Jim Tressel could have a new
Big Ten opponent soon.

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez revealed last week that the Big Ten is considering an extremely large amount of schools for expansion – 15 to be exact. One thing the Big Ten certainly won’t be accused of is failing to cover all its bases in the search.

Alvarez did not specify which schools are being considered, but he did mention that Notre Dame and Texas were not on the list. (Likely because both of them told the Big Ten they were not interested. I never believed either of them were legitimate candidates anyway.)
Therefore, with the Fighting Irish and Longhorns out of the picture, here is my best guess at the 15 institutions that Alvarez was referring to:

1. Missouri

2. Syracuse

3. Rutgers

4. Boston College

5. West Virginia

6. Pittsburgh

7. Cincinnati

8. Virginia

9. Kentucky

10. Louisville

11. Connecticut

12. Nebraska

13. Oklahoma

14. Colorado

15. Maryland

(If I had to pick a 16th, it would be Iowa State.)

Some of those schools are such extreme long-shots that it's foolish to even mention them, but if the Big Ten is really evaluating 15 different schools, that is my best guess at the list.

As for my odds-on favorite to get the first invite to join the Big Ten, it’s Missouri. The Tigers are a good fit geographically, and more-importantly they would bring the St. Louis and Kansas City media markets into the Big Ten. Missouri has solid programs in football and men’s basketball – the only two sports that matter when something like conference expansion is being considered. Missouri is also a fit academically as a research university and it has a built-in rivalry with Illinois.

After that, I really don’t see a great fit for the Big Ten. If the conference just wants to expand to 12 teams, that won’t be a problem. I think Mizzou would accept the invite if it’s extended and that would be the end of the process.

However, the outspoken Alvarez has hinted that the Big Ten might want to expand to 14 teams. The fact that the conference is considering 15 schools lends one to believe the Big Ten is looking to add three additional teams, not just one.

Personally, I hope it’s just one. Adding three schools at once would be a drastic change and one that would not help the Big Ten in my opinion. Twelve teams would be plenty and would allow the conference to split its teams into divisions and have a conference championship game (which, like it or not, the Big Ten is adament about doing).

If they do go with 14, then programs like Rutgers and Syracuse become viable options. Some people are of the opinion that adding the Scarlet Knights would bring in the New York media market. However, how many New Yorkers really care about Rutgers football? Not very many. Plus, Rutgers would do nothing but hurt the Big Ten in men’s basketball.

As for splitting the conference into divisions for football, the Big Ten should not concern itself about lining up the programs geographically. If you did that, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State would all be in the same division. That can’t happen.

Instead of “North” and “South” or “East” and “West” the Big Ten should simply have “Division A” and “Division B.”

That would allow the conference to split the football programs up relatively evenly. Ohio State and Michigan should be in the same division. Then Penn State, Wisconsin and Iowa should be together in the other division. Then the other teams would be dispersed so the divisions balance out from a football standpoint.

Here is one stab at how the divisions might look if Missouri is added:

Division A: Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana.

Division B: Penn State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Purdue, Minnesota, Northwestern.

In that format, Division A might be a little stronger, but it’s basically even. The point is that the Big Ten needs to make sure it splits up the divisions in some type of equitable way so that there isn’t one division that is too difficult and one that is too easy (like what the Big 12 did).

This will be an interesting situation to follow over the next few months as we’ll soon find out which school(s) the Big Ten really wants as its 12^th team. Again, I think it will be Missouri, but the conference is casting a wide net to try and find the best-possible fit.