The Chicago Tribune published an article earlier this week outlining the strong hand that Rutgers has with regards to being one of the schools, if not THE school, the Big Ten considers for expansion.

The Tribune also published another article that listed a few more of the likely names the Big Ten is considering.

Rutgers is not a new name, as myself and others have been bandying them about for the better part of the last decade as a logical choice for future Big Ten expansion, and this was back when Rutgers football was still a joke.

It’s not a joke any more, and the first link above sheds light on a few key aspects that you should file away, including this snippet:

“During Rutgers’ football nirvana season of 2006, its game against Louisville on ESPN drew an 8.1 rating in the New York market, a “phenomenal number,” according to one TV executive. That night, the Empire State Building was lit up in scarlet.”

That is a ‘Yo!’ right there.  It’s a huge number for that market and that sport.  New York is a college basketball and professional sports town.  But there are a lot of Rutgers grads, and everybody loves a local story about a winner.  See the Des Moines area two years ago when Drake was having its miracle season in basketball.

Another key point from the article:  “Why Rutgers? It doesn’t hurt that the New Brunswick, N.J., campus is less than 40 miles from midtown Manhattan. Or that the state of New Jersey alone would be the nation’s fourth-largest television market — after New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.  The New York market has 7.5 million TV homes, and the Big Ten Network would love to get them on expanded basic cable rather than forcing subscribers to pay extra via a sports tier.“

Add to this Rutger’s inclusion in the Academic Research Fraternity known as the Association of American Universities, upgrades to its football stadium that now seats over 52,000, the new Meadowlands nearby that can host games against Penn State or other huge draws from the Big Ten, the upgrades that are taking place to their basketball facility…you get the picture.

That, and they would not say no.  No how, no way.  Rutgers would be given a chance to buy in to $20+ million dollars per year in television revenues from the Big Ten Network, and they would be bringing something to the party.

Rutgers is probably strong enough and brings enough to the table financially and academically to be the LONE school the Big Ten would bring in, making it 12 teams.  Unless Notre Dame or Texas wants to join the league, and there are no indications they want to do that, I really believe Rutgers will become the 12th member of the Big Ten conference sometime by the middle portion of this decade.

The bigger question to me is this:  will they be the only addition?

If the Big Ten looks to expand by 3 schools, with Rutgers being one, then I think Missouri is the next school on the list.  You bring in the state of Missouir and their TV markets in Kansas City and St. Louis, the second largest TV market the Big 12 has, plus the state borders Iowa and Illinois.  You have built in natural rivalries there, and Missouri has a stadium that seats over 60,000, a new basketball facility and a good program as well as a wrestling program, baseball and more. They are also a part of the academic consortium cited above.

The third school?  Well, since you have added two schools with solid financial television & academic appeal to the league, you might be able to take a selfish flier here…and go for a school that would bring a big historical pop on the football field.  Let’s be honest here; as it relates to the financial impact of the Big Ten Network, football is the bell cow by a large margin.

There is another football school that borders two current Big Ten states, and that is Nebraska.  They are a traditional power with a national name and draw.  If you have Rutgers and Missouri on board, you can have the luxury of inviting the Cornhuskers to the party.

Below is a hypothetical set of division the Big Ten might look at given the scenarios I have outlined.  Steve Deace and I put these together.  Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

A few points before the debate begins…one question you might have is geography..don’t sweat that.  All of the current Big Ten teams travel to play the other teams, even though Iowa is over 800 miles away from State College, Pa.

It will be easier to fly into Rutgers than it is to State College…and Rutgers is 45 minutes from Manhattan. There doesn’t have to be a geographical alignment here, and the Big Ten will not make the same mistake the Big 12 made by breaking up the Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry.  Thus, Michigan, Oiho State and Michigan State are going to be the same division.  Book that one.  Why?  The Michigan schools will want to stay together and neither Michigan nor Ohio State will want the prospect of playing against one another in the regular season as a hypothetical out of division rivalry game and possibly play again in the Big Ten title game.

Penn State will be in the opposite division, as will the next two strongest football programs in the league, which are Iowa, Wisconsin, in addition to being in the same division as Rutgers.

ADDED NOTE:  Nebraska is also a member of the Association of American Universities

Tags: Big Ten, Big Ten Football, Hawkeye Nation, hawkeyenation.com