gorocks99 wrote: From a per capita perspective it is a wasteland compared to the southern states. Lets look, using the link posted above, at % of NFL players drafted from a particular state's high schools from 88-08:

State, % of US Population, % of NFL draftees

Ohio, 3.75%, 4%
Michigan, 3.29%, 3%
Indiana, 2.07%, 1%
Illinois, 4.2%, 3%
Iowa, 0.98%, 1%
Minnesota, 1.7%, 1%
Pennsylvania, 4.06%, 3%
Wisconsin, 1.83%, 1%

And some of the new states:
New Jersey, 2.84%, 3%
Connecticut, 1.15%, 1%
New York, 6.3%, 2%

Some southern states, for comparison:

Florida, 5.97%, 10%
Louisiana, 1.4%, 4%
Alabama, 1.51%, 3%
Texas, 7.81%, 11%

So, the Big Ten states in general, as well as two out of the three new additions, do not produce more than their fair share of big-time talent, but rather about what you would expect (Illinois is a little low, Pennsylvania is a little low). New York does much worse. The southern states, however, definitely do produce more than population alone would suggest.

Many of the states with the higher pecentage above have a lower mean age in their population, so they will have a higher rate of their population in school.

http://www.statemaster.com/graph/peo_med_age-people-median-age

Big Gain wrote: Jim Foster is the person "shaking in his boots". UCONN becoming a member of the Big Ten ends his consecutive streak of Big Ten woman's bball championships.

13 sports at Ohio State WILL NOT be affected by UCCON joining the Big Ten. They only field teams in 22 sports, Ohio State has 35.

Which is the most of any school in the country.

Big Gain wrote: Jim Foster is the person "shaking in his boots". UCONN becoming a member of the Big Ten ends his consecutive streak of Big Ten woman's bball championships.

13 sports at Ohio State WILL NOT be affected by UCCON joining the Big Ten. They only field teams in 22 sports, Ohio State has 35.

some of these teams wouldn't be affected anyway, as they don't compete in the big ten.

Teams like UConn and Syracuse would add absolutely nothing in football, but they watch basketball in NYC, and adding one or both of those would probably be enough to get the BTN on basic cable in NYC, which is the whole point. Rutgers would be a complete waste of time, as no one gives a fuck about watching them in any sport. I wouldn't be upset with a UConn or Syracuse if they accompany a couple of schools with football programs.

Cleveland Buck wrote: Teams like UConn and Syracuse would add absolutely nothing in football, but they watch basketball in NYC, and adding one or both of those would probably be enough to get the BTN on basic cable in NYC, which is the whole point. Rutgers would be a complete waste of time, as no one gives a fuck about watching them in any sport. I wouldn't be upset with a UConn or Syracuse if they accompany a couple of schools with football programs.

You're right about getting the BTN on basic cable in NYC being the whole point of adding teams from the northeast as opposed to other Midwest teams. At best we are going to add one good football school, which I still think will be Notre Dame. Schools like Pitt and UConn don't bring a ton for football, but they would be middle-of-the-road teams most years who could potentially jump near the top once a decade (read: Illinois). They wouldn't be bottom feeders.

Given the fact that the AD at Notre Dame has already talked about being open to the possibility of joining a conference, he clearly understands that the landscape of college sports is changing and that the football team cannot remain an independent much longer. Ever Big Ten team makes $6 million more a year in football TV revenue than ND does, and one of the bowls that ND has had a traditional tie with, the Gator Bowl, is no longer affiliated with ND but rather the Big Ten and SEC. Also, if they move to the Big Ten, they will still be on national television every week either on BTN or on ABC/ESPN because the Big Ten's contract with ESPN stipulates that all Big Ten games either be national or if broadcast regionally on ABC they are broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2 out of market.

If the Big Ten only adds one team then the landscape of college sports doesn't really change much, there are some minor adjustments that happen, and ND stays as in independent. But if they are going to expand to 14 or 16 teams then other conferences will have to expand and Notre Dame will have to join a conference or end up making half as much money as everyone else.

And for those who think that Rutgers doesn't add anything to the Big Ten, it does have over 50,000 students, which means that it brings a large alumni base, New York money, and it is the birthplace of American Football.

if this is true, basketball in most years gets absolutely LOADED....