Joe Paterno recently went on a rampage, saying that the Big Ten Conference should add a 12th team. JoPa feels that the conference is slighted come playoff time when the Big 12, SEC, and ACC have their conference championships and the Big Ten teams are busy watching. Paterno feels the conference isn’t getting the exposure that it should get with a conference title game.
I don’t know what Paterno is thinking but the conference championships are exactly what is wrong with college football. If I had it my way, I would get rid of them all. A school that is undefeated gains nothing by playing in a conference title game. All it does is give it one more chance to lose a football game and not play in the BCS title game.
Now, if they got rid of the BCS format as it currently exists and went to a playoff system, then there would be a greater need for the conference titles. However, right now, all they are are an excuse to sell a bunch of ads to Dr. Pepper and extend the college football season one more week, filling ABC’s programming and keeping the NFL away from Saturdays.
So, what if the Big Ten did expand? Who would they get to come to the conference. Paterno suggests Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Rutgers are possibilities. All three are firmly entrenched in the Big East and I am sure that conference would try to resist any such move. The travel would increase for Rutgers so I am sure the College of New Jersey would not move. The Orange and the Panthers are more centrally located and would fit in nicely.
But its highly unlikely that either would move and upset the apple cart. And Paterno is only thinking football in his argument. The Big Ten does have other sports as well. I am sure Tom Izzo at Michigan St. and other basketball coaches want nothing to do with Syracuse and Pitt during their season.
The only logical reason for the Big Ten to expand is Notre Dame. The conference has courted the Irish a couple of different times and the Golden Domers have rejected the conference each time. After all, they’re Notre Dame and why share the wealth with others? When you have your own national TV contract and don’t have any problems filling your football schedule, why move?
The only way the Big Ten would get the Irish would be to allow them to keep their contract for home games and find some way on the schedule for Notre Dame to continue to play their rivals such as USC, Boston College, and the armed forces. But that is too many games and Notre Dame doesn’t have any interest in substituting Iowa for Navy or Indiana for Air Force.
No, Notre Dame isn’t going anywhere and neither is Syracuse or anybody else for right now. The Big Ten is happy as the Big 11 and there doesn’t seem to be any changes in the cards any time soon.
Filed under: General
