en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/726135 Comments by NLHighlander http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/the-hlog/2010/04/20/my-guess-big-ten-will-go-east-or-south-bend-not-both#IDComment69111356 An important question for an expanded league would be the divisions. Members might want to know the divisional structure before inviting new members. I doubt the Big Ten would be like the local Mississippi Valley Conference at the high school level with its shuffle of division members every two years. Traditional rivals will want to be in the same division. The "hinge" is Indiana with its two current Big Ten members. If Notre Dame became the 12th Big Ten team, a logical split would be to have Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois and Notre Dame as one division with the two Indiana schools, the two Michigan schools, Ohio State and Penn State in the other. I would love Iowa's odds in that structure, as I am sure would Wisconsin and Notre Dame. Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State might not be so happy. An advantage of 12 rather than 14 teams would be the ease of playing the teams in the other division half of the years--five division foes each year, three from the other division for two years, then the other three the next two years (as is done now in the Big 12). Going to 14 teams would mean six games with division foes and only two of seven rather than three of six against the other division each year. Without Notre Dame, the most logical 12th member would be Mizzou to pick up the St. Louis and Kansas City markets and allow a division split keeping Indiana and Purdue in the same division, as they will demand. Given the divisional issue, bringing in Big East teams would only work if the Big Ten grew to 14 (or 16) rather than 12. Wed, 21 Apr 2010 03:27:06 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/the-hlog/2010/04/20/my-guess-big-ten-will-go-east-or-south-bend-not-both#IDComment69111356 http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/docs-office/2010/04/20/does-big-ten-expansion-lead-to-athletic-armageddon#IDComment69082802 Seven Pac 10 members are part of the AAU, with Washington State, Oregon State and Arizona State being those not in the prestigious academic organization. If the AAU matters, Syracuse would be preferable for the Big Ten than Pittsburgh because The 'Cuse is in the AAU while Pitt is not, in addition to gaining more access to new TV markets. (With Penn State, the Big Ten already has the Pittsburgh market.) At least as good a case could be made for a 14 member conference, leaving out Nebraska and Syracuse (or Pittsburgh), adding Notre Dame, Missouri and Rutgers, given the net additions of TV markets. The revenue per school could go up with these three rather than adding Nebraska and Syracuse as well. The advantage of Notre Dame would be its "subway fans" in New York. Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:34:13 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/docs-office/2010/04/20/does-big-ten-expansion-lead-to-athletic-armageddon#IDComment69082802 http://oldgo.gazlab.com.php5-15.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/blogs/the-hlog/2010/04/01/modest-proposals-for-how-to-make-a-96-team-ncaa-basketball-tournament-not-stink#IDComment65555783 Start over, Mike. With 96 teams, 32 play-in gameswill be required, not just 16. Thirty two teams would get byes; the other 64 would play for the remaining 32 places. Part of the logic (or justification if you prefer) is to have the best 64 teams in the cuntry play the first Thursday and Friday. The top 32 could earn their way into the tournament by having the best RPI rankings for the regular season. That would have been enough to get UNI in this year. along with Xavier and Butler. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 14:07:45 +0000 http://oldgo.gazlab.com.php5-15.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/blogs/the-hlog/2010/04/01/modest-proposals-for-how-to-make-a-96-team-ncaa-basketball-tournament-not-stink#IDComment65555783 http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/docs-office/2010/03/28/its-official-mccaffery-next-iowa-coach#IDComment64494131 Let's hope this turns out as successfully as the unpopular choice when Bowlsby hired Ferentz. Certainly McCaffery has recruiting credentials and contacts both in the East and, given his Notre Dame experience, in the Midwest. He also plays a more up tempo game with trapping and pressing. If he is successful here, perhaps the fact that he has a young family will also work in our favor, as it did with Ferentz. The Iowa City area is a great place to raise kids. We could have have a best case scenario with a winning coach who wants to stay. Now it is up to true Hawkeye fans to buy tickets. You can get a good location in Carver Hawkeye now. It may be a great place to watch great games in a few years. Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:43:44 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/docs-office/2010/03/28/its-official-mccaffery-next-iowa-coach#IDComment64494131 http://oldgo.gazlab.com.php5-15.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/sports/2009/12/03/isu-in-insight-talks-missouri-not-pleased#IDComment45762489 Do the Hawkeyes and Cyclones have a joint bowl destiny, one based on the possibility of people being interested in buying tickets for both Phoenix bowl games if an Iowa team plays in each? In truth thousands of fans in this state root for both teams, excepting the annual Cy-Hawk game. Perhaps this would give both an edge with the Insight Bowl-Fiesta Bowl people opting for Iowa State over Missouri and Iowa over Penn State because having Cy-Hawk fans in Phoenix for the two games would generate the maximum amount of income in the Valley of the Sun. The Board of Regents would be delighted, as should most people who live in Iowa. Fri, 4 Dec 2009 04:01:18 +0000 http://oldgo.gazlab.com.php5-15.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/sports/2009/12/03/isu-in-insight-talks-missouri-not-pleased#IDComment45762489