Conference Expansion Thoughts

Hey all, sorry for the absence, I've been busy with a newborn in the house!

So the Big Ten wants to expand. There are a lot of theories out there about whom they should add. My thought is, when the Big Ten says they want to expand they are saying: Notre Dame, are you interested? My short list, if I were in charge of the committee evaluating these options: Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Missouri, and Arkansas.

Notre Dame pros: Huge fan base. Located in the middle of Big Ten country. Already play most of the Big Ten teams. High academic standards. Lots of money. Talented players. Tradition. Half-decent basketball team. Does decent in most sports.
Cons: unwilling to give up Independent status. Currently have a TV contract with NBC (which may not last long with the sale of NBC to Comcast...). Win or lose, they dominate the headlines, which overshadows other teams in the conference. Members of the Big East in every other sport. They haven't really been relevant in a few years.
Thoughts: if Notre Dame would go for it, this is a done deal. What more could you want in a 12th team? Also, I think ND has to realize this is their last chance because once the Big Ten goes to 12, there is no room for Notre Dame. However, the arrogance of the Fighting Irish probably leads them to believe they don't need the Big Ten to get back to the big stage: they just need Brian Kelly. I think they are wrong on both accounts: they need the Big Ten and Brian Kelly is not the answer they were hoping for.

Pittsburgh pros: natural rival for Penn State (who really lacks ANY true rival in the conference). Tradition of success. Big Ten type of town (blue collar). Pretty good basketball team.
Cons: lack of prolonged success. Academics. Success in most other sports.
Thoughts: if Notre Dame doesn't want in, regionally, this is your best and safest bet and the highest quality football/hoops combo.

Arkansas pros: SEC team. Plays in the SEC. Won't win the SEC West in the foreseeable future. SEC speed.
Cons: academics. Lack of interest on their part in joining the Big Ten.
Thoughts: this would be the heist of the century. The Big Ten is always getting beaten up about how the SEC rocks their world, SEC this, SEC that. Get one of their members to come your way? That would be an awesome comeback. "If you are so much better than us, why did one of your consistently bowl eligible teams leave you for us?" For this exact reason, I think taking Kentucky would even be better than grabbing an also-ran out of the Big East like the Cuse or Rutgers.

Missouri pros: Big 12 and respected football team. Pat Forde is an alum and maybe he'd stop trashing the Big Ten so much. Good basketball, decent at other sports too. Academics aren't bad. Add another state to the conference's recruiting bases.
Cons: lack consistent success, i.e. top 25 appearances. Academics aren't great. No world class teams in its programs. Not a big winning tradition.
Thoughts: better to steal a Big 12 team than a Big East one. They are a better program than ANY of the options in the Big East besides Pitt and Cincy (maybe).

The other question then becomes: IF the Big Ten expands, does the Pac 10 do it as well? I think that's a pretty long way off. If there were two OBVIOUS picks, I think the Pac 10 would have announced it as well. BYU and Utah seem obvious, but let's look at it from the Pac 10 perspective:

BYU doesn't have quite the academics you are looking for, particularly the research and graduate programs. The Pac 10 would have to readjust a lot of their other sports' schedules because BYU does not play on Sundays. They do bring the fan base and money. They do bring the stadium size and ability to fill it. They win a lot of championships in a variety of sports.

Utah has a small football stadium and has only truly sold out 8 games in the past 5 years. Basketball alternates between the NCAAs and the CBI. They do bring a bigger TV market but not a large fan base with it, albeit a very enthusiastic small fan base. Academics are definitely there for the medical research side, but other graduate programs are somewhat lacking. They bring an immediately credible women's gymnastics team.

They are a nice rivalry pair, however, which they currently have the best set-up for in the country: Washington schools, Oregon schools, Cal-Stanford, USC-UCLA, and the Arizona schools; that is the PERFECT conference set-up. Certainly there is no other pair like BYU-Utah in the region, but there are certainly issues with taking this pair that may be too big for the Pac 10 to make the jump. Maybe after a few years with BCS money, the obstacles can be overcome: of course, the same could be said for other potential pairs. Other potential pairs: SDSU and Fresno, UNLV and Nevada, Colorado and CSU...OK, I'm reaching a bit with that last one...