SB Nation User Blog: Chadnudj

Big Ten Expansion? The Chadnudj Plan

Chadnudj — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:48:23 -0000

[Bumped, because he got so much right - Bama Hawkeye]

Recently, Barry Alvarez caused a stir by suggesting the Big Ten was seriously exploring expansion to add a 12th team, thus allowing the Big Ten to split into divisions and play a Championship. See the story here.

TRE is your one stop shop for all things Big Ten Expansion related...

Graham discusses pros and cons of adding a 12th team...and who it might be.

Lake Erie M argues for mega-expansion and a 14 team league

BHGP lists the 4 most important issues surrounding expansion.

Personally, as a fan, I love this idea. But two problems tend to pop up with this:

Who is your 12th team? Potentially realistic suggestions include Rutgers or Syracuse (to bring in the NYC market), Pitt, Cincinnati, That School From South Bend, and Mizzou. Less realistic suggestions (for academic, geographic, or athletic reasons) include West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, or Texas (seriously? Texas? Really?)
How do you divide the league into divisions without creating a serious "historical competitive imbalance" by placing too many of the big powers (OSU-Michigan-Penn State) in one division, and/or preserve traditional rivalries that teams and fans love?

So, to answer these questions, allow me to present the Chadnudj Plan for Big Ten Expansion -- in which the Big Ten adds Missouri, and divides into North-South divisions, while preserving ALL current protected Big Ten rivalries except one (and that one is Purdue-Northwestern, if you're curious and don't want to read further because this is the only rivalry you care about....what, no takers?)

Don't forget to go back and submit your Bowl Prediction sheet for another chance to win a prize. For winning the regular season OPC, Seattle Hawkeye won...a hat. You may win...something cooler. Hardest bowls to pick so far are Stanford-Oklahoma and PSU-LSU.

First, on the teams.....Mizzou ends up being the best choice by default. I'm going to dispute the whole "Rutgers or Syracuse brings you NYC" meme...I just don't buy it. NYC is a pro sports town, maybe moreso than Chicago. I just don't think expanding to New Jersey and Rutgers really improves the Big Ten's media imprint as much as adding a better "fit" (both academically and athletically across all sports) would.

Cincinnati would be a nice choice (it seems strange that Michigan has to split the state with MSU, while OSU gets Ohio to itself), but the small stadium, lack of football tradition, and substandard academics (at least compared to Big Ten standards -- no offense Cincinnati graduates!) dooms them overall. (Still -- OSU, start scheduling Cincinnati regularly in non-conference....)

Obviously, the top choice has to be That School from South Bend (a school that could, arguably, deliver NYC even moreso than Rutgers) -- it fits academically, athletically, geographically, culturally, and tradition-wise. Heck, it already has longstanding rivalries with Michigan, Purdue, and Michigan State, each of which would continue unabated if it joined the Big Ten. (P.S. I think we keep the name, regardless of having 12 teams...it's just too synonymous with the style of football to ever be dropped).

The problem? There is no indication they will join...although that opposition might be thawing somewhat (particularly with the opportunity to get in on guaranteed bowl revenues each season, as well as the Big Ten Network royalties that would only increase if you could market dedicated That School From South Bend programming on the network nationally -- I can almost feel the vomit rising in the back of my throat thinking about "Rudy" marathons being played during the summer doldrums in terms of original Big Ten Network programming). Plus, as I've always contended -- That School From South Bend is scared to play a "real" football schedule. Just look at what happened when they lost to Northwestern -- they cancelled the series, and have never agreed to play Northwestern again (yeah, that's right Brian Kelly -- I'm calling your team yellow!)

So where to turn? Pitt is one option, and further solidifies/pulls in Pennsylvania to Big Ten country, but I'm not seeing it. It is very close on all degress to Big Ten schools academically according to some data I've seen. But I'm just not thinking it will happen...I wouldn't be disappointed if it did, but I doubt it works out that way. There's nothing all that interesting about Pitt joining the conference -- much better to see Penn State take on Pitt as a regular non-conference rival (someone at PSU or Pitt will have to explain to me why this doesn't happen).

