http://bleacherreport.com/articles/336734-and-pittsburgh-makes-12-the-big-ten-to-add-the-panthers

I think Pitt would be a good addition if they add a team.

I do believe that the Big 10 will add another team but not Pitt. Although I wouldn't mind if it were them. In my opinion what I think will end up happening is The Big 10-11-12 will add Missouri. Then the Big 12 will replace them with TCU. Boice will eventually wind up in the PAC 10 along with possible one other team (maybe Utah). Then all the BCS conference will have a Championship Game.

That article says the announcement will be made on Thursday.

haha maybe I should have read the article. This sounds pretty close to happening.

I saw this on Bucknuts, sounds pretty good hopefully it happens.

Definitely not a terrible move by the Big 10. Pitt's program seems to be on the rise.

Great, all we need is another Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois type team. Sure Pitt has some "good" years, but in the Big 10 they will not consistently compete with OSU, PSU, Iowa and PSU IMHO. It also benefits Pitt that they play in the Big East, they will get to better bowls if they stay in that conference. Just remember what happened last time Pitt and OSU faced off on the football field.

I'd rather see a different team in the Big 10. Pitt doesn't bring anything to the table (as far as football, the moneymaker sport, is concerned.) No new media market, no consistent football program, etc.

Pitt will get in BETTER bowl games as a member of the Big10, the Big East's tie ins are terrible. It also benefits Pitt in terms of recruiting, which would likely mean a higher level of play. The Big10 benefits by getting a 12th team and a conference championship.

The Big East just got a whole lot worse (if possible) if true.

ccrunner609 wrote: PSU
Pitt
OSU
UM
MSU
Ind.

Wisky
ILL
Minn
Purdue
Iowa
NWSTRN

Seems like the East Div. is stacked. Gonna have to split them differently

OSU
MSU
Purdue
Wisky
ILL
NRWSTN

UM
PSU
Ind
Pitt
Minn
IOWA

This would seem better

OSU and UM will be in the same division if they still play the last game of the season.

The Big East is screwed if this happens. Where do they go from here? Do they do the underwhelming thing and add Memphis? I hope not. I've been saying for a while that the Big East needs to grow some stones and create a super conference. This would create some buzz, get some of the non-AQ teams a bid opportunity, and best of all would get them a conference championship game.

Division A- WVU, UCONN, Syracuse, Rutgers, Louisville, and Cincinnati
Division B- USF, Boise State, TCU, Utah, Fresno State, BYU

Yeah if the conference gets split into divisions, OSU and UM will be in the same division. No way does the Big Ten not have them playing once a year, on the last week of the season.

In terms of new markets this move does not make sense but from what I read on Pitt's scout.com board it starts to add up.

- Pitt generates the most research of any school being thrown around in B10 expansion and is a member of the same association that all B10 schools are.
- From an administration and endowment standpoint, Pitt is comparable to OSU having $2.2 billion endowment
- Those fans have heard that the reason a decision was made to add Pitt is because the B10 over the course of the next 12-18 months wants to expand to 14 teams...

While in football Pitt may have up and down seasons the fans boast that the men's basketball team has the 4th best record of any college in the past decade. Many believe this offer has been outstanding for over a year to the Pitt administration. In other news for the Big East the Pitt fans are already saying that Memphis and UCF are being looked at to join the conference.

mucalum49 wrote:While in football Pitt may have up and down seasons the fans boast that the men's basketball team has the 4th best record of any college in the past decade.

Thank you for pointing that out; everyone else seems to have missed that. Pitt has some nice facilities but the lack of their own football stadium will hurt them not to mention they will rarely be the biggest show in town. College athletes aren't worshiped in Pittsburgh like the are in other big 10 cities. They will always be out-recruited by most of those schools.

OSU & UM can be in different divisions,but still play the last game of the year,ala UT & BG in the MAC...it's just a matter of the schedule makers making it happen

btw,I like the addition--I'd rather it be ND,but that's a moot point

mucalum49 wrote:
- Those fans have heard that the reason a decision was made to add Pitt is because the B10 over the course of the next 12-18 months wants to expand to 14 teams...

I have to agree with this. The Big 10 wants to be the biggest and best but they are not going to add three teams over night. Adding Pitt by 2012 is just the start. I still believe they go after Missouri and Notre Dame.

From a media exposure standpoint this would be a dumb move for Pitt. The Big East is televised in more households than any other conference in the country. This is because the conference plays weekday games also.

Either way, I can't see Pitt turning it down if the offer is made. Should they make the move the Big East is effectively dead. WVU will do all it can to sprint to the ACC (which would be a natural fit) or there are rumors of the SEC.

Adding schools like UCF and Memphis will only solidify the conference as a mid-major. Hopefully the other schools have a backup plan.

