Necessary Evil

For the moment, expansion has ended...thankfully. Along the way it was all controlled by money and greed, two things the Big Ten and the Pac Ten wanted/already had. Each conference had dreams of expanding and improving their conferences and while one succeeded, the other wasn't as lucky.

The Big Ten got a traditional powerhouse with a big name and an even bigger fanbase. Cha-ching! The Big Ten Network will gain many more viewers and, wait for it, WAY more money. A huge success in itself without adding the fact that the Big Ten will finally be able to have a football championship game, something it desperately needed with its powerhouse teams having such huge layoffs before their January bowl games.

The Pac Ten on the other hand added one team (woopie, still no championship game) in Colorado that has struggled in recent years in the Big Twelve. Both their football and basketball is down, which certainly doesn't add to the Pac Ten's strength as a conference. In addition, the Pac Ten didn't add another huge, high profile team in a different market area of the country (still part of the money game with a potential Pac Ten Network in the makings). Instead, they add the state of Colorado, a state with many Pac Ten alumni and fans already living there (Pac Ten is also thinking of adding Utah to get to twelve teams, still in their alumni "fan zone" area of the country).

Yet, while the Big Ten gained some prestige (and new fans/viewers) and the Pac Ten sputtered to find any success, the real winner is the Big Twelve. The conference that a week ago was guaranteed to be "nonexistent" within a few weeks by every "expert" on television (further proof that they all think they know everything, yet know hardly anything) is now going to continue to be one of the best overall conferences in America. Yes, they will lose their football championship game (for now) but will hardly miss a beat. Apart from losing Nebraska in women's hoops, no champion has left. In fact, the conference only improves in basketball. Think about it. The Big Twelve was the number one RPI conference in America during the 2009-2010 basketball season. Now take out two of the bottom five teams in the conference (Colorado finished eighth, Nebraska twelfth). This has the potential to be the best basketball conference in America next season without two poor teams there to lower the RPI ranking. This in itself is a huge win for the Big Twelve. It will also raise the strength of schedule rankings for each team remaining in the conference because each team, especially the "North" Big Twelve schools who played them twice, will no longer face Colorado or Nebraska, instead playing other schools with better records. Guess what, this raises a teams RPI. Wins against stronger opponents count more than a win over a sub-.500 team. The conference with the highest RPI out of any in America will only improve, proof of how the Big Twelve will only benefit from expansion.

What started as a potential collapse for the Big Twelve will end up being a big boost. It will increase competition and further prepare each team for potential bowl games in football, tournament games in basketball, etc. Although it caused the schools' President's and Athletic Director's much frustration and long nights, expansion will ultimately go down as a positive for a conference that already has it pretty good.