Big Ten Football: Options for expansion to 16, 18, 20, or 24 teams
By Ryan Kay
Let’s take a look at the schools from the Power Five conferences who would more than likely accept an invitation to the Big Ten but is unlikely to receive an invitation if the Big Ten were to expand to only 16,18, 20, or even 24 schools.
We will look at if the power five schools are a member of the Association of American Association, a top 30 revenue-generating school according to the pennlive.com report, a top 100 nationally ranked university according to the 2021 U.S. News & World Report Best National Universities rankings, and is the university located near a top 20 tv/streaming market according to the Nielsen DMA 2021 rankings.
West Virginia from the Big 12 conference
Mountaineers . . team. 877. . .
AAU Member: No
Top 30 Revenue School: No (#65)
Top 100 National University: No (#241)
Top 20 tv/streaming market: No
Criteria Score Card: 0/4
West Virginia has a respectable football program and as an extra bonus, their basketball team has done well overall as of late but the Mountaineers go zero for four on the criteria that the Big Ten conference is looking at when adding schools to their conference.
Oregon State from the PAC 12 conference
. . . Beavers . . team. 832
AAU Member: No
Top 30 Revenue School: No (#58)
Top 100 Academic National University: No (#153)
Top 20 tv/streaming market: No
Criteria Score Card: 0/4
Oregon State fairs a little bit better than West Virginia and the Beavers are part of a more stable conference but Oregon State goes zero for four on the criteria. The Beavers also don’t have the same resume as their in-state rivals in Oregon. Like the Mountainers, Oregon State’s basketball team is on the rise but their football team has not been competitive of late in the PAC 12.
Louisville from the ACC conference
. . Cardinals . . team. 849.
AAU Member: No
Top 30 Revenue School: No (#40)
Top 100 Academic National University: No (#176)
Top 20 tv/streaming market: No
Criteria Score Card: 0/4
Louisville fairs a little bit better than Oregon State and West Virginia as they are a higher revenue-generating school with a storied basketball program but going zero for four in the above-mentioned criteria makes it highly unlikely that the Cardinals get an invite to join the Big Ten conference.
The city of Louisville is the number 49 ranked tv/streaming market according to Nielsen rankings with cities which may be surprising to some and does not help the Cardinals in their possible pursuit of joining the Big Ten.