Big Ten Football: Options for expansion to 16, 18, 20, or 24 teams
By Ryan Kay
Maryland member of the Big Ten Conference
. . Terrapins . . team. 824.
AAU Member: Yes
Top 30 Revenue School: No (#45)
Top 100 Academic National University: Yes (#58)
Top 20 tv/streaming market: Yes (#9)
Criteria Score Card: 3/4
Rutgers member of the Big Ten Conference
AAU Member: Yes
Top 30 Revenue School: No (#61)
Top 100 Academic National University: Yes (#63)
Top 20 tv/streaming market: Yes (#1)
Criteria Score Card: 3/4
Let’s start off with the fact that Rutgers is a 23-minute drive to New York City which is the largest tv/streaming market in the U.S. Both Rutgers and Maryland meet three of the four criteria that the Big Ten is looking for when adding a school to its conference. Also being an AAU member matters as according to the AAU website, “Federal agencies rely on universities to perform critical research in the national interest – AAU universities perform the majority of that research. $25.6 billion in federally funded basic research, or 61% of the total amount funded, is performed by faculty at AAU universities.”
Another factor is tv/streaming revenue funding and according to a si.com report, expanding to the east coast was a very important factor as the population in the midwest continues to fight a sluggish population growth problem.
Adding Rutgers and Maryland who are both in a top 10 tv/revenue market, helped the Big Ten negotiate a six-year, 2.64 billion media deal in 2017 with ESPN and Fox Sports. There are other factors as well.
Rutgers participated in the first-ever official college football game in 1869 and the Big Ten puts a big emphasis on history. Maryland has the backing of the founder of Under Armour who was a walk-on to its football team. There are other reasons why Maryland and Rutgers were chosen and why they both fit the mold that the Big Ten is looking for in adding members to its conference in comparison to the 16 already mentioned schools.
The argument is not that the Rutgers and Maryland football programs benefitted the Big Ten in making it a more competitive and top-tier football conference. However, we are talking about universities that have football programs and not teams moving divisions in the National Football League. People may argue otherwise but the Big Ten seems to not be diverting from its iron-clad blueprint when it comes to adding schools to its conference.
Now let’s take a look at four schools that the Big Ten would more than likely love to add to its conference but the schools have shown little interest in joining the Big Ten conference.