferences after all this shakes out, and then a playoff system. The conferences may be forced to act now to avoid missing the opportunity to pick up good teams.
I can't deal with Mark May's alma mater being associated with the Big Ten.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Penn State doesn't have to sign off on it though. It's my undertanding that only 8 big 10 schools have to agree, it's not unanimous like the Pac 10.
texas and texas am and uconn are my picks...screw pitt...you made your bed now lie in it..you had the chance to be in a power conf. yrs ago but you didnt want penn state to have any of your basketball money...the funny thing is you still think joepa is a quack..but hes been right about so many things over the yrs..as much as he pisses me off during game day he is truly is a god in college football
Texas is a very interesting choice. I read a blog that a guy from Chicago has put together and he basically said if the Big 10 came calling it would be really hard for them to just say no without giving it thought. The Big 10 TV revenue and BCS payout would be a raise for any Big 12 school, even Texas. I don't see it realistically happening as I think Texas state government would be involved too, but the university itself would make more money in the Big 10.
Tell us how you really feel Matt...
chuckle chuckle chuckle.... up yours mark may!!!!!! lol on another note i miss grass at the stadium... expansion sucks why not boot that school with the old guy out and play a 9 game conf sched.
Does the NCAA mandate a twelve-team max on its football conferences? If not - and given the revenue-based-on-market-share factor - why wouldn't the Big Ten cut a swath to include TX, MO and Rutgers? These parties are interested.
no, they don't have a cap on max size, but as much as texas is a perfect fit, it's simply too far for some of the smaller schools in our conference to travel too, especially when you take into account the non-revenue sports
I'm not buying that, the revenue these football programs bring in the travel expense for 1 time a year isn't going to be that much. It really wouldn't cost northwestern that much more to travel there than it does to happy Valley. It's just not that far. There is more than just the schools involved though. Texas state legislature would be involved in a move like this, and they just aren't going to let it happen.
I think it would be great for the Big10 and schools in it. It would give schools publicity in Texas and open up the Big 10 to recruits from Texas. Plus adding a school like Texas would give the Big 10 4 powerhouse names in college football and 4 teams in the top 10 all time wins.
Pitt didn't cast the deciding vote, it was Syracuse. Pitt didn't join the Big East until a year after PSU was rejected by the aforementioned Orangemen.
JoePa was (and still is) mad that Pitt went ahead and joined the BE anyway, instead of boycotting to support JoePa's dream of an eastern all-sports conference where football revenues were NOT shared - some conference, eh?
Do you honestly believe the Big10 just decided 30 days ago to explore expansion? They've trying to do this for years, but now they realize that Notre Dame isn't going to do it so they have to go somewhere else. Pitt is completing a $30 mil. olympic sports complex and has some of the nicest facilities in the country. Pitt adds quality football and bball, not to mention great academics.
@joeinpa: Texas? A&M? Keep dreaming. Add USC and Florida while you're at it.
Obviously, adding a championship game is the most important thing for the Big10, but adding a true rival for PSU helps in terms of exposure.
I'm of the contingent that doesn't see OSU or UM getting split into two separate divisions. They'll want to keep the integrity of the game without a possible rematch in the conf title.
you know what screw joepa. if they want a conference champ game i am sure conf usa would be happy to take them
There's no way Tomlin would okay the move. He knows the power of Tressel.
Yeah, that's it!
[...] If It’s on the Internet, It’s True | Eleven Warriors __________________ Originally Posted by intrpdtrvlr 08-17-2009, 02:30 PM This discussion is running in circles. Let's shut it down. [...]
Let's get it correct. Penn State "needs" a rival as much as the Big 10 "needs" to change it's name to reflect the right number of teams. With the exception of the older alumni and fans, the Pitt/PSU rivalry is firmly in the past.
I have yet to meet a relatively new (last decade and the 90's) PSU fan that can tell me what PSU gains by playing Pitt again. All of the pluses come from the Pitt side.
Pitt may come to the Big 10 and I'm fine with that, but I'm not sure what exposure is gained by renewing a rivalry that was at its most competitive in the 70's.
Mizzu & Rutgers???? Although both have improved their football programs in recent years, neither is close to becoming an improvement to the Big Ten. Pitt is solid in football and basketball.
Hypothetically, if you had to boot one Big Ten school, which would it be?
Sweet. If you don't need a rival, stop trying to make us into one.
+1
still pissed that we lost our Illinois rivalry for this manufactured BS rivalry with PSU
I can see Penn State becoming a rival. The last few years it's been Ohio State and Penn State. I'd much rather have them as a rival than Illinois personally but that's just me. I believe Penn State and Iowa may become more of a rivalry though. Of course I guess Penn State has to beat them first.
seriously who cares about penn state and why are people listening to the rambling of a senial old man
North Toledo
Well if they join big10 it will fill up without question...
I agree, neither Mizzu nor Rutgers would be an improvement. Pitt makes much more sense from an athletic standpoint.
CFT now says this is untrue
As a Pitt grad, we rarely filled it because Heinz Field is on the other side of the city. Not only is it a pain to get to the games, but there is no college atmosphere. It's hard to get excited about a game when campus is five miles away and, outside of the student body or alums, not many in the city care about the Panthers, only the damn Steelers.
As a guy who grew up in Ohio rooting for the Bucks and graduated from Pitt, I'm not really sure how I would feel about this move. Just as Pitt was starting to get some momentum back, now they have to go up against tOSU every year? Not many of us are looking forward to that. I think I would support a 3 team expansion of Pitt, WVU, and Missouri though. If we have to leave, I wanna take the Mountain-queers with us. Plus, WVU fans would LOVE to get a shot at RichRod again.