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Big Ten Hockey Expansion?

wsummers

wsummers

Section T since 1978
With the expectation of UCLA and USC joining the Big10 in 2024, what are the chances they may add D1 hockey? Don’t know if they are considering it, but they would have a conference unlike ASU when they jumped.

Rumors are this might only be the first pieces of Big10 expansion.
 
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Almost zero. If Illinois can't figure out/won't fund a hockey program, why would any other B1G non-hockey school? The B1G clearly prioritizes Football and Basketball. Hockey is WAY down the list at schools not named Minnesota.
 
Lost_Husky said:
Almost zero. If Illinois can't figure out/won't fund a hockey program, why would any other B1G non-hockey school? The B1G clearly prioritizes Football and Basketball. Hockey is WAY down the list at schools not named Minnesota.
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The money is there for all B16 teams to have hockey. It's just tied in a football facility nuclear arms race.
 
Looks like Oregon and Washington are next to join B10….and likely to be followed by a couple more. While the move is football money driven, it does open up viable options for west coast college hockey at some point in the future.
 
BC should do everything they can to get into the Big Ten. Not an obvious target for the Big Ten but they already have a similar school in Northwestern. A small school known for academics in a pro sports town. Good in secondary sports. BC football and men's hoops are finally recruiting well under current coaches. Hell, the Big Ten added freakin' Rutgers. Even Maryland was not some great addition. BC could get Big Ten hockey to an even number as the 8th team which solves scheduling issues. Now of course this would require BC to actually have some athletic ambition. But it's every program fighting for themselves at this point. I don't even want BC in Big Ten hockey but it would be a sacrifice you have to make for football and hoops. Maybe if the Big Ten continues a pursuit of Notre Dame (can't stay independent much longer in this landscape), BC could be the "throw in" to keep the numbers even. Sorta like how BC got into the ACC.
 
The Big Ten got sucked into a SEC arms race over baseball after football and basketball. Hockey isn't even on their mind.
 
J.D. said:
BC should do everything they can to get into the Big Ten...
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Be careful what you wish for. You may bleed maroon and gold, but do you really want to really want to be an institution where the football tail wags the entire university dog? Because that's what will happen should BC decide to go down this swillhole, should it even get the chance.

We're all smart enough to understand that the end game in all of this is a football-driven B1G-SEC college sports duopoly that will make untold tons of money. That might be OK if football money built new classroom buildings, labs, dormitories, libraries, research centers, etc. but, in almost every case, football money goes back into ever more bloated football budgets that buy ever more lavish diamond-encrusted, platinum-plated football-only facilities.

Gotta wonder if certain boards of trustees will finally see this scam for what it is and draw a proverbial line in the sand. Not holding my breath, though.

Oh, and hockey expansion? Pure fantasy.
 
The only change this will have on hockey (for now) is that it raises the chances of ASU being an affiliate member of the BTHC.

Granted, I say that as someone who hasn’t thought that likely compared to what I believe the rest of college hockey fandom thinks.
 
Hockey is the one B1G sport that will be hurt should the mega conferences split from the rest of Division 1. Leaving everyone else out of Football and possibly Basketball to create their own national champions will likely leave the B1G Hockey teams stranded. Hockey could stand on it's own without the B1G but B1G hockey cannot go it alone. They may not have a choice if they have to follow the B1G/SEC guidelines and the others may say goodbye to them if they do. In such a case I can see Minnesota leaving the B1G as they will likely lead up the bottom in Football with the coming competition. That is unless money overrules hockey in Minnesota which may not be the case.
 
BC/HE said:
Hockey is the one B1G sport that will be hurt should the mega conferences split from the rest of Division 1...
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Cautionary tale along these lines: Maryland dropped seven (yes, 7) sports, including m/w swimming and m/w track and field in order to afford B1G football and hoops. I live maybe 10 miles from the Maryland campus and can tell you for a fact that there are still many Terps alums and others who rue the day Maryland decided to leave the ACC.

Remember, the football god's appetite for $$$$ is voracious and unending, and must always be fed. Even at the expense of other sports--including D1 hockey. BTW, anybody besides me now seeing a rationale for Illinois suddenly dropping the addition of D1 hockey like a hot potato after four years of hinting that a decision to add D1 hockey was "imminent?"
 
