College Football Realignment: Should the Big Ten Stay out of It?

The college football landscape is rapidly changing, and Big Ten fans are wondering how the league will respond to all of the shifting that other conferences are doing.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney made the first big move when he lured traditional football powerhouse Nebraska from the Big 12 in 2010. But since then the conference has stood back and watched as several teams, including Texas A&M, Syracuse and Pittsburgh, switch conferences.

And now with Oklahoma and Texas poised to join the Pac-12, the move toward “super conferences” appears imminent, and several are asking if the Big Ten should start expanding, too.

Here are four reasons why the Big Ten should not avoid expansion.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame may not have the same mystique it once had, but the school still has major appeal throughout the nation.

Adding ND would bring plenty of additional revenue to the conference and help elevate both football and basketball throughout the Big Ten.

The move makes sense geographically and academically and could force the conference to redraw the current Legends and Leaders divisions that have received plenty of criticism.

Everybody Else Is Expanding

Football in "super conferences" may become watered-down, but it appears to be the wave of the future.

If the Big Ten does not follow suit other conferences will send more teams to bowl games and they will generate more revenue.

On the gridiron, the Big Ten will be at a competitive disadvantage, as recruits will start looking to play in other more prestigious conferences.

Television Revenue

The Big Ten will miss out on additional television revenues if they do not expand.

The current deal they have with the Big Ten Network has worked out brilliantly for the conference, but if they were to add a school like Rutgers from the New York Metropolitan TV market, or Notre Dame, television revenues would boom.

They Can Expand Without over Expanding

Many people think the Big Ten needs to expand by three or four schools, but that is not necessarily true.

Expanding by one or two schools could be a viable option for the conference in the short term. While it looks like Oklahoma and Texas are headed to the Pac-12, there will not be many powerhouse schools available for expansion after those two. So the Big Ten does not need to stockpile their league with mediocre schools.

They could make an offer to Notre Dame and an additional school, either Missouri or Rutgers, and wait a few more years to see what happens throughout the rest of college football. There may be more prestigious programs available in the future, and if the Big Ten does not expand by too much, they could add those schools without having a watered-down product.