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http://www.wndu.com/sports/headlines/92447574.html

A source in St. Louis familiar with the situation told NewsCenter 16 Thursday afternoon that Missouri will leave the Big XII and soon join the Big 10. Other schools expected to follow the Tigers are Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers and Nebraska.

Many have speculated that such an expansion would include Notre Dame but ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick told me today that the Irish prefer to stay independent in football and in the Big East for other sports. Swarbrick said maintaining football Independence is such a part of what Notre Dame is.

He went on to say the Big East is a great partner for the University in other sports.

"We do have to monitor what is going on," Swarbrick said. "There will be significant shifts. "Hopefully we can navigate them by keeping our football independent and keeping our Big East affiliation because that is what we care about."

The move of Syracuse, Pitt and Rutgers to the Big Ten from the Big East could categorically change the landscape of the Big East itself. Thus, what Swarbrick is referring to when stating the University must continue to monitor what is going on.

The interview with Swarbrick was done before the late afternoon announcement.

Interesting comment...

Posted by: Stan Location: SB on Apr 29, 2010 at 08:14 PM

The IRISH should be in a conference with Miami, Florida State, SMU, MIchigan, UCLA, Nebraska, LSU, Tennessee, and Auburn and the conference could be called the BIG USED 2 B conference.

An interesting article. It will be interesting to see if the other major athletic departments in the Big 12 deem the conference capable of being salvaged, or will now simply leave as well.

So...the Big Ten becomes the Big Sixteen (or the Sweet Sixteen) and the Big Twelve the Big Ten?

Mexmustang wrote:So...the Big Ten becomes the Big Sixteen (or the Sweet Sixteen) and the Big Twelve the Big Ten?

The Big Big

Is something art just bc it hangs on a wall?

Two observations, first, none of these teams mentioned will ever win a conference championship--not in my lifetime--not even Nebraska. Second, If Notre Dame likes the Big East, whose left in that conference?

Not surprised that ND wants the marquee of being the only major independent (with all due respect to Army and Navy). In effect, the Big East will become a BB conference and the Big Ten a bigger power in basketball:

http://espn.go.com/blog/CollegeBasketba ... oops-weird

Assuming the NE, MO, Pitt, Syracuse and Rutger invitations happen, who is the next mover?

- Does the Big East backfill three FB losses?
- Does ACC grab remaining Big East FB teams while strengthening BB, plus giving BC a regional partner with CT (+BB) and the additions of WVA (+BB), add Louisville (+BB).
- Is Cinncinnati included? How about USF?
- Does SEC boldly go after UT, A&M, OK and OSU?
- Does Pac-10 grab UT and CO?
- Big East becomes BB Conference, which is nice for ND, although Irish may lose access to many of their traditional opponents, e.g. UM, MSU, Pitt, and Purdue

The losers in FB are the Big East and Big XII in this example, while Big Ten/XVI, SEC, PAC 10/12 and ACC become bigger.

Big East moves to 12 football teams to retain it's BCS status by picking up: SMU, TCU, Houston, and who care who else, creating a 6 team western division and giving SMU BCS status.

One can dream.....

No, SMU and TCU take Mizzou's and Nebraska's spot in the Big 12. This will become SWC II sooner than we think.

[quote="- Does SEC boldly go after UT, A&M, OK and OSU? [/quote]

Interesting thought. I really do believe UT and A&M will end up in an expanded SEC sooner or later. I don't know how good of a fit OU and OSU would be though. I would think the SEC would want to balance out UT and A&M in the west with a couple of eastern schools - say Florida State and Clemson.

Except that after NE and MO are invited to Big Ten/XVI, the Pac 10 (soon to be 12) picks off CO, (plus UT) and SEC makes its moves which might include a big raid on UT and A&M, plus OK and OSU. As Steve Martin said, "a wild and crazy guy!"

Here is a projected Big Ten/Sixteen (4x4 Divisions) conference alignment:

East: Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, and Penn St.
Upper MidWest: Mich., Wisc., Mich. St., and Minn.
Central: Ohio St., Pur., IU, Ill.
West: N'western. Missouri, Iowa, Neb.

plus important cross-Division rivalry games such as OSU/MI, IA/MN and IL/MO. Other possible alignments could include regular games between East and Upper MW and Central with West schools.

Making the Big 16 the epicenter of where football fans go to catch a nap. How boring are those teams??

If this article proves to be true, it will leave the Big 12 adding two teams. BYU and CSU are the most likely candidates.

It has been reported elsewhere that the Pac-10 looks to expand by two schools, those being Utah and Colorado. With the lack of acceptable programs in the North, TCU and Air Force are the most likely candidates. TCU has a strong program, but is in a market that the Big 12 already believes it owns. Air Force would help to reclaim the Colorado market, while also drawing on a national fan base of military veterans.

SMU and Houston will likely be left courting the Big East without TCU.