wildcats20;903936 wrote:Yes, I know. But a title game doesn't mean anything. The Big 10 had an auto berth to a BCS game regardless. It wasn't going to go away just because they might have stayed at 11.
In other words, the Big 10 added a 12th team so they could "keep up with the Jones'," so to speak. If the other conferences go to 16, so will the Big 10.
That title game means a reported $20-25 million for the conference EACH YEAR from Fox for television the game. That's nearly $2 million per school every year. That's why they added a 12 team to add a championship game. That's revenue they wouldn't have been able to get any other way. They were able to add a team to the conference AND increase revenue for all 12 schools involved. That's impressive. They didn't to keep up with the Jones's, they are the Jones's.
The NY Times ran an article today about the geography of college football. It said that Ohio State is the most popular team in college football, followed by Michigan and Penn State. In fact 7 of the 12 teams in the B1G were in the top 20 in terms of popularity. That is why the B1G is the highest revenue generating conference in the country. They will only add teams if they increase that revenue for everyone. That means good programs with lots of fans in big TV markets (like Notre Dame and Texas). Unless a team would be in the top half of the B1G in terms of popularity or would get the BTN on TV in a big market (like Rutgers or maybe Missouri), then the B1G isn't going to be interested, because they don't want to divide the same revenue among more teams.