The best choice, in my opinion (other than That School from South Bend) is Mizzou. Great academics and athletics in men's and women's sports, ties/rivalries that already exist with Illinois and Iowa (and, arguably, Northwestern). It would probably jump from the Big 12 if asked (opening the Big 12 to add TCU? Boise State? Utah?). The Big Ten schools would be closer to Mizzou than the Big 12 schools, on average (making it easier for their fans to travel).

Plus, and here is the ultimate bonus -- you could add Mizzou to the Big Ten, split into divisions, and only lose ONE Big Ten traditional/protected annual rivalry....as I mentioned before, you'd only lose Northwestern-Purdue (and I think we can agree that would not be a huge loss).

How, you ask? Simple -- divide the conference into North-South divisions as follows:

North: Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State

South: Mizzou, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State, Penn State

Every team would play all their division rivals once. (5 games)

Each team would play a "protected" cross-division rival once each year: Iowa-Mizzou, Northwestern-Illinois, MSU-PSU, OSU-Michigan, and then your pick of Minnesota-Purdue, Wisconsin-Indiana or vice-versa. (1 game)

Then, each team would play 2 of the other 5 cross-divisional opponents on a rotating basis (2 games).

8 conference games, and EVERY current protected rivalry protected, while still allowing Mizzou to have its two best geographic rivals (Iowa and Illinois), and ensuring some competitive balance by dividing up the Michigan-OSU-PSU triumvirate.

(For reference's sake, here is the list of Big Ten protected rivalries....notice, the ONLY one that would disappear is NU-Purdue....which I think we'd gladly trade for NU-Wisconsin being an annual game:

Illinois: Indiana, Northwestern
Indiana: Illinois, Purdue
Iowa: Minnesota, Wisconsin
Michigan: Michigan State, Ohio State
Michigan State: Michigan, Penn State
Minnesota: Iowa, Wisconsin
Northwestern: Illinois, Purdue
Ohio State: Michigan, Penn State
Penn State: Michigan State, Ohio State
Purdue: Indiana, Northwestern
Wisconsin: Iowa, Minnesota)

So, have at it fans -- why would this not work?

P.S. I've posted this at a couple sites....just wanted to see people's thoughts....

Big Ten Expansion? The Chadnudj Plan

Chadnudj — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:33:22 -0000

Personally, as a fan, I love this idea. But two problems tend to pop up with this:

Who is your 12th team? Potentially realistic suggestions include Rutgers or Syracuse (to bring in the NYC market), Pitt, Cincinnati, That School From South Bend, and Mizzou. Less realistic suggestions (for academic, geographic, or athletic reasons) include West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, or Texas (seriously? Texas? Really?)
How do you divide the league into divisions without creating a serious "historical competitive imbalance" by placing too many of the big powers (OSU-Michigan-Penn State) in one division, and/or preserve traditional rivalries that teams and fans love?

How, you ask? Simple -- divide the conference into North-South divisions as follows:

North: Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State

South: Mizzou, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State, Penn State

Every team would play all their division rivals once. (5 games)

Then, each team would play 2 of the other 5 cross-divisional opponents on a rotating basis (2 games).

So, have at it fans -- why would this not work?

(P.S. I've posted this at a couple sites....just wanted to see people's thoughts....)

Playing for our second consecutive National Title

Chadnudj — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:09:14 -0000

I'm very proud of our team for being in contention for its second straight NCAA National Championship in football.

What, you don't believe me? Well....

Check this out: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls09/news/story?id=4722205

Buried at the bottom is this fantastic quote:

"Lapchick noted that "if there were a national championship based on graduation success rates among bowl teams, Navy and Northwestern would have played for the national championship." He said both teams graduated at least 92 percent of football players and at least 83 percent of black players."

Some of you will recall that last year we would have also played for this mythical student-athlete national championship in a game against Boston College -- a game I'm confident we would have won. There's nothing better, in my mind, than being the best STUDENT-ATHLETE football program in the nation.....plus, this year's mythical game would have given us a chance to beat Navy, something That School From South Bend no longer knows how to do.

