Examiner writers sound off on Big Ten expansion

Before officially moving on to Big East Week here on Examiner.com here is one last look at the Big Ten. A leftover from Big Ten Week if you will.

There is no doubt that the addition of Nebraska to the conference is one of the biggest stories of the season, so it was important to see what the Examiner.com staff of Big Ten writers had to say about the newest conference member. We will have more from the Big Ten writers later with some responses on more topics related to the Big Ten.

The participating members in this questionnaire include National Big Ten Examiner Kevin Cline, Northwestern Wildcats Examiner Alan Rubenstein, Purdue Boilermakers Examiner Rob Blackman, Minnesota Golden Gophers Examiner Joe Gunther, Iowa Hawkeyes Examiner Troy Hyde and Penn State Football Examiner Kevin McGuire.

Nebraska joins the conference this season and there seems to be plenty of excitement about the addition. Looking back now, do you think the Big Ten made the right decision to add Nebraska rather than expand east or south? Do you think we will see further expansion in the conference in the future?

Alan Rubenstein - Nebraska seemed to be the team interested in joining the Big Ten. They don’t have a natural rival like the other B12 teams. Oklahoma was a big Rival in football, but it has lost its luster in recent years. Colorado has become their biggest rival, but it has also lost some of its luster. In basketball, they don’t have a rival. I always thought that Missouri would be the team to join the Big Ten because of their rivalry with Illinois, but ultimately, I think they did not want to leave Kansas. The most logical team would have been Notre Dame, but they want to remain independent in Football.

The Big Ten did make the right decision. Other than Ohio State, the Big Ten has slipped tremendously in football recently. The addition of Nebraska only makes them stronger. I could definitely see further expansion. The Big East has seemed to set the standard with 17 teams. I hope they keep it where it is at 12.

Rob Blackman - Absolutely the right decision was made, Nebraska brings instant credibility in terms of big time athletics exposure and has a wonderful academic reputation as well.

Kevin Cline - I think Nebraska was the best university to add to the Big Ten of the options that were available. Nebraska’s impressive history of football success along with a strong fan base provides another power team in the conference. Until now the face of the conference was Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State. And if one or two of those teams were having a down season, the whole conference was considered to be less competitive. Now if one of those teams is having a down season, Nebraska can fill the void and make the conference look strong because of their name recognition. You can’t say the same thing if the 12th team would have been Syracuse, Rutgers, Missouri, or Maryland. In addition to football, Nebraska brings a well-rounded athletic department to strengthen the Big Ten in many different sports.

I don’t see any further expansion initiated by the Big Ten anytime soon. The only way expansion would happen is if other conferences start forming “Super Conferences” and the Big Ten would need to react.

Troy Hyde - I think adding Nebraska was brilliant for the league. It makes sense on so many levels. They are Midwest, which is what I think the league wanted to start out with. And the Cornhuskers never really fit into the Big 12 with the Texas schools. They wanted more and Texas wouldn't allow them to have that.

Joe Gunther - I don’t think there is a better addition for the Big Ten. I don’t think further expansion will happen.

Kevin McGuire - No doubt, the best option for the Big Ten was to add Nebraska. While I had been hoping to see an eastward expansion, which was commonly thought to be the objective at one point, none of the rumored options had the impact Nebraska had. The Cornhuskers are bringing a roast turkey complete with a full assortment of side dishes to the table while other options like Rutgers, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh would have been bringing a bag of burgers from the local drive thru.

As for further expansion I do feel there is a scenario that could lead to another move. Pay attention to the Big East. If the football members follow through with a suspected split from the non-football schools it could force Notre Dame to consider where they stand. Not being aligned with the Big East in football could mean being affiliated in a non-football conference that is considerably weaker than the current Big East. Would that push the Irish to look for a new conference home? And if so, would that lead them to the Big Ten?

The Big Ten opens up a new era of conference play this season with the implementation of divisions and a championship game. How do you feel this benefits the conference, or takes away from it? And how do you expect the changes to affect the conference moving forward?

Gunther - The biggest benefit will be having meaningful games in early December. I always felt the Big Ten’s conference schedule was getting too early.

Cline - Having divisions and a championship game will improve the Big Ten. This will eliminate co-championships and situations like last year where 2 of the 3 co-champs didn’t play each other or in 2002 when Iowa and Ohio State both went 8-0 and never got a chance to play each other for the outright Big Ten title. Having multiple teams tie for the championship seems to dilute the accomplishment for the teams involved.

Blackman - No, I think the Big Ten is happy with 12 teams and will not look to expand any further.

Rubenstein - I love the divisions, but don’t like the arrangement or the names. It was simple to go with East and West. Six schools (Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Northwestern) are in the central time zone and six schools are in the eastern time zone (Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, Purdue and Indiana). It only makes sense to do it this way. Some might argue the conference would be unbalanced and that it’s not good for the league to have Michigan and Ohio State in the same division. The SEC is the best conference in the country and they do fine with Georgia, Florida and Alabama in the East and Florida in football and Kentucky and Florida in the East in Basketball, the SEC has still thrived.

Hyde - The benefit of having this game is to help the teams in the conference that don't get the benefit of the doubt from bowl committees. A team like Michigan State last year got left out of the BCS because they were not as trendy as Ohio State or Wisconsin. The Spartans deserved to be in those games just as much as the other two. I know MSU got worked in its bowl game but we did not know that going in.

McGuire - I had the opportunity to speak to Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo and I have to agree with what he said. Adding Nebraska to the mix and opening up division play increases the recruiting potential within the conference, which should ensure more talent stays within the conference as teams look to step up their game from top to bottom. It starts with the division races, as programs will be looking for ways to win enough games to reach the Big Ten championship game. The championship game era has been very kind to the SEC and the Big 12 has seen some perks from it during their period of eligibility.

But the conference game is not a cure-all mind you. Take a look at the ACC if you want to see a conference that has not benefitted as much as it could have with a championship game.