View From Bennett Avenue

Is it me or did the Big Ten overestimate itself regarding conference expansion? They were supposedly wielding the great prestige associated with Big Ten football for a century of play and the money brought in by large stadiums, key bowl tie-ins and the Big Ten Network. And let's not kid ourselves, money would be the main reason for any program to dump schools it has a bond with to go become a second fiddle in the Big Ten. We have witnessed it before with Boston College leaving a Big East conference they helped establish for a bottom line increase in funds. So for a few weeks we heard about possible overtures to Missouri, Nebraska, Rutgers, et al, with an invitation supposedly in the works for Notre Dame, a school that fits the list of requirements to a tee (tradition, location, publicity, not overly threatening in the major sports, etc).
But if Notre Dame was the big target, the Big Ten miscalculated the quality of their bait. Money alone could not lure the Irish--which is not to say that Notre Dame does not want to maximize every dollar they can make with football--as Notre Dame makes plenty of money from their NBC contract, bowl game take they do not split with anyone, televised games not on NBC (which folks conveniently forget when discussing the monetary differences between what NBC pays and what Big Ten member institutions make from television), etc. Prestige associated with playing in the conference does not enthrall the Irish as they have more than enough of that. And as far as missing out on conference championships, as mentioned recently by Ohio State Athletic Director and former Notre Dame football player Gene Smith, the Irish think of those the way we think of divisional titles in pro sports--nice but who really cares if you do not win it all (as OSU should know from recent years). Notre Dame has never wanted to be limited to a regional schedule as they have a national fan base that is excited about future contests with Oklahoma and Miami. The rumored threats of the Big Ten conspiring to keep Notre Dame off conference schools' schedules to force them to join as they would have no one to play? Ridiculous as losing ND off their schedules would hurt Purdue and Michigan State, the only two traditional rivals of the Irish in the conference, more than it would Notre Dame and the Irish could easily begin new rivalries with programs like Cincinnati. Which matchup would you rather see this fall, ND-Cincinnati or ND-Purdue? And the other perceived threat, that the Big Ten and ACC would raid enough Big East schools to kill the conference and force Notre Dame to join the Big Ten as the other Irish sports, which benefit from Big East play, would be left in limbo is also silly as the loss of Rutgers and Syracuse to the Big Ten is only truly bad for the Big East if the ACC also raids Cincinnati and Louisville. But even if all of that happens, the Big East could survive by making an arrangement with Notre Dame in which the Irish are half independent and half a member of the Big East for football. Add Conference USA teams for filler and in football they are as good as usual and Memphis helps them recover from losing Syracuse and Louisville in hoops. Or Notre Dame will join up with Marquette and others to form another conference for basketball and the other sports.
Whew. That was more than I intended to say. There is also one item about Notre Dame that bears mentioning. This notion that Notre Dame needs the Big Ten because it is becoming irrelevant in football is so stupid I, at first, ignored it. But let me say this. Notre Dame did a lousy job of hiring coaches and paid for it with some mediocre football over recent seasons. Having hired one of the best coaches in football in Brian Kelly--who was inexplicably snubbed by Michigan--will right the ship. Does anyone want to guess USC's record for the 10 years prior to the Pete Carroll era? 65-52-3. Mediocre. Texas for the 10 years prior to Mack Brown's hire? 65-49-2. Mediocre. Oklahoma for the 10 years prior to the hiring of Bob Stoops? 61-50-3. You get the point. The Irish will be back, beginning this season. And joining the Big Ten may actually hurt them in recruiting as playing a national schedule helps them land star players from all over the country. Notre Dame will soon return to the top of the polls, which will only make their demands for accepting membership in any conference greater than they are now coming off a decade-and-a-half of spotty play.
As for the Big Ten, they are now backpedaling. The conference wants to expand but does not want to be stuck with Missouri, Iowa State, Rutgers and Syracuse. Wait they would need a fifth team to get the conference numbers up to 16 (and are they keeping the Big Ten name?). Can the University of Chicago return to football? The Big Ten needs a marquee name and will find it difficult to land one without a better plan than the one they displayed with Notre Dame.