Report: The 10 Told To Expand

((HT: Chicago Tribune/Greenstein))

In a report that surprises no one, the Big 10 Conference has been recommended to expand... the rest of the civilized world going, at this point, "Well, duh..."

In Greenstein's article a Chicago-based research firm, "William Blair and Company," got the cush assignment to tell the 10 to chase after another team. As a result, it would round up member institutions to an even number ((12)), allow for divisional match-ups, a football title game, and expanded revenues...

Like, $15-million a year in expanded revenues...

Missouri, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Rutgers were looked at as possible matches. But the list may have gone more far-reaching than that...

Barry Alvarez, in the article, is said to have told Wisconsin's athletic board on February 19 that the league had hired a firm to research 15 potential candidates.

Alvarez said in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "They talked about academics. They talked about size. They talked about size of their arenas. They talked about attendance. They talked about the populace in that specific area."

The HQ's even money is on Rutgers, even with a reported $5-million buyout from the Big East Conference. It puts the 10 in the number one media market in the country with an Eastern Division that would include Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State, and Indiana...

The West would then be: Purdue, Northwestern, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin...

Not bad, eh...???

No brainer... here's highlights from last year's Penn State-TOSU game...
((HT: ABC Sports/Big Ten Conference))