Everyone wants to know what a bigger Big Ten would look like, so here's my crack at it.
First, the logistics of realignment. I'm not going to be bothered by conference grants of rights, ACC contracts, media agreements or university presidents and their politicking. Frankly, there's enough money being pulled in by the B1G to negate any of the consequences -- real or imagined -- out there. If you're an ACC team like North Carolina and the Big Ten comes calling with a sweet offer, you'll find a way to make it work, and that's just based on 2022 dollars. God only knows how much money the conference will negotiate in the future. We're in a superpower arms race, so hopefully everyone paid attention in school. Only instead of the USA and USSR, this is a B1G/FOX and SEC/ESPN battle. Money talks, and bigger money talks louder.
Second, selection criteria. The Big Ten is tied at the hip with the AAU and I really don't see that changing. Yes, Nebraska (barely) lost our accreditation but it's not like UNL suddenly fell to the levels of ITT Tech or DeVry. With that being said, I think the likely expansion targets are Notre Dame, Stanford, Virginia, and North Carolina. This pushes the conference to 20 teams.
Conference play is division-less, and follows a 4-6 rivalry model:
This model means that during the course of a four-year college career, a player is guaranteed to play every team in the conference at least once. Of course, players who redshirt or have extra eligibility would experience more. In four years, a player will see:
To give you a sample of this in action, consider the following Nebraska schedules over a four-year span. Bold/Italic teams only played once.
First, the logistics of realignment. I'm not going to be bothered by conference grants of rights, ACC contracts, media agreements or university presidents and their politicking. Frankly, there's enough money being pulled in by the B1G to negate any of the consequences -- real or imagined -- out there. If you're an ACC team like North Carolina and the Big Ten comes calling with a sweet offer, you'll find a way to make it work, and that's just based on 2022 dollars. God only knows how much money the conference will negotiate in the future. We're in a superpower arms race, so hopefully everyone paid attention in school. Only instead of the USA and USSR, this is a B1G/FOX and SEC/ESPN battle. Money talks, and bigger money talks louder.
Second, selection criteria. The Big Ten is tied at the hip with the AAU and I really don't see that changing. Yes, Nebraska (barely) lost our accreditation but it's not like UNL suddenly fell to the levels of ITT Tech or DeVry. With that being said, I think the likely expansion targets are Notre Dame, Stanford, Virginia, and North Carolina. This pushes the conference to 20 teams.
Conference play is division-less, and follows a 4-6 rivalry model:
- Each team is guaranteed four rivalry games each season. These do not change, or at least, would likely not change unless the league expanded further. One of my biggest problems with the 3-5-5 type models is that 3 rivalry games are really just too few for some teams.
- The Big Ten currently plays a nine-game conference schedule, but we're bumping this up to 10 games. Ten Big Games (oh that's clever)! Don't worry, we'll still probably get 3-4 non-conference games to play Colorado or Oklahoma. It won't be long before the demand for more TV inventory lengthens the season to 16 games like the NFL. This means there are 6 more teams to rotate through the schedule each year, out of 15 possible teams.
- To foster quicker rotations through the 15 "non-rival" teams, there are not home-and-home series in successive years.
This model means that during the course of a four-year college career, a player is guaranteed to play every team in the conference at least once. Of course, players who redshirt or have extra eligibility would experience more. In four years, a player will see:
- (4) games against four rival schools (2 home, 2 away)
- (2) games against nine conference opponents (1 home, 1 away)
- (1) game against the remaining six conference opponents (random home or away)
To give you a sample of this in action, consider the following Nebraska schedules over a four-year span. Bold/Italic teams only played once.
| Year | Rival Teams | Other Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, UCLA | USC, Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, North Carolina, Rutgers |
| Year 2 | Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, UCLA | Maryland, Penn State, Notre Dame, Virginia, Northwestern, Stanford |
| Year 3 | Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, UCLA | Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, USC, Michigan State, Illinois |
| Year 4 | Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, UCLA | Purdue, North Carolina, Rutgers, Maryland, Penn State, Notre Dame |