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BC/HE said:
Hockey is the one B1G sport that will be hurt should the mega conferences split from the rest of Division 1. Leaving everyone else out of Football and possibly Basketball to create their own national champions will likely leave the B1G Hockey teams stranded. Hockey could stand on it's own without the B1G but B1G hockey cannot go it alone. They may not have a choice if they have to follow the B1G/SEC guidelines and the others may say goodbye to them if they do. In such a case I can see Minnesota leaving the B1G as they will likely lead up the bottom in Football with the coming competition. That is unless money overrules hockey in Minnesota which may not be the case.
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Football is driving the P5 consolidation. And at some point, Fox and ESPN would rather negotiate with the B1G/SEC than with the NCAA on a post season. So a football split is likely coming. But I don't see basketball or the other non-revenue sports leaving the NCAA- men's ice hockey included. The current P5 conferences don't dominate those sports like they dominate football.
 
Split-N said:
Cautionary tale along these lines: Maryland dropped seven (yes, 7) sports, including m/w swimming and m/w track and field in order to afford B1G football and hoops. I live maybe 10 miles from the Maryland campus and can tell you for a fact that there are still many Terps alums and others who rue the day Maryland decided to leave the ACC.

Remember, the football god's appetite for $$$$ is voracious and unending, and must always be fed. Even at the expense of other sports--including D1 hockey. BTW, anybody besides me now seeing a rationale for Illinois suddenly dropping the addition of D1 hockey like a hot potato after four years of hinting that a decision to add D1 hockey was "imminent?"
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Maryland cut 7 sports in November 2011 because the athletic department was facing another $4.7 million annual deficit, on top of an existing $83 million in debt. Saying they cut sports to "afford B1G football and hoops" doesn't make any sense to me. Yes, there was an ACC exit fee, (partially covered by the B1G) but in the first 6 B1G years Maryland was projected to be +$100 million vs. staying with the ACC. Before covid, Maryland Athletics was getting some pretty healthy profits from B1G athletics. Probably enough to add back any sports if they wanted to.

If those Terp alums wanted to stay in the ACC and keep all the sports, they probably should have dug in their pockets and ponied up the cash to pay for $$ losing ACC athletics.
 
Split-N said:
Be careful what you wish for. You may bleed maroon and gold, but do you really want to really want to be an institution where the football tail wags the entire university dog? Because that's what will happen should BC decide to go down this swillhole, should it even get the chance
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In terms of athletics, that's already the case at BC. Unless you meant they would then let academics slip? I don't want any of this. USC and UCLA in Big Ten is dumb. But it's pretty clear college football is quickly heading towards an NFL model. Both the SEC and Big Ten have 16 teams now so they're already there. Maybe both conferences split into four 4 team divisions and we end up with a Big Ten/SEC super bowl format.
 
njmav1 said:
Football is driving the P5 consolidation. And at some point, Fox and ESPN would rather negotiate with the B1G/SEC than with the NCAA on a post season. So a football split is likely coming. But I don't see basketball or the other non-revenue sports leaving the NCAA- men's ice hockey included. The current P5 conferences don't dominate those sports like they dominate football.
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If football splits off, what's to say the NCAA doesn't tell them to take all their sports with them? March Madness going to get real interesting, real quick then.
 
J.D. said:
BC should do everything they can to get into the Big Ten. Not an obvious target for the Big Ten but they already have a similar school in Northwestern. A small school known for academics in a pro sports town. Good in secondary sports. BC football and men's hoops are finally recruiting well under current coaches. Hell, the Big Ten added freakin' Rutgers. Even Maryland was not some great addition. BC could get Big Ten hockey to an even number as the 8th team which solves scheduling issues. Now of course this would require BC to actually have some athletic ambition. But it's every program fighting for themselves at this point. I don't even want BC in Big Ten hockey but it would be a sacrifice you have to make for football and hoops. Maybe if the Big Ten continues a pursuit of Notre Dame (can't stay independent much longer in this landscape), BC could be the "throw in" to keep the numbers even. Sorta like how BC got into the ACC.
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This is all about football and I'm sorry, BC just doesn't have the cachet. When the game of musical chairs ends, BC is going to be amongst the many schools left without a seat.
 
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