GO CATS!

Happy Birthday Fitz!

Chadnudj — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:05:32 -0000

That's right, on December 2, 1974, our fearless and feared (by his opponents, particularly Iowa) leader Pat Fitzgerald was born, and immediately screamed until his face was purple....his favorite color.

So, here are your questions for the comments section:

What are you doing to celebrate this holiest of holy days?
What type of intense celebration do you think the Fitzgeralds are celebrating today?
Does Fitz need to blow out his candles, or do they extinguish from gusts of wind from the force of his eyes blinking?

Big Ten-ACC Rivalry Discussion Post

Chadnudj — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:49:45 -0000

If this is the place to join for conference solidarity, we might as well discuss the games here....

As of now:

Penn State beat UVA last night
Northwestern is up 10 on NC State
Purdue is down 2 right before the half against Wake
Maryland is up 2 early against Indiana

Tonight, we have MSU-UNC, and VaTech-Iowa on tap....

As for me, I'm an NU fan....so naturally, I'm impressed we're playing well, on the road, without Kevin Coble....

WOOT!ing Interests -- Week 12

Chadnudj — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:14:03 -0000

Damn you, Colorado.

Seriously, Buffaloes, you couldn't put away a win against the THIRD string Oklahoma State QB? Pathetic....the Big Ten needed you to upset the Cowboys to almost guarantee a 2nd Big Ten BCS bowl slot, and you failed. Consider this the curse of Gary Barnett -- since you stole him from Northwestern, you've fallen to mediocrity, which is pretty remarkably bad for a team playing in the craptastic Big 12 North. (To balance out your bad karma, Northwestern enjoyed a 3rd Big Ten title under Randy Walker, and its recent run of success under Fitz....the lesson? Don't even ATTEMPT to steal our coaches away.)

So what are we WOOT!ing for this week, Cats fans?

I'm WOOT!ing for Thanksgiving. That's right, with the last home game of the season upon us, it's time for the annual "Thanksgiving in a Parking Lot" tailgate. We're bringing turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberries, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, gravy....we're even doing post-game "leftovers" with turkey reuben sandwiches. If I fall asleep in the DJ booth and don't play enough Wildcat growls, you can blame it on the inevitable food coma. Thanksgiving is great....Thanksgiving in a Parking Lot is legen-wait for it, because it honors the cow-based export of our Wisconsin guests this week-DARY!
I'm also WOOT!ing for the seniors, who are two wins away (that's right, we're taking down Wisconsin and DOMINATING a bowl opponent) from being arguably the 2nd most impressive senior class in TV-era Northwestern history (edged only by Fitz's senior class, which basically resuscitated football at Northwestern). A special shout out, too, to the NUMB seniors.
OSU over Michigan -- I'd like to see this one be a close win for OSU, though, just to keep RichRod around for another year. We need OSU to win, though, to keep the prospect of a 6-6 Michigan bowl trip away from bowl officials looking for an attendance boost -- you know there are a lot of Wolverines fans that will go to any bowl after missing out last year.
My recliner over the Illini. Vegas has installed the Lay-Z-Boy as the prohibitive favorite. Zook just can't stop the foot rest-reclining back action on the bye week.
A tie between Indiana and Purdue. Nice fans, neither one is bowling, so let's send everybody home a "non-loser" this week.
Iowa over Minnesota; PSU over Michigan State -- gotta keep the teams one game behind us right there....and by right there, I mean 2 games behind us after we stop Wisconsin.
Wyoming over TCU and/or Utah State over Boise State. Neither of these are even remotely possible. But would they help? Yes.
Oklahoma to remember it is goddamn Oklahoma. I don't know who they play this week and I'm too lazy to look it up. All I know is that they play Oklahoma State next week...and Oklahoma State needs to be demolished (which would get the Big Ten another BCS team, and move the Cats up a bowl). Goddamn Oklahoma doesn't lose to Oklahoma State. Goddamn Oklahoma burns non-natural gas fossil fuels just to piss off T. Boone Pickens and his wind farms. Goddamn Oklahoma is too good to "pull a Colorado" and lose to a 3rd string QB. We need Goddamn Oklahoma back, for one week only.
Cal over That Team from Palo Alto (TTFPA) I have to admit, I liked Harbaugh going for 2 against USC, though. It reminded me of the great Woody Hayes quote, when asked about why he went for two against Michigan late in a game that Ohio State had a huge lead in: "Because I couldn't go for three." Then again, like Woody Hayes, Harbaugh is a prick.
UConn over That Team From South Bend (TTFSB). Do you know that TTFSB, despite their horrific, mediocre season, will still probably be playing in the Gator Bowl on New Years Day? You can blame all the over-40 sportswriters that continue to buy into the B.S. that is TTFSB's "Mystique."

