The Big Ten held a conference call on Monday, and for the first time the conference laid out their order of preferences for the future of college football’s national championship methods. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman both confirmed the Big Ten would prefer to keep thigs as they are. The second best option for the Big Ten would be to move forward with a plus-one system, and the last option the Big Ten will hop on board with will be the four-team playoff.
| When this is the status quo, there is no incentive to change. |
Also of note, the Big Ten is filthy rich. Really stink’ rich.
It was confirmed on yesterday;s conference call that the Big Ten will share a conference record $284 million between each member. Ordinarily that would pay out to about $23.66 million for each member institution, but Nebraska is not yet receiving a full share. That means Penn State and every other school outside of Nebraska is likely bringing in over $24 million through Big Ten revenue sharing.
The Big Ten Network is also continuing to record massive profits. Advertising revenue saw a 20 percent hike in the last year, and the network is now available in more homes outside of Big Ten states than it is inside. You can credit that to demand from national alumni from all 12 schools perhaps. BTN President Mark Silverman also stated that the new digital and mobile platform, BTN2GO, is now seeing over 30 million subscribers.
The message here is clear. The Big Ten is financially stable and benefits form the current system perhaps more than any other conference. No conference has sent more teams to BCS games than the Big Ten, which results in more money than any other conference as well. It is easy to see why the Big Ten would not want to change things up now, even if it is for the good of the game.
If the Big Ten is going to support the status quo, then perhaps it is time to change the status quo.
Anyone else get the sens that ESPN’s Big Ten blogging duo doesn’t much care for the SEC?
Of course, today begins the jury selection process for the Jerry Sandusky trial. The judge has denied any last attempts by the Sandusky team to delay the trial and will be looking for 12 fair-minded individuals an four alternates. Also, the accusers will have to release their names in court and there wil be no live tweeting. Hooray for backwards Pennsylvania laws prohibiting Twitter and live television coverage.
Penn State received a verbal committment from defensive back Neiko Robinson. Robinson is the first player from the state of Florida to commit to Penn State in over a decade. Bill O’Brien said when he took the job that he wants to move recruiting efforts in to the south. With this and Georgia quarterback Steven Bench already on the way, that push has been made.
SCAA Hoops mentioned Nittany Lions Den in their recent list of Twitter suggestions for Big Ten coverage. Our Bloguin pals from The Little Brother Blog and Madtown Badgers also were mentioned.
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