Hello There, Guest! (LoginRegister)

Post Reply 
A League Ahead: Inside the Big Ten's return to the top of college football
Author Message
Bookmark and Share
Transic_nyc Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 2,401
Joined: Jun 2014
Reputation: 194
I Root For: Return To Stability
Location:
Post: #1
A League Ahead: Inside the Big Ten's return to the top of college football
http://www.si.com/college-football/2016/...ll-revival

Excerpts:

Quote:When Meyer arrived at Ohio State at the end of the 2011 season, the work of improving the conference had already begun. Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith says it was a continuous topic of discussion among Big Ten ADs. They moved toward a nine-game league schedule, eliminating one September nonconference cupcake. And, Smith says, "we talked more about making sure we all had the investments necessary in recruiting."

Investments require capital, and two of the conference's apparent cash grabs—the creation of the Big Ten Network, and the 2014 addition of Rutgers and Maryland—changed the trajectory of the league.

The network helped drive league revenue to unprecedented levels; the Big Ten brought in $448.8 million in 2014-15, almost $110 million more than it had the year before. Schools have plowed that money back into facilities, support staff and coaching salaries. ("Legitimate facilities for student-athletes," Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis says, "not the one that is being built for a recruiting photo.") And the revenue cushion allows Big Ten schools to be patient with coaches instead of making quick moves to placate anxious fan bases.

Meyer says, "You have to sell something you believe in. And that starts with the facilities, hiring an excellent coaching staff and paying the coaches too. When people say 'commitment,' I'm not sure they know how much it means."

Rutgers and Maryland are nobody's idea of national football powers, but when the Big Ten proclaimed that they expanded the conference's "footprint," it was not just TV jargon. The league's recruiting base expanded in crucial ways. Michigan's two highest-rated recruits in recent years, do-everything Jabrill Peppers and defensive lineman Rashan Gary, are from New Jersey. Ohio State's dynamic receiver Curtis Samuel is from New York City.

And while the Big Ten's recruiting area is still not as rich in talent as the South, the Big Ten has an advantage over the SEC: It owns its real estate almost exclusively. Notre Dame is the only non-Big Ten school in Big Ten territory that can realistically contend for national titles. The SEC shares the South with ACC powers Florida State, Miami and Clemson.

Suddenly, the Midwest is a great place to be.

But some folks already knew that: Big Ten coaches.

Quote:Alvarez points out that when the Big Ten initially split into divisions, he was unhappy with Wisconsin's placement, "but I accepted that, because it was best for our league." You never hear Ohio State or Michigan demand a bigger cut of TV revenue just because they are the league's two biggest TV draws. The Buckeyes' Smith says, "We don't want that. We want Pat Fitzgerald, who is one of the best coaches in this country, to have the resources to stay relevant."

Smith says if Ohio State had asked for more TV money, "we would have fragmented the league." We know this is true because it is exactly what happened to the Big 12.

Texas was not content being the Big 12's premier program. Texas wanted to effectively run the league, have its own independent TV channel (the Longhorn Network) and cut the largest piece of pie for itself. In doing that, Texas ignored the old business maxim: Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.

Three of the Big 12's most valuable programs—Nebraska, Texas A&M and Missouri—felt alienated and bolted for other conferences. That weakened the Big 12, and the Longhorns have not been good for seven years. Texas will surely return to contention, but the lousy Big 12 has made the task harder, not easier. Texas wanted to be the biggest star, but it just ended up with a smaller stage.

Hollis says, "If you can surround yourself with greatness, you become a better individual over the long run. That's what the Big Ten is all about and always has been. You can be the greatest athletic department in the world, and if you're the only one, what does that do for you? Your value comes from your interactions with other institutions, other programs."
12-10-2016 11:30 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


brista21 Offline
The Birthplace of College Football
*

Posts: 10,042
Joined: Apr 2005
Reputation: 262
I Root For: Rutgers
Location: North Jersey

Donators
Post: #2
RE: A League Ahead: Inside the Big Ten's return to the top of college football
The Big Ten is a well-run organization. Even when the decisions seem odd or things aren't going outstanding in the short-term, you can be sure that long-term things will be very, very good.
12-12-2016 04:50 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 




User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


Copyright © 2002-2024 Collegiate Sports Nation Bulletin Board System (CSNbbs), All Rights Reserved.
CSNbbs is an independent fan site and is in no way affiliated to the NCAA or any of the schools and conferences it represents.
This site monetizes links. FTC Disclosure.
We allow third-party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit our web site. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice or to opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.networkadvertising.org.
Powered By MyBB, © 2002-2024 MyBB Group.