That's all I got, folks. Anything else you're WOOT!ing for this week?

WOOT!ing Interests Week 11 Recap

Chadnudj — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:05:26 -0000

Are the Cats and Corey WOOT!ton going to Disney World?

It looks like it. But first, let's recap last week:

Northwestern beat Illinois, clinching a bowl (7-win teams have to be selected before 6 win teams by NCAA rule, although there may be some convoluted Big Ten rule that says that a 7 win team can get passed up for a 6 win team so long as the 7 win team will still have a Big Ten affiliated bowl to go to....can someone, ANYONE clarify what exactly the Big Ten bowl selection rules are?) and eliminating the Illini.
Wisconsin beat Michigan and PSU beat Indiana, eliminating Indiana and almost guaranteeing Michigan is out, too (unless they can pull a huge upset against OSU).
Unfortunately, Minnesota and MSU won, giving them each 6 wins. Now, I DOUBT that either team will win this week....but still, they are within one game of us.
North Carolina beat Miami, Pitt beat "that school in South Bend", and "that team in Palo Alto" beat USC, all of which helped the Cats' chances for a better bowl, since they increased the odds that Iowa/PSU/Wisconsin gets selected for a BCS at-large.

Following Week 11, Iowa and PSU are 13 and 14, respectively, in the BCS, meaning they are in the top-15 cutoff for at-large selection. Since Pitt and Cincy play each other, one of them will fall. The SEC can only get 2 teams in by rule, so LSU's high ranking right now is irrelevant -- the SEC is sending Florida and Alabama to BCS bowls unless something insane happens. TCU and, increasingly, Boise State both look like safe bets for at-large spots, although a greedy bowl could deny Boise State.

No, the biggest challenge to the Big Ten (and the best/most prestigious bowl slot for NU) is Oklahoma State. We'll have more on this in Week 12's "WOOT!ing Interests" column, but needless to say, we need Oklahoma to beat the Cowboys in Norman to help guarantee 2 Big Ten BCS teams.

Now, as for Northwestern....I'm thinking we're heading one of 2 places. The odds on favorite is the Champs Bowl -- which would be perfect for me, since I'll be home in Florida just 2 hours from Orlando on December 29th. The second likely option is the Insight Bowl. For whatever reason, I don't see the Alamo Bowl taking Northwestern again, just because they want to mix it up a bit.

Tune in later this week for more "WOOT!ing Interests", as the Cats march on to bowl season!

OT -- Head to Evanston to Root on Northwestern -- 11/21 v. Wisconsin

Chadnudj — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:32:05 -0000

Every year, thousands of Northwestern students skip class in the spring or fall, and head down to Wrigley to root on the Cubs. It's practically a right of passage.

Well, Northwestern needs Cubs fans' help.

On Saturday, November 21 at 2:30 pm, the Cats close out their season in Evanston against the visiting Wisconsin Badgers. The Cats are currently 7-3 and jostling for better bowl position, while Wisconsin is 8-2 and ranked #16 in the BCS.

Why should you go to this game?

