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Message: [QUOTE="HtownOrange, post: 1092640, member: 622"] Just some more media finally doing their job and reporting "how goofy the B1G is for its latest additions": [url]http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis-dodd/24639274/big-ten-wont-halt-national-title-drought-by-adding-rutgers-maryland[/url] Excerpts: 1) It's easy to reconcile just about anything in the realignment merry-go-round that [URL='http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/22123389/latest-acc-deal-means-realignment-madness-is-over--for-now']finally slowed down[/URL] about 18 months ago. I just don't get Maryland and Rutgers in the Big Ten. Oh, I get it from the warm-bodies-needed angle. [B]The ACC beat Delany to the punch by getting [URL='http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/teams/page/ND/notre-dame-fighting-irish']Notre Dame[/URL], [URL='http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/teams/page/CUSE/syracuse-orange']Syracuse[/URL] and perhaps even [URL='http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/teams/page/PITT/pittsburgh-panthers']Pittsburgh[/URL][/B]. A rumored move by the Big Ten to poach some combination of [URL='http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/teams/page/UNC/north-carolina-tar-heels']North Carolina[/URL]/[URL='http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/teams/page/UVA/virginia-cavaliers']Virginia[/URL]/[URL='http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/teams/page/GATECH/georgia-tech-yellow-jackets']Georgia Tech[/URL] fell through when the ACC added a grant of rights. --- The analysts can now speak freely. The B1G lost big time by sitting and waiting and trying to land anyone that doesn't make sense while missing the obvious (Mizzou, Kansas, ND [with whomever ND wanted!], Pitt, Syracuse) 2) What I don't get, in any way, is this having much to do with football.[B] Rutgers hasn't done much since a brief run to BCS contention in 2006.[/B] Maryland's athletic department is awash in so much red ink that the balance sheet looks like tomato soup was spilled on it. --- He generously does not mention the Rutgers did nothing before 2006, but makes a very CLEAR POINT 3) It's all so sterile, so crass. At best, Maryland and Rutgers are being admitted on the come. Rutgers [I]might[/I] turn on TV sets down the road in New York. Maryland [I]might[/I] capture interest in DC if folks are forced to get the Big Ten Network to see the Terps. If that's the case, this isn't realignment, [B]it's speculating in the investment market. [I]Past performance is not necessarily an indication of future earnings[/I].[/B] --- Business plan: Buy out two useless athletic departments and pack their stadia with traveling fan bases because the locals and the alumni don't attend. Brag about beating each other up and and cry Alabama couldn't win in the B1G (Nor could Texas, FSU, USC, Clemson, Louisiana, TAMU, etc.) 4) No one asked Nebraska how it felt having about having to travel 1,200 miles (to College Park) and 1,300 miles (to Piscataway). Why? Schools like Nebraska and [URL='http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/teams/page/MICH/michigan-wolverines']Michigan[/URL] will fill the stadiums at those two venues, not the home teams. The Big Ten is big on its culture. As mentioned, Nebraska fit. This is awkward. [URL='http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/teams/page/PSU/penn-state-nittany-lions']Penn State[/URL] gets a couple of travel partners but that's propaganda. If Texas had taken Delany's calls we'd be seeing its games on the Big Ten [I]and[/I] Longhorn networks. For a league starved for championships, maybe the best outlook [I]is[/I] on the field. Maryland and Rutgers are going to be playing up a class. As long as realignment logic is being twisted, [B]look at this way: The rest of the Big Ten is going to be staring at a couple of easy wins each season.[/B] Just don't tell me it has anything further to do with football. --- Sums up the additions in a nutshell, two easy wins in the east division and a CHANCE that increased viewership in the BTN will drive up rates. Nothing else makes any real sense. I hope Rutgers enjoys the new home in the B1G cellar. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?