What if: Notre Dame football joins the Big Ten in 1999: What's the impact on college football?

So in 1999, Notre Dame seriously considered joining the Big Ten to become their 12th member. They rejected joining in favor of Independence and having basketball in the Big East. Eventually the Big Ten would expand, adding Nebraska in 2011 and later adding Maryland and Rutgers in 2014. So if the Irish join in 1999 what happens? Obviously there is a championship game, probably at first played in Chicago but later in Indianapolis once Lucas Oil is finished (though Old Soldier field might be a fun venue, or the Metrodome or the Silverdome before any of their replacements are built. )

Another factor is what happens to other leagues? Does the Big 12 remain? Who does the Pac 12 pursue? I think the ACC expands but is Boston College still the 12th team since in all honesty Miami and Virginia Tech are perfect targets. What about the Big East, and college basketball in general? There are a lot of possibilities here and it really might be fun to see what happens.
 
I think that Notre Dame will heavily dictate the next two additions to the league. Given their desire for a national footprint, I also think a 16-team superconference is likely.

Potential additions (in no particular order) include:

1. Navy (Notre Dame's annual rival) and a presence both nationally and in the DC market. This depends a lot as well on their success and other sports. Could be a football-only with a Catholic 7 school (probably Georgetown, Nova, or St. John's) for Olympic sports) which would be fascinating.
2. Georgia Tech: another traditional rival, home to the atlanta market, a great school overall, however, its far away
3. Boston College: the Holy War rival, Boston Presence (big for Notre Dame) and also excellent Hockey. Far-away
4. Nebraska: a Blue-Blood and older Notre Dame rival, also makes sense with the other schools. Not a big market however.
5. Army: Liek Navy, but with that sweet sweet NYC Market
6. Rutgers: like OTL, but Notre Dame will be demanding more of an east coast presence more than OTL powers that be.
7. Miami U: similar to Georgia Tech, but better football and worse academics, even worse travel, although they were used to this pre-ACC.
8: Maryland: same reasons per OTL, but NOtre Dame will likely want more of an east coast presense
9: Colorado: could be paired with Nebraska, give NOtre Dame a Mountain West window
10: Oklahoma/Texas: Blue blood for Notre Dame, and to pair with Nebraska
11: Virginia Tech, Duke, Virginia, UNC: great basketball for the networks and academic fits, more likely 15th-16th teams though. UNC is a traditional opponent for Notre Dame.
12: Steal 4 teams from the Pac 12 including Stanford, and USC, brutal travel but would make the Big 10 national and appease Notre Dame.

Notre Dame will fight hard against a 9-team schedule unless it picks all further expansion teams.
 
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I don't think Big 10 goes to 16, the financial incentives are not there and that is what drives expansion. Delaney is commissioner at this point, the big question is how long the NBC contract with the Irish is because Delaney was big on getting all the schools to buy into a joint game package to the networks that really let the Big rake in the cash.

One important factor to consider is that any addition has to be a good academic school as the Big schools also work together on securing grants and other academic dollars. And Notre Dame joining puts the Big 10 at an even 12 so I think there will be a bit of time before any new additions are made.

I do think the expansion ripples will be fairly minimal until the new TV revenues start moves happening and that is when things get interesting. For one if Nebraska still joins when they did OTL then they would be looked to be paired with 1 more team. The question is who? For one I do not think they would be from the PAC as that puts a lot of money pressure on non football and basketball sports for travel. Big 10 may end up getting just Maryland and not Rutgers, maybe someone else but someone over towards Penn State would seem likely to balance Nebraska on the far western side.
 
The problems with Nebraska are academic issues, lack of TV market, and Midwestern identity in a conference under Delaney looking to be national. OTL the BIG needed a national brand for the 12th team. ITL they have it. Ironically I feel like Rutgers is more likely than Maryland ITL, as Notre Dame will desperately want a chance to play where their alumni are: in NYC more than D.C.
 