Northwestern wins the right way. Not to say that Wisconsin doesn't (they're an excellent school and team), but Northwestern is consistently among the top academic sports programs in the nation....last year's BCS National Championship would have been between Northwestern and Boston College if you based rankings on academic progress/graduation rates. Isn't it nice to root for "student-athletes", where the priority is LITERALLY in that order?
Pat Fitzgerald is AWESOME. Um, yes he's a Sox fan. But I'm fairly certain that the Cubs are 3-0 in games at which he throws out the first pitch or sings the 7th inning stretch. Plus he's just an incredibly good, young coach who is so intense, it's shocking he's not tackling people during games.
You owe Northwestern. Like I said, NU students/faculty have long supported the Cubs by taking the ride down to the Addison stop on the El for gamedays. Northwestern also gave the Cubs Joe Girardi (well, at least Joe played for the Cubs). Saturday is supposed to be good football weather (temps comfortable in the 50s) and the game means something....don't you owe it to the Cats fans that have supported the Cubs to throw on purple, ride up to Evanston and root for Northwestern for ONE game? Speaking of...
You can get there on the El. That's right -- no need to drive, no need to park. Just take the El (or the Metra) up to Central Street in Evanston, hop off, and your just a few blocks from tailgating and the game. Oh, tailgating? Yes...
Free Goose Island Beer. That's right....pregame, at EVERY Northwestern game, there is free Goose Island Beer at Wildcat Alley (behind the stadium on the softball field). There's also tons of stuff for kids to do, concerts by the marching band...it's pretty damn awesome.
You hate the Brewers/Wisconsin/Brett Favre/Cheeseheads. Okay, so maybe the Wisconsinites also hate Favre now....but I think as Cubs fans we rightfully retain hatred of all of those other things. Plus, Wisconsin is threatening to do to Northwestern what Cubs fans do to the Brewers -- sell out NU's stadium and outnumber Cats fans (much as Cubs fans always outnumber Brewers fans in Milwaukee). We will not stand for this aggression, man.

So, the point is -- Come up to Evanston. Wear some purple. Root on the Wildcats. Tickets are still available (www.nusports.com or call 847-491-CATS).

Go Cubs Go, indeed....but also GO CATS!

WOOT!ing Interests -- Week 11

Chadnudj — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:11:30 -0000

Yeah, that's right, I just renamed this fan-post in punny honor of #99 himself, the man who almost single-handedly ruined Iowa's season -- Mr. Corey Wootton. Sue me.

As for the fanpost itself, Adam Rittenburg of ESPN.com's Big Ten blog has already summed up NU's rooting interests in terms of improving its bowl positioning concisely here. For those of you who don't want to click-through, we want:

NU to beat Illinois (I should add, we want to beat Illinois but not embarrass them, as an embarrasing loss increases the chance that Zook gets fired, and do we really want the Illini to fire a guy who can't coach his way out of a paper bag, and who Fitz owns much as the Wildcats own Kinnick?)
Wisconsin to beat Michigan (eliminates UM, plus makes an NU win over Wisconsin in Week 12 even more impressive)
Purdue over MSU (all but assures MSU of missing out on a bowl, since they get Penn State in week 12; Purdue is unlikely to jump over an NU team that beat them and has/will have a better record, plus Purdue will still have to beat Indiana in Week 12 just to get eligible)
South Dakota State over Minnesota (this would seriously jeopardize Minnesota's bowl chances, as Iowa awaits at Kinnick in Week 12)
Penn State over Indiana (this would eliminate Indiana from bowl contention; the more Penn State wins the higher the chances that they get an at-large BCS bid given their fanbase, etc.)
Rittenberg also mentions that for the Big Ten to get 2 BCS teams (which would improve NU's bowl slot), we should want the following: Utah over TCU, Idaho over Boise State, North Carolina over Miami, Pitt over "That School in South Bend," and (ugh) "That Team in Palo Alto that is in a Different, Non-Winning Boat than Northwestern" over USC.

So there's your "WOOT!ing Interests" for Week 12.....what do you think?

But I'm not just going to crib Rittenberg here -- what should we be rooting to happen so that we get an intriguing/interesting/winnable bowl opponent? And what bowl would you most like to see us in?

Personally, I'm hoping for the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando myself, since I'll be in Florida anyways when it happens....plus playing an ACC team would be fun, it would likely be a competitive game, and its on primetime with no other sports competition, making it a great TV/recruiting/marketing opportunity for our team (much like the Alamo Bowl, which in many ways was better for NU than the Outback Bowl would have been).

