Big Ten +1 Will Remain Only +1

Joe Paterno wants few things in life, a good football team, to see an automobile replace the horse and buggy, fresh and unsoiled drawers, and another team in the Big Ten. The Commish of the Big Ten though shot him down.

A guy from ESPN who looks like Wormser (I kid you not, click on the links) breaks down some legit pros and cons of Big Ten expansion. I'm not sure if he is also still working on a javelin to work well with Lamar Latrell's limp-wristed throwing style or not.

PROS

• A 12th member ensures a championship game, which would bring in revenue and exposure for a league that often becomes an afterthought after Thanksgiving.
• Regardless of whether it helps the teams, a championship game would be a marketing boon for the league. Fan support is not a problem in the Big Ten.
• Big Ten teams heading to BCS bowls would have the same layoffs as their opponents in those games. Ohio State didn't play for 50 days before crumbling in the 2007 national title game against Florida, which had only 36 days off.
  
• A 12th member could expand the Big Ten's brand to another region of the country, possibly even the New York/New Jersey market with Rutgers or Syracuse. Expansion also could reignite old rivalries like Penn State-Pitt.
  

CONS

• The division alignment could present problems, and scheduling might be an even bigger headache than it already is. Annual rivalries could disappear or be marginalized. Would one division include Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State? How do you split them up? There might be a lesson to be learned with the Big 12 South last year.
  
• The 12th member can't just be a fit for football, but also for other sports as well as academics, geography, etc. Notre Dame is the obvious fit, but the Big Ten twice tried to add the Fighting Irish, and it didn't work. There isn't another school nearly as obvious as Notre Dame, which, from a business perspective, has no reason to relinquish its independent status.
  
• As Delany points out, it's important to study other leagues that have expanded and added championship games. Is the ACC really better off with more teams and a title game? The Big Ten still plays more BCS bowl games than any other league and gets its teams to the national title game.