Another thing to think about is whether the Big 10 leans on NBC and their experience. NBC will want to repalce their Notre Dame game and may go all in on the big ten if it gets its pick of the top 2 weekend games. A guaranteed game every saturday, or even 2, + NBC help not only producing the Big Ten Network but also distributing it on Comcast Basic or the NBC package are huge. There is also the potential of NBC sports becoming a hub for tier-2 (but more likely tier 3) games that ITL were/are on ESPN/FSI/EPSN2 and EPSNU.
 
I don't think Big 10 goes to 16, the financial incentives are not there and that is what drives expansion. Delaney is commissioner at this point, the big question is how long the NBC contract with the Irish is because Delaney was big on getting all the schools to buy into a joint game package to the networks that really let the Big rake in the cash.

One important factor to consider is that any addition has to be a good academic school as the Big schools also work together on securing grants and other academic dollars. And Notre Dame joining puts the Big 10 at an even 12 so I think there will be a bit of time before any new additions are made.

I do think the expansion ripples will be fairly minimal until the new TV revenues start moves happening and that is when things get interesting. For one if Nebraska still joins when they did OTL then they would be looked to be paired with 1 more team. The question is who? For one I do not think they would be from the PAC as that puts a lot of money pressure on non football and basketball sports for travel. Big 10 may end up getting just Maryland and not Rutgers, maybe someone else but someone over towards Penn State would seem likely to balance Nebraska on the far western side.

I know Missouri isn't quite the sports powerhouse, but its also not terrible in football or basketball. I could see them getting into the Big Ten to balance Nebraska. Plus, unlike say Kansas or Oklahoma, there isn't an instate rival to screw things up. Missouri could leave when they want. The thing is, if the Big 10 goes to 12, does the Big Twelve stay put? Colorado always seemed itching to go, and if they wanted to expand right away, maybe a team like Texas could join them since Utah wasn't as good until 2005 or so, and there's not really another team out that way that fits the academic profile of the Pac 12.
 
The problems with Nebraska are academic issues, lack of TV market, and Midwestern identity in a conference under Delaney looking to be national. OTL the BIG needed a national brand for the 12th team. ITL they have it. Ironically I feel like Rutgers is more likely than Maryland ITL, as Notre Dame will desperately want a chance to play where their alumni are: in NYC more than D.C.
I'm a nebraska fan myself and while the academic issues are a concern, the fan base is fairly widespread for such a small school. Even then, Nebraska's academic issues are kind of a flaw of the design of the university system in the state of Nebraska. A lot of the reason Nebraska got kicked out of the AAU is because the medical center is considered a separate campus (it is in Omaha btw, but until the 60's it was part of the university in Lincoln, but in 1969 or so, after they took over what today is known as UN-Omaha, the medical center became a separate campus, like the other campuses in Kearney and Omaha, in addition to Lincoln.) So honestly, Nebraska is a small midwestern school, but it was so dominant for so many years that it grew its fan base, and also, actual alumni left the state but kept being fans.
 
Kinda a tangent, but I gotta say Nebraska fans have the best "gear" in CFB. I LOVE the CornCob hats.

october-22-2016-nebraska-cornhuskers-fan-wearing-a-corn-cob-hat-the-picture-id618592840
 
I know Missouri isn't quite the sports powerhouse, but its also not terrible in football or basketball. I could see them getting into the Big Ten to balance Nebraska. Plus, unlike say Kansas or Oklahoma, there isn't an instate rival to screw things up. Missouri could leave when they want. The thing is, if the Big 10 goes to 12, does the Big Twelve stay put? Colorado always seemed itching to go, and if they wanted to expand right away, maybe a team like Texas could join them since Utah wasn't as good until 2005 or so, and there's not really another team out that way that fits the academic profile of the Pac 12.

I think Colorado would be likelier to pair with Nebraska than Missouri. Better academics and west coast connection (important for ND and nationally-focsued swofford). Also better rivalry with Nebraska. Missouri, while solid, isn't close enough to St. Louis I don't think. Also, I'm not sure Michigan, Mich State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, or NWestern recruit either foootball in Missouri or academically (hence NWestern's inclusion).
 
