Big Ten Engorgement

I figured I would put up a sports related post while mailing in this afternoon with the Penske file wide open on my desk.

The Big Ten possibly adding a twelfth team fascinates me for some reason. I'm all for them doing it. Why not? Why not just add 7 more teams? Who cares? How about adding a team, then combining with the other Big 12 to become the Big 12 North, and they can be the Big 12 South? Why not add 53 and just have your own little NCAA tournament every year and declare the conference champion the national champion?

But seriously, I'm just mostly curious who they add. Here is a list of teams that have been mentioned, and how it would help the Big Ten or Not. Keep in mind there are about 1,200 other NCAA sports not named football, and in almost all cases, all of those other sports are coming along. But I'm only going to relate the term "athletics" with Men's basketball and football, because those are the only ones I care about. Also, I have very little knowledge of any of these schools, so I am going to make large, sweeping assumptions based purely on reputation and speculation.

Notre Dame: I'm not really sure who Notre Dame thinks they are. They have a shitload of football tradition. They have a large/rich alumni base. I get all that. But I don't really get the way that they just dismiss the possibility by acting all superior like the Big Ten is so far beneath them. Let me tell you something Notre Dame: The Big Ten has all the history and tradition you have, and then some. We also have superior academics, and larger alumni bases. And our own fucking channel. For ALL sports. Now that I got that out of the way, I would love to see Notre Dame. They fit well geographically, athletically and academically. Built in rivalries with Michigan, Purdue, Michigan St. and Penn St. Would not need to be forced. Will never do it.

Missouri: They've emerged as the prohibitive favorite I guess. They are a little far south for my liking. Athletically they are probably middle of the road at best. They've had some great years in both sports, but also some historically shitty ones. I hear they have good academics. Sound interested, but it would be an odd move.

Kansas: Too far away. Basketball is good enough that they could go on another 10 year losing streak post-Mangino in football, and it would be worth it. Academics would fit in. Probably would never do it.

Iowa St.: Haven't heard them mentioned, but I don't know why. Academically and geographically would fit in perfectly. A nice built in rivalry with Iowa. Athletics have been pretty weak at least recently. Should do it.

Nebraska: I would love to kick their ass, especially in football. The basketball program is a disaster. Traditionally, the football team would fit in perfectly. Probably too far west. Academically good. Good fit, but too many Big 12 rivalries.

Texas: Seems like a huge stretch. Superior to the Big Ten athletically. Academics on par with the best. Way too far south. Not a chance.

Pitt: Geographically acceptable with Penn St. involved. Athletically they would fit in well. Don't know anything about academics. I would think they would pass.

Syracuse: Basketball powerhouse, football shithouse (at least for the last 5 years). Don't know much academically. Geographically, less than great but not that bad I suppose. I can't see them leaving the Big East purely because of basketball.

Rutgers: Why? The New York market? New York doesn't give a shit about college sports. ESPECIALLY football. Academically I guess they are good. Athletically, I'm going to say they are below average at best. A recent resurgence in football, and they've struggled recently in basketball. Rumored one of the favorites. They would probably do it.

West Virginia: Geographically too far East. I feel their academics are inferior. Athletically, they would definitely hang. More interesting case, they might do it. But the Big East is just so good in basketball, it would be hard to give that up.

VERDICT

If they are doing this only for football, it is incredibly short sighted. Most schools not named Notre Dame, and I don't know if there are others, would not want to be in two different conferences. That being the case, the Big East is out. A Big East school would be insane to leave that conference for basketball. Which, includes Notre Dame.

Seriously I think that Iowa St. and Missouri make the most sense. I say they don't invite anyone again.

Feeling Minnesota?

Well I'm back from my brief sojourn as a geometry teacher and I'm looking to for something to do, i.e. cure boredom. So I guess, I'm back writing for this blog.* It's been a very enjoyable not having to come up with inane sports talk for the past 6 months(?), but I'm ready to meet Juice's quota of one post every day or so. Here's post number one.

* Since when did we have 5 writers. I thought I had some sort of editorial control. These guys were hired without my consent, with absolutely no notification. I smell a coup.

The Minnesota Gophers men's basketball team is off to a good, yet somewhat surprising start to the season. They are 18 -3 (6-3 in the Big Ten). This, of course, has led to speculation about Tubby Smith leaving for greener pastures. Jobs in Arizona and in his home state of Maryland may be tempting for Coach Smith, but it would be extremely disappointing to see him leave. Particularly after he rescued us from the Dan Monson era.

To lessen my worries, I turned to the Internet to see if there was any truth to these rumors. Of course what I found was mere speculation (I can speculate. People shouldn't be paid to do this and pass it off as news.). Myron P. Metcalf recently penned this article for the Star Tribune. Metcalf outlines the fact that Minnesota doesn't have the practice facilities that Maryland or Arizona has, plus they cannot match the salary that Tubby would get by returning to big time college basketball. Here's an excerpt:

Face it, Gophers fans. Smith is the prettiest girl at school and the prom is just a few months away. You're her insecure boyfriend.

That's comforting.

I then turned to reliable journalist Doug Gottlieb at espn.com and he had this to say:

Tubby Smith does not like the cold (no one does), but Alabama is not where he would go. He is from Maryland originally; Arizona would also make sense.

Tubby doesn't like the cold? How does Doug Gottlieb know this. Furthermore, didn't Tubby know that it was cold in Minnesota when he took the job. That is one of the four things that Minnesota is famous for. The others are being nice, mosquitos, and the Fargo accent. I just can't believe that Tubby hates the cold enough to make that the deciding factor in whether he stay or goes. So I had to do some research. Here's what I found.



It seems to me that Tubby loves the cold and Doug Gottlieb has once again been proven wrong. Tubby's not going anywhere and all is right with the world again. Go Gophers!!!