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USC & UCLA

There is less than zero chance if a conference was offered their choice of Wisconsin or Penn State that they would not pick Penn State. Other than that foolishness the rankings are relatively interesting.
Those rankings must have borrowed Wrestlestat's algorithms for Wisconsin to be ahead of PSU, USC and UCLA.
 
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Doesn't sound like ND is coming
The funny part of that is that Purdue and Indiana will make about that same amount just by being in the BIG and they won't have to share any of it with their opponent. There must be a belief by the ND decision makers that they will have an easier time remaining "elite relevant" as an independent by avoiding tough conference schedules and playoffs and by setting their own schedule if they are willing to remain status quo.
 
The funny part of that is that Purdue and Indiana will make about that same amount just by being in the BIG and they won't have to share any of it with their opponent. There must be a belief by the ND decision makers that they will have an easier time remaining "elite relevant" as an independent by avoiding tough conference schedules and playoffs and by setting their own schedule if they are willing to remain status quo.
Why doesn't the Big Ten tell their schedule makers 'no mas' , when it comes to scheduling Notre Dame in any and all sports. Unfortunately, even the Big Ten will bow at the Notre Dame alter of big TV revenue so that they can't use that method to force their hand.
 
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Why doesn't the Big Ten tell their schedule makers 'no mas' , when it comes to scheduling Notre Dame in any and all sports. Unfortunately, even the Big Ten will bow at the Notre Dame alter of big TV revenue so that they can't use that method to force their hand.
Why do we care if a team joins a conference or not and if they play conference teams? The more rigid the conference schedules are and the more rigid the conference alignments are the less able teams are to mix it up and benefit from up or down years. If the Big 10 was not so schedule crazy with wrestling, we would not have had to go years without seeing Iowa and PSU in a dual, which would have been awesome to see.
Rivalries and revenues can be managed with a little more flexibility and a less centralized approach. IMHO
 
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For one, because Notre Dame is a member of the B1G for men's hockey. Has been that way for a few years now.
I would be all for kicking their asses out and offering someone else a chance to be in the conference solely for hockey like Hopkins is for lacrosse. Let ND rot into irrelevance and then come begging the conference to get in and then force them to make every conceivable concession. Arrogant ****s.
 
I would be all for kicking their asses out and offering someone else a chance to be in the conference solely for hockey like Hopkins is for lacrosse. Let ND rot into irrelevance and then come begging the conference to get in and then force them to make every conceivable concession. Arrogant ****s.
I take it you don't follow men's hockey or have PSU season tickets. That'd be expected on a wrestling board.

I appreciate Notre Dame as a quality in conference competitor much more than many of PSU's non-conference home opponents. I don't know what constitutes ND's arrogance.
 
I take it you don't follow men's hockey or have PSU season tickets. That'd be expected on a wrestling board.

I appreciate Notre Dame as a quality in conference competitor much more than many of PSU's non-conference home opponents. I don't know what constitutes ND's arrogance.
I take it you don’t know or have ever talked to a Notre Dame fan at any point in your life.

If we need another hockey school we can invite the University of Denver or Minnesota-Duluth to join and not have to put up with ND’s attempts to extort the conference for preferential scheduling or demands for an oversized share of the conference profits.
 
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you don’t know or have ever talked to a Notre Dame fan at any point in your life.
You'd be wrong there.

College friend had an older brother who graduated from Notre Dame. Niece's husband graduated from Notre Dame.

There are passionate fans everywhere.

I see nothing wrong with a school trying to leverage its perception of its value during negotiations. The conference leadership would have to see it as win-win.

I could see where fans of existing conference members might suffer damaged egos a bit, should their conference accept such a deal.
 
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Why do we care if a team joins a conference or not and if they play conference teams? The more rigid the conference schedules are and the more rigid the conference alignments are the less able teams are to mix it up and benefit from up or down years. If the Big 10 was not so schedule crazy with wrestling, we would not have had to go years without seeing Iowa and PSU in a dual, which would have been awesome to see.
Rivalries and revenues can be managed with a little more flexibility and a less centralized approach. IMHO
I think the answer is simply remaining elite and of course money. Elite comes down to football bragging rights. Since all the top programs regardless of conference affiliation fill their stadium seats it comes down to television money. Point being BIG was hoping to hit $1.0 billion in annual tv revenue before UCLA and USC. Now recent media projections are for as high as $1.25 billion by simply adding those two. I would imagine adding ND and another top footbal program would realize a similar bump up in revenue. If those assumptions are in the ballpark, the revenues per school jump as follows:
14 @ $1 billion= $71,428,571/yr
16 @ $1.25= $78,125,000/yr
18 @ $1.5= $83,333,333/yr

These extra dollars are critical for the many other unprofitable sports programs.