I think Colorado would be likelier to pair with Nebraska than Missouri. Better academics and west coast connection (important for ND and nationally-focsued swofford). Also better rivalry with Nebraska. Missouri, while solid, isn't close enough to St. Louis I don't think. Also, I'm not sure Michigan, Mich State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, or NWestern recruit either foootball in Missouri or academically (hence NWestern's inclusion).


Missouri wasn’t included on the old Bug Ten due to segregation. The Big Ten always had a small amount of black players before World War Two and many afterwards. Mizzou and Oklahoma were segregated fully and except for one player from Iowa State in the 20s, the rest had no black athletes though black students could still attend Nebraska or Kansas schools but were barred from activities.

That being said Nebraska might go PAC 12 with CU but that’s long road trips. Plus Nebraska never expressed interest in leaving until the late 2000s. Texas also was interested in the PAC 10 when the swc folded.
 
I think that if Notre Dame jumps at that time, the Big East may be the biggest loser. Pitt, West Virginia, and Syracuse, along with Boston College which was mentioned in a previous post, would make logical additions to the league and corner the big East Coast TV markets.

The Big East, which had just really started to have a football presence, would either have to try and raid the smaller programs in Conference USA, the MAC, or even play against the ACC, trying to steal teams like Duke and Wake Forrest that wouldn’t devalue the basketball product.

The Big XII, thankfully, would probably not be in the firing line as Kansas, in basketball, along with K-State, Nebraska, and Texas A&M would all be strong contenders in football. Oklahoma and Texas were in rebuilding mode but within 5 years, there would be back as players on the national stage. Maybe this brings TCU in early and with Colorado still out there, maybe BYU leaves their independence and hops in to the Big12, now the Big 14.
 
This screws Uconn earlier then they got. Since there are at this time just getting there football up and running in Division 1A.
 
I think that if Notre Dame jumps at that time, the Big East may be the biggest loser. Pitt, West Virginia, and Syracuse, along with Boston College which was mentioned in a previous post, would make logical additions to the league and corner the big East Coast TV markets.

The Big East, which had just really started to have a football presence, would either have to try and raid the smaller programs in Conference USA, the MAC, or even play against the ACC, trying to steal teams like Duke and Wake Forrest that wouldn’t devalue the basketball product.

The Big XII, thankfully, would probably not be in the firing line as Kansas, in basketball, along with K-State, Nebraska, and Texas A&M would all be strong contenders in football. Oklahoma and Texas were in rebuilding mode but within 5 years, there would be back as players on the national stage. Maybe this brings TCU in early and with Colorado still out there, maybe BYU leaves their independence and hops in to the Big12, now the Big 14.

Pitt and WVU add nothing TV wise. BC gets Boston, but I doubt Syracuse gets NYC. Potentially you could get BC and Maryland, or Maryland and UVA. I think that the idea of Tobacco Road and the bball powerhouses moving to the Big East has more potential than people think. With Notre Dame and other football powers likely gone, the Big East will likely go all-in on hoops earlier.

Big12 would likely be uneffected in such a scenario, as you said.
 
Missouri wasn’t included on the old Bug Ten due to segregation. The Big Ten always had a small amount of black players before World War Two and many afterwards. Mizzou and Oklahoma were segregated fully and except for one player from Iowa State in the 20s, the rest had no black athletes though black students could still attend Nebraska or Kansas schools but were barred from activities.

That being said Nebraska might go PAC 12 with CU but that’s long road trips. Plus Nebraska never expressed interest in leaving until the late 2000s. Texas also was interested in the PAC 10 when the swc folded.

Din't know either about Missouri or Texas.
 
Pitt and WVU add nothing TV wise. BC gets Boston, but I doubt Syracuse gets NYC. Potentially you could get BC and Maryland, or Maryland and UVA. I think that the idea of Tobacco Road and the bball powerhouses moving to the Big East has more potential than people think. With Notre Dame and other football powers likely gone, the Big East will likely go all-in on hoops earlier.

Big12 would likely be uneffected in such a scenario, as you said.

Cuse gets you NYC for sure. Especially in basketball. MSG is the unofficial home to two non NYC school's Cuse and Uconn. when ether plays it's a sellout and even if they are playing a NYC school odds are there is more fans for them then there opponent
 
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