Big Ten Expansion Round 3: C.R.E.A.M.

(For previous installments on Big Ten Expansion, visit here and here).

One thing that I found interesting about the Pac-10 analysis was how few of the athletic departments ran overall surpluses. Football made money and was in the black, but the departments were balanced.

In the Big Ten? Not so much.

Big Ten Financial Analysis

I would say that Texas and Notre Dame come out favorably in this examination based on overall revenue and how well their football programs have performed financially (and in Texas's case, on the field as well.)

Of course, I probably should mention that it appears that Texas will not be joining the party, if Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez is to be believed.

I believe that this is a fluid situation, so we will have to stay tuned.

Big Ten Expansion Round 2: Television Market Share

In the first round of Pac-10 expansion talks, I posted the reputational academic bonafides of the current Big Ten Schools and their potential new brethern.

In this round, we will look at the television markets that are currently being utilized and what a newcomer would have to offer.

Now, when talking markets, we are going to refer to the specific regional markets for these teams. The market sizes are done based off of data from Nielsen Media Research.

As with the Pac-10 television markets exercise,  note that some markets may contain more than one city. With the Big Ten, the largest market may not necessarily be the city where the school is actually located (see Penn State):

Illinois (Champaign-Urbana/Springfield/Decatur): 84
Indiana (Indianapolis): 25
Iowa (Cedar Rapids): 88
Michigan (Detroit): 11
Michigan State (Lansing/Jackson): 115
Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. Paul): 15
Northwestern (Chicago): 3
Ohio State (Columbus): 34
Penn State (Altoona/Johnstown): 101
Purdue (Lafayette): 191
Wisconsin (Madison): 85

Not a lot of large markets. At least, not as many as the Pac-10. But that's also because of the nature of where the campuses are located and how the conferences evolved.

So let's look at the schools that the Big Ten has an eye on (allegedly):

Missouri (Columbia/Jefferson City): 137

Notre Dame (South Bend/Elkhart): 91
Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh): 23
Rutgers (New York City): 1
Syracuse (Syracuse): 83
Texas (Austin): 48

Now it looks interesting, doesn't it?

If the Big Ten wants to pull in a new market, why not try and tap into the largest market that is still out there in New York City?

Michigan and Penn State have huge alumni bases in the city already, and New York is the unconquered final frontier as far as college football goes.

And if the NFL locks out its players for the 2011 season (and if Rutgers can find the magic of the 2006 season again....)

Big Ten Expansion Round 1: Academics

Since I had so much fun doing it for the Pac-10, let's run the same drill with the Big Ten.

Parameters are the same as for the Pac-10. Only thing that's changed are the schools involved. For the Big Ten, while there have been a few names tossed about, let's focus in on the six likeliest candidates: Missouri, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Syracuse and Texas.

That's right; Texas.

On with the show. First, the current residents of the Big Ten (11):

Illinois:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 39 (highest ranking number assigned—128)
Enrollment: 40,687

Indiana:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 71
Enrollment: 37,821

Iowa:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 71
Enrollment: 28,442

Michigan:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 27
Enrollment: 39,533

Michigan State:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 71
Enrollment: 44,836

Minnesota:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 61
Enrollment: 50,954

Northwestern:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 12
Enrollment: 17,747

Ohio State:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 53
Enrollment: 50,995

Penn State:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 47
Enrollment: 41,289

Purdue:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 61
Enrollment: 40,108

Wisconsin:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 39
Enrollment: 40, 455

Average ranking for the Big Ten: 50.1
Average enrollment: 39, 352

And now, on to the contenders for that coveted one spot:

Missouri:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 102
Enrollment: 27,003

Pittsburgh:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 56
Enrollment: 26,731

Notre Dame:
AAU member: No
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 20
Enrollment: 11,479

Syracuse:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/High Research Activity (RU/H)
US News National Ranking: 58
Enrollment: 18, 247

Rutgers:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 66
Enrollment: 34,696

Texas:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 47
Enrollment: 50,377

Interesting, no?

It would seem that Texas is a good fit after all academically. Out of the group, Missouri would appear to be the weak link in the chain, as their US News ranking is significantly higher than anyone else on this list.

Academically, while not part of the AAU, Notre Dame has exemplary academics.

But as I've said before, there is more to this than just academics.