Of note - of the current 14 schools only 3 offer all 14 mens sports programs (PSU, tOSU & Mich). Of the 14 mens sports only 4 are found at all 14 schools (football, basketball, golf & wrestling). As a side note at the 14 schools all 14 womens sports programs are found at 6 universities.
 
Since each school is getting an equal share of the forecasted tv revenue, I would think they should all be required to offer the same sports programs. Why should school A have 14 women's sports and school B has 8 and spends less money, yet earns an equal share?
 
Since each school is getting an equal share of the forecasted tv revenue, I would think they should all be required to offer the same sports programs. Why should school A have 14 women's sports and school B has 8 and spends less money, yet earns an equal share?
Be careful what you wish for there. Recipe for forced downsizing.
 
Since each school is getting an equal share of the forecasted tv revenue, I would think they should all be required to offer the same sports programs. Why should school A have 14 women's sports and school B has 8 and spends less money, yet earns an equal
Some sports make little sense in certain locals. Rowing makes a ton of sense in Madison where the Badgers have had a varsity team for many years. It’s popular and they have ample access to calm water. Penn State has only a club rowing team because anyone who excels at rowing stays down in Philly. The State College area is not blessed with large bodies of water. Point is that there are reasons for selecting what sports are offered at each individual institution. The Big Ten is run by self serving power mongers and should be kept far away from most decision making! USC and/or UCLA will have wrestling if those schools deem it beneficial.
 
Penn State has only a club rowing team because anyone who excels at rowing stays down in Philly. The State College area is not blessed with large bodies of water.
UC Santa Barbara crew trains at Lake Cachuma, which is 45 min from campus -- about the same distance as PSU is from the Susquehanna River in Lock Haven.

Also, Bucknell has varsity crew, men's and women's teams.
 
I have this picture in my mind with Cael as the coxswain and the wrestling team seated by weights on the boat for some offseason conditioning/competition. Unfortunately there are only 8 seats for rowers. So just like wrestling, only 8 scoring rowers. 😉
 
That never occurred to me. A 2nd+ round pick may stay for his senior year cause NIL pays more. Fascinating.
It was rumored that Reggie Bush took a pay cut when he got drafted. Now, everything that he got is legal. Last year, Alabama’s starting Qb made a million dollars before ever playing a down of college football.

The era of collegiate athletics is over for Bball and football players. It won’t be long till they won’t even have to go to class. Which, to me, is why it’s so damn important for sports like wrestling to have a seat at the college sports table. When revenue sports become more and more glorified and sought after by television networks, non revenue sports get cut. I hate to spell gloom and doom, but can anyone possibly think AD’s won’t look at the bottom line and make some “hard choices”.

Most people see NIL as a benefit to the athletes, finally getting paid for their years of indentured servitude, ( heavy sarcasm there) I see it as a threat to the revenue loosing athletes…which is the majority of college athletes. The rich get richer and the poor get cut. USC and UCLA need to add wrestling, if for no other reason than it shows the sport still holds some value.
 
