Big Ten Football: Options for expansion to 16, 18, 20, or 24 teams
By Ryan Kay
Some Schools look good on paper but when you take a closer look, they don’t fit any of the criteria that the Big Ten conference is looking for in terms of adding schools to their conference.
Kansas State from the Big 12 Conference
823. . . . Wildcats . . team
AAU Member: No
Top 30 Revenue School: No (#44)
Top 100 Academic National University: No (#170)
Top 20 tv/streaming market: No
Criteria Score Card: 0/4
Kansas State goes zero for four in the above criteria and even though the football team like West Virginia is relevant and the Wildcats are close to Louisville in generating revenue, they are similar to Oregon State in many ways and it is very unlikely that the Wildcats get an invite to join the Big Ten conference.
Washington State from the PAC 12 Conference
team. 846. . . . Cougars .
AAU Member: No
Top 30 Revenue School: No (#47)
Top 100 Academic National University: No (#170)
Top 20 tv/streaming market: No
Criteria Score Card: 0/4
Washington State is very similar to the other above-mentioned schools. It is in the PAC 12 helps, but the University of Washington has a lot more of the above four criteria covered where the Cougars have none. Not being an AAU member and not being a top 150 ranked national university hurts their academic resume and being in the eastern side of the state of Washington doesn’t help it be near a major tv market either.
Texas Tech from the Big 12 Conference
874. . . . Red Raiders . . team
AAU Member: No
Top 30 Revenue School: No (#42)
Top 100 Academic National University: No (#217)
Top 20 tv/streaming market: No
Criteria Score Card: 0/4
Texas Tech has a very passionate fan base like West Virginia and the Red Raiders and Mountaineers have many things in common. Texas Tech has had its moments in football and its basketball program has done very well of late. However, the academics in comparison to Big Ten schools are not on the same level and the city of Lubbock is the number 145 tv/media market. Being in the state of Texas helps but going zero for four in the criteria that the Big Ten is looking for is not great.
Oklahoma State from the Big 12
. Cowboys . . team. 856. .
AAU Member: No
Top 30 Revenue School: No (#32)
Top 100 Academic National University: No (#187)
Top 20 tv/streaming market: No
Criteria Score Card: 0/4
The biggest shocker of the group of the above-mentioned schools is Oklahoma State. They are not an AAU member and they are not a top 170 academically ranked school. Out of the 65 Power 5 schools, they are only ranked in the middle of revenue-generating schools at 32. The nearest closest market city is Oklahoma City which is over an hour’s drive and only ranked 44 in the Nielsen tv market rankings. Yes, the Cowboys football program has had success as well as their basketball program but the Big Ten conference is very selective in who it is thinking about adding to the conference. Unfortunately, Oklahoma State is better suited for the SEC possibly if the SEC were to expand to 24 teams.