Big Ten (11) now (12)

Welcome Nebraska. I wonder if we will finally split into an east and west and actually have a championship game for the Big Ten now.

I'm still waiting on Mizzou.

i think they are going to move as well. from the sounds of it on espn, nebraska was a deal breaker for a lot of teams.

The Big Ten said now that Nebraska is a new member (starting in 2011) they are going to put expansion on pause now for 11-18 months.

I saw as well that Kansas and Missouri are being courted by the Mountain West Conference.

jesus, ncaa sports are getting all sorts of messed up

Nebraska getting the expansion instead of Notre Dame was the Gophers worst nightmare.

The conference being at 12, they will likely split into 2 divisions of 6 teams each, likely east and west.

That would mean the East would have Ohio St., Mich, Penn St., Mich St., Purdue and Indiana.

The West would have the Gophers, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Northwestern.

The Gophers records in recent times vs Wis, Iowa, and Illinois is not good at all... the Gophers lifetime record vs Nebraska is about as bad as it could possibly be... that leaves only Northwestern as a team they have beaten regularly. Other teams they have played decent against in the Big Ten the past decade... Purdue, Mich St., Indiana and (surprisingly) Penn St. would no longer be a regular on their schedule.

In otherwords... kiss any hopes of a good conference record goodbye!

so much for the Little Brown Jug game and the Governers Bell

Those games just wouldn't be every year anymore is all.

they aren't right now anyways with the rotation that goes on (I think it is 2 on 2 off). I would HOPE (read:PRAY) that they don't split up the conference and just keep it as a rotational thing.

The key with getting to twelve teams is getting a conference championship game, and to have that you need 2 divisions to decide who plays in that game.

So much for the Big Ten putting expansion on pause...

From te Strib...

E-mail hints at Texas in Big Ten addition talks

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - An e-mail sent by the president of Ohio State to the Big Ten's commissioner hints that the conference is pursuing Texas as part of its expansion plans.

Ohio State president Gordon Gee told Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany in an April 20 e-mail that Gee had spoken with University of Texas president Bill Powers. In the e-mail obtained by The Associated Press, Gee writes that Powers would welcome a call to say they have a "Tech" problem.

It's not clear what that means, but Texas Tech is one of Texas' rivals in the Big 12 Conference.

In another e-mail, Gee told the Big Ten commissioner that the conference controls its own destiny, but must move swiftly. The e-mails were first reported by The Columbus Dispatch.

Ohio State said Friday it would not comment beyond what was in the e-mails, and that Gee was out of state and not available.

The conference got the attention of all college sports when it announced that it was considering adding to its current 11 members, a move that could lead to the expansion or demise of other leagues. The Big Ten's timetable for exploring expansion is said to reach into 2011.

Delany said last month that gaining a foothold in the South and extending the reach of the league's lucrative television network were the two biggest factors as it decides whether to expand.

Texas would fit nicely into both those goals. The university's football and men's basketball teams are perennial national contenders and boast huge followings that would benefit the Big Ten Network.

The Big 12 wrapped up its spring meetings Friday in Kansas City, Mo. Commissioner Dan Beebe said steps were being taken to retain its members, but he did not say school presidents had provided a uniform commitment to stay in the league. Powers, the Texas president, did not appear at a news conference with Beebe as expected.

The Big Ten's network allows the conference to generate more than any other conference in the country. Some reports have said that Big Ten paid out around $22 million to each school in 2008.

Gee, a proponent of expansion, wrote in an e-mail to Delany on April 19 that the conference can't wait too long to make its plans.

"I am of the mind that we control our destiny at the moment, but the window will soon close on us. Agility and swiftness of foot is our friend," Gee wrote.

Delany responded within an hour: "We are fast tracking it but need to know the $ and observe contracts. Also need to make sure we leverage this to increase chance of hr additions."

Gee also asked Delany how he could help. Delany said he would call him to test some ideas.

The next day, Gee told Delany he had talked with the Texas president.

Here's a snapshot of Nebraska vs. the Big Ten:

Nebraska vs. Illinois
Total meetings: 10
Series: Nebraska leads 7-2-1
Last: 1986 (Nebraska beat Illinois 59-14 in Champaign)

Nebraska vs. Indiana
Total meetings: 19
Series: Indiana leads 9-7-3
Last: 1978 (Nebraska beat Indiana 69-17 in Bloomington)

Nebraska vs. Iowa
Total meetings: 41
Series: Nebraska leads 26-12-3
Last: 2000 (Nebraska beat Iowa 42-13 in Lincoln)

Nebraska vs. Michigan
Total meetings: 6
Series: Michigan leads 3-2-1
Last: 2005 (Nebraska beat Michigan 32-28 in the Alamo Bowl)

Nebraska vs. Michigan State
Total meetings: 5
Series: Nebraska leads 5-0
Last: 2003 (Nebraska beat Michigan State 17-3 in the Alamo Bowl)

Nebraska vs. Minnesota
Total meetings: 51
Series: Minnesota leads 29-20-2
Last: 1990 (Nebraska beat Minnesota 56-0 in Lincoln)

Nebraska vs. Northwestern
Total meetings: 4
Series: Nebraska leads 3-1
Last: 2000 (Nebraska beat Northwestern 66-17 in the Alamo Bowl)

Nebraska vs. Ohio State
Total meetings: 2
Series: Ohio State leads 2-0
Last: 1956 (Ohio State beat Nebraska 34-7 in Columbus)

Nebraska vs. Penn State
Total meetings: 13
Series: Penn State leads 7-6
Last: 2003 (Nebraska beat Penn State 18-10 in Lincoln)

Nebraska vs. Purdue
Total meetings: 1
Series: Purdue leads 1-0
Last: 1958 (Purdue beat Nebraska 28-0 in West Lafayette)

Nebraska vs. Wisconsin
Total meetings: 5
Series: Nebraska leads 3-2
Last: 1974 (Wisconsin beat Nebraska 21-20 in Madison

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also, after seeing on ESPN, Texas might be better off staying in the Big 12 (10) because with Nebraska leaving all the other teams will get $20 million extra in tv contracts

I'm doing the happy dance... only because I am a Nebraska football fan. Finally I can say my team has a real chance of winning the Big 10!!