Recent Michigan graduate Brandon Graham attempts to bring down Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

Growing up in the Midwest, I was raised on Big Ten athletics.  Physical, grind-it-out football and fundamental, defensive battles in basketball.

The Big Ten conference has remained intact, besides Penn State joining in 1989, since 1950. But conference officials are in discussions about allowing four teams from the Big East, and one from the Big 12 to join the Big Ten.

According to a story in the Chicago Tribune, the five schools evaluated by the firm William Blair & Company were Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Missouri, Syracuse and Rutgers.

The Tribune said the Chicago-based firm looked at whether the addition would generate enough revenue to make expansion worthwhile.

This expansion cannot and will not happen. It would be pointless.

I had been a proponent of the conference adding one team so there can be two divisions of six, in order to have a conference championship game in football. But adding five schools would be worthless. It would be the Big East of the Midwest.

First of all, Notre Dame will never go for it. The Big Ten extended an offer for them to join in football in 1999 and ND vehemently denied, citing their television contract with CBS, and the fact that they can go to a BCS game if they simply win nine games in a season.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, told the Tribune in December that the Irish valued their independence in football, and that "our strong preference is to remain the way we are."

Missouri would be an awful addition to the Big Ten because of traveling. They are in the Big 12 for a reason. No one wants to travel 600 miles for a conference game.

I would not mind adding Syracuse for basketball, but they would be at the bottom of the Big Ten every year in football, and would not help the weak reputation of Big Ten football. The last time SU was relevant, they had five-time pro-bowler Donovan McNabb at QB in the mid '90s.

Excluding a run a couple years ago, Rutgers has not been relevant in anything since before I was born. They would not be a good addition to any sport except for maybe women's basketball where Coach Vivian Stringer can continue to run her mouth.

Pittsburgh is the only team I would be happy with joining the Big Ten. They are at the top of the Big East every year in both major sports, close in proximity to the Big Ten schools and they play the way that most Big Ten teams play; physically on both sides of the ball.

The Big Ten has not been an elite conference for a long time. It has gone without a football national championship since 2003 when Ohio State won, (because of a garbage pass interference call) and a basketball championship since 2000, when Mateen Cleaves led Michigan State to the national title.

Adding four or five, less than amazing schools, just to bring in some more money is wrong, greedy and will ruin the only thing the Big Ten has: tradition

Photo by scott stuart

 

By Josh Berenter

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