What Would be the Best 12th Big Ten Candidate?

The Big Ten is considering expanding. One of the most radical choices of considering was the University of Texas (of all places). The Big Ten currently has eleven schools. The youngest Big Ten school is Pennsylvania State (Penn State, of course). When schools switch different conferences, you have to wonder what certain conferences is getting in return. So here is a look of the current Big Ten schools:

* Michigan
* Michigan State
* Ohio State
* Northwestern
* Illinois
* Indiana
* Wisconsin
* Minnesota
* Pennsylvania State
* Purdue
* Iowa

All of these schools are either in the Midwest or in New England. Having Texas along would ruin the balance region-wise. So what would be better choices?

--- What Would Make Good Big Ten Expansion Candidates? ---

Nebraska.
Nebraska would be a great choice region-wise, but the risk assesment would be taking away a great Big XII rivalry like Oklahoma vs. Nebraska.

Iowa State.
If you ask me, Iowa State would be a GREAT candidate. You can make the Cy-Hawk rivalry game into a great Big Ten rivalry. Iowa State would be a very nice candidate.

Missouri.
You can still have the Missouri-Kansas rivalry, but I think Missouri would be a potent challenger against some of the better Big Ten schools. I like the idea of a Missouri vs. Iowa game, for example.

Syracuse.
This wouldn't be a bad pickup for the Big Ten. People think the Big East is a sorry football conference. Maybe this wouldn't be a bad pickup for the Big Ten unless they are an invaluable commodity to the Big East.

Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh was also possible for the Big East. I think Pitt is too much of a Big East fixture to jump ship to the Big East. They'd still be a great team that would put up quite a fight in the Big East.


But then, don't forget about a little school called...

Notre Dame.
The nation's largest(?) Catholic school plays in the Big East for most of their sports. They probably aren't playing football in the Big East because I don't know if they want to play against opposition in the Big East regularly. A lot of the rivalries for Notre Dame are against Big Ten teams (with the obvious exceptions of USCal and Boston College).

5/12/2010 UPDATE: It's being reported that Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Rutgers were being invited to join the Big Ten. Trouble is, reports were denied that these schools actually gotten these offers. ESPN's "College Football Live" had a poll asking if Notre Dame should join the Big Ten. Over 74% of people voted that Notre Dame SHOULD join the Big Ten.



When you have one team join a newer conference, you have to wonder... what am I getting in return? The Big Ten has just too much tradition to let ANY of their schools jump ship. So I honestly don't know what would make a great fit. Who knows? Maybe even Boston College would be a nice consideration. I was even thinking of Cincinnati. I'm thinking too much about regional fits and not something similar to Louisiana Tech in the WAC.

What do you think would make a better fit for the Big Ten if the Big Ten successfully expands? If you want to check out a great website that speculates on various aspects of college sports, please visit this website: collegesportsinfo.com. Thank you for reading!