The Champs is the #4 Big Ten Bowl this year (meaning Wisconsin would be slotted here if the Big Ten only gets one team in the BCS and the standings stay the way they are now), but there is some rumors out there that the Champs and Alamo might swing a deal to prevent the bowls from ending up with the same team two years in a row (Wisconsin played in the Champs last year, and has been in Florida the past 5 years -- Outback at the end of the 2004 & 2007 seasons, Capital One at the end of the 2005 & 2006 seasons). Champs Bowl representatives were at the NU-PSU game and the NU-Iowa game, and I doubt in either game they were looking at PSU or Iowa. NU has not played in Florida since the Citrus Bowl after the 1996 season (where it sold out its tickets), and has a sizeable Florida alumni base.

So, if you assume the Champs Sports Bowl -- who do we want to play as the ACC's #4 team? Georgia Tech would be a great "academic v. academic" matchup, but they'll be in the BCS as the ACC's #1 team. The other options are Miami (likely to end up higher than #4), Clemson, Boston College, or Virginia Tech.

I'm gonna say our best opponent would actually be Virginia Tech, surprisingly. Their fan base is pretty big and passionate so the game would end up being a sell-out. I think our defense would match up well against their offense, and our offense would be one of the more dynamic ones that they've faced all season (which tells you something about the ACC). Plus, with Virginia Tech being a "traditional" power in college football, a win against them would be a huge accomplishment for Fitz and the Cats.

Boston College would be fun too, just because we go up against them in recruiting. And Clemson would have many of the same advantages as Virginia Tech, but I'm personally terrified of CJ Spiller pulling a Keyshawn-esque "amazing player takes over bowl game" trick that would entirely overshadow Northwestern being in the bowl game....

Alright, until next week....GO CATS! (And remember -- throw your comments below, people!)

Week 10 -- Rooting Interests Recap

Chadnudj — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:17:55 -0000

Hey Iowa, do you like apples?

via 1.bp.blogspot.com

Well Northwestern just ended your undefeated season, potentially cost you a Big Ten title, and has now beaten you 3 straight in Kinnick and 4 out of 5 overall -- how do you like them apples?

For a first time post here on Sippin' On Purple, I think "Rooting Interests" had the desired effect, overall. I mean, after all:

Northwestern shocked the nation (but not Cats fans) by beating Iowa.
Wisconsin held on against Indiana, making it less likely the Hoosiers get to 6 wins (and making Northwestern's November 21st game against Wisconsin -- who will potentially be 9-2 and ranked in the top 15-20 -- even bigger, leading to the 2:30 pm kickoff -- GET YOUR TICKETS NOW CATS FANS!)
The Illini snuck past Minnesota, putting us (temporarily) ahead of the Gophers by a game
Purdue beat reeling Michigan, which means A) the Wolverines will not be going bowling (I don't see them beating Wisconsin or OSU to get the all-important 6th win), and B) we're one more Purdue upset over Michigan State to Purdue pulling the sweep of the state of Michigan and potentially dooming BOTH teams to non-bowl seasons (MSU has 5 wins, with Purdue and Penn State left) -- putting the Cats in even better bowl position.
And Navy beat "That School in South Bend", leading to arguably the greatest trash talk of all time by none other than Pat Fitzgerald (which he told to Stewart Mandel at SI.com -- "Even though we're similar academically, we're in a little different boat as Stanford and Notre Dame," said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. "We've been consistently winning since 1995. They're still saying they can do it, but we're doing it."

Sure OSU beat Penn State (which makes it harder for NU to improve its bowl position, due to the fact that Penn State's loss makes it less likely that the Big Ten gets 2 BCS teams), Western Michigan was crushed by Sparty, none of our non-conference foes won, Vandy couldn't pull out an upset of the Gators, and "that school in Palo Alto" pulled out an impressive win over Oregon.

Still -- a pretty good week for Northwestern's Rooting Interests.....Week 11 Rooting Interests to follow later this week!