Hope it happens. Would be great to see OSU teams play less than an hour away from me.

OSU and UM will be in different divisions. I'd imagine they will do what the SEC does, and have each team have a annual tie-in with a team from the other division and rotate the other 5 schools. For example:

Florida and LSU play every year, even in different divisions
Tennessee and Alabama play every year, even in different divisions
Kentucky and Mississippi State play every year, even in different divisions
Georgia and Auburn play every year, even in different divisions
South Carolina and Arkansas play every year, even in different divisions
Vanderbilt and Mississippi play every year, even in different divisions

Make it so OSU/UM is still on the last date of the year, but both are in different divisions and COULD meet for the Big Ten Championship game.

Azubuike24 wrote: OSU and UM will be in different divisions. I'd imagine they will do what the SEC does, and have each team have a annual tie-in with a team from the other division and rotate the other 5 schools.

Make it so OSU/UM is still on the last date of the year, but both are in different divisions and COULD meet for the Big Ten Championship game.

I don't see this happening. There will be a huge push, especially by OSU Alum, to keep the OSU/UM game the last game of the season. I think OSU and UM would be in the same division. Assuming M*ch*gan returns to M*ch*gan of old there will be many years that OSU and UM could play back to back. I think they will try to keep this from happening. To me you would want to keep an inter-division opponent for the last week to keep any team from playing back to back. This would also allow for times to have two teams in the same division playing the last regular season game to go to the title game.

It's a tough one though. You will have people equally as upset with either team having to turnaround and play a "bigger" conference game the next week for the automatic BCS birth.

I actually like the possibility of them playing back to back. What if it winds up like a few years ago with both being unbeaten, and the winner then goes and plays a 3-loss opponent the next week? I'd rather them have a possibility of a re-match, even if it cheapens the rivalry just a tiny bit. Honestly I don't see it happening all that often...but when it does, it makes it HUGE.

Kind of like nowadays if Oklahoma plays Nebraska in the Big 12 title game...it adds an extra element to the game even though that rivalry isn't what it once was. It's the same with Alabama/Tennessee. That would have a huge extra element to the SEC-CG if those 2 hooked up, even though they play annually anyway.

Ohio State and the University of Michigan will be playing one another on the final week of the regular season, regardless of whether or not there exists the possibility of them playing the following week. I actually like the idea of a back to back though I also feel it would be a rarity.

Whomever the committee in charge of scheduling will certainly...assuredly, take into account the greatest rivalry in all of sports and keep it intact.

(though it's kinda sucked the last few years)

ytownfootball wrote: Ohio State and the University of Michigan will be playing one another on the final week of the regular season, regardless of whether or not there exists the possibility of them playing the following week. I actually like the idea of a back to back though I also feel it would be a rarity.

Whomever the committee in charge of scheduling will certainly...assuredly, take into account the greatest rivalry in all of sports and keep it intact.

(though it's kinda sucked the last few years)

This. People put too much unnecessary worrying if UM and OSU will still be able to play. They can make it work, it wont matter if they are in different divisions of a conference or in a different conference all together. Georgia Tech vs Georgia for example.

dwccrew wrote: Great, all we need is another Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois type team. Sure Pitt has some "good" years, but in the Big 10 they will not consistently compete with OSU, PSU, Iowa and PSU IMHO. It also benefits Pitt that they play in the Big East, they will get to better bowls if they stay in that conference. Just remember what happened last time Pitt and OSU faced off on the football field.

I'd rather see a different team in the Big 10. Pitt doesn't bring anything to the table (as far as football, the moneymaker sport, is concerned.) No new media market, no consistent football program, etc.

Are you just thinking about football? Ohio State has 36 sports. In basketball outside of MSU has there been a more successful Big Ten program than Pitt over the past 5 years?

I suppose you think Oklahoma, Kentucky or Florida would be interested.

Big Gain wrote:

dwccrew wrote: Great, all we need is another Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois type team. Sure Pitt has some "good" years, but in the Big 10 they will not consistently compete with OSU, PSU, Iowa and PSU IMHO. It also benefits Pitt that they play in the Big East, they will get to better bowls if they stay in that conference. Just remember what happened last time Pitt and OSU faced off on the football field.

I'd rather see a different team in the Big 10. Pitt doesn't bring anything to the table (as far as football, the moneymaker sport, is concerned.) No new media market, no consistent football program, etc.

Are you just thinking about football? Ohio State has 36 sports. In basketball outside of MSU has there been a more successful Big Ten program than Pitt over the past 5 years?

I suppose you think Oklahoma, Kentucky or Florida would be interested.

Well since we are on the college football forum, yes I was referring to football. Pitt has been a successful b-ball program, but, the only profitable sport at most universities is football and I think the Big 10 could get a better school than Pitt. Just my opinion.