RU remains the scarlet headed step child of the b16

Perhaps based on the numbers from this recent Samford U study of total football fans (eyeballs on tv and seats in stadium) another program has that honor. In general it passes the smell test but there are more than a few surprises (it may have been conducted by a Duke grad however - see #11, who’s ex went to U Mississippi - see #63)
Rank​
CollegeTotal fans
1​
Ohio State University6,277,707
2​
University of Alabama4,136,400
3​
Penn State University3,970,925
4​
University of Notre Dame3,510,694
5​
University of Texas-Austin3,136,464
6​
Michigan State2,938,450
7​
University of Michigan2,877,610
8​
University of Georgia2,835,217
9​
Florida State University2,751,432
10​
UCLA2,724,802
11​
Duke University2,580,744
12​
Louisiana State University2,309,126
13​
University of Florida2,136,456
14​
Auburn University2,030,020
15​
Texas A&M University1,952,688
16​
University of North Carolina1,854,868
17​
University of Illinois1,719,596
18​
University of Oklahoma1,698,743
19​
University of Wisconsin1,606,155
20​
Arizona State University1,541,062
21​
University of Southern California1,508,953
22​
University of Kentucky1,501,519
23​
Boston College1,498,702
24​
Georgia Tech1,489,509
25​
Clemson University1,484,940
26​
University of Minnesota1,374,731
27​
University of Tennessee1,335,659
28​
University of Iowa1,295,681
29​
University of Nebraska1,175,391
30​
University of Miami1,112,535
31​
University of Missouri1,101,638
32​
University of Arkansas1,051,334
33​
University of Kansas1,046,423
34​
University of Oregon966,225
35​
Stanford University946,436
36​
Syracuse University905,001
37​
University of Maryland877,659
38​
Indiana University839,930
39​
University of Washington835,242
40​
West Virginia University810,673
41​
Baylor University809,719
42​
Oklahoma State University768,419
43​
University of Arizona767,855
44​
University of California-Berkeley759,663
45​
Kansas State University737,036
46​
Iowa State University710,915
47​
Oregon State University697,516
48​
North Carolina State University692,097
49​
University of Virginia625,450
50​
Purdue University562,752
51​
Rutgers University552,811
52​
Mississippi State University516,335
53​
University of Pittsburgh495,754
54​
University of South Carolina429,618
55​
Northwestern University401,672
56​
Virginia Tech390,711
57​
University of Utah368,948
58​
Washington State University311,262
59​
Texas Tech University271,168
60​
University of Louisville270,065
61​
University of Colorado268,163
62​
Texas Christian University214,709
63​
University of Mississippi136,243
64​
Vanderbilt University128,195
65​
Wake Forest University120,544
 
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Some sports make little sense in certain locals. Rowing makes a ton of sense in Madison where the Badgers have had a varsity team for many years. It’s popular and they have ample access to calm water. Penn State has only a club rowing team because anyone who excels at rowing stays down in Philly. The State College area is not blessed with large bodies of water. Point is that there are reasons for selecting what sports are offered at each individual institution. The Big Ten is run by self serving power mongers and should be kept far away from most decision making! USC and/or UCLA will have wrestling if those schools deem it beneficial.
Actually, the reason PSU does not have womens rowing is because it was deemed a political hot spot to build the ice arena and not promote womens Ice Hockey. When mens hockey was elevated, Title IX required an equal opportunity addition and Womens Rowing was preferred. Even to the point of building the practice / training rowing pools. Among the four sports considered was also Rugby and ….wait for it….synchronized figure skating.

The latter would have been the sport to have if PSU’s meeting with the NCAA had plans to elevate that sport to varsity status. That would have allowed a sport to both take advantage of the ice sheets in Pegula and have some reasonable paid attendance. It was the first choice. The NCAA did not have plans to do this and attention shifted to rowing.

after much discussion, it was decided the heat would have been too much to build an ice arena and only have one team use it.
 
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Actually, the reason PSU does not have womens rowing is because it was deemed a political hot spot to build the ice arena and not promote womens Ice Hockey. When mens hockey was elevated, Title IX required an equal opportunity addition and Womens Rowing was preferred. Even to the point of building the practice / training rowing pools. Among the four sports considered was also Rugby and ….wait for it….synchronized figure skating.

The latter would have been the sport to have if PSU’s meeting with the NCAA had plans to elevate that sport to varsity status. That would have allowed a sport to both take advantage of the ice sheets in Pegula and have some reasonable paid attendance. It was the first choice. The NCAA did not have plans to do this and attention shifted to rowing.

after much discussion, it was decided the heat would have been too much to build an ice arena and only have one team use it.
I had never heard this! My daughter competed for six years at the national level as a synchro skater. Last I checked, synchro is club level only- I didn’t know it was an NCAA sanctioned sport.
 
I had never heard this! My daughter competed for six years at the national level as a synchro skater. Last I checked, synchro is club level only- I didn’t know it was an NCAA sanctioned sport.
It isn’t. TC met with the NCAA to see if they would or planned to elevate to varsity status. If the NCAA said yes, we would be watching Sync Skating in Pegula today. They said no.
 
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