Badger Bits: Bielema talks home-and-home with Notre Dame
by Adam Hoge on Apr 7, 2010 12:20 PM CDT
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PrintRumors of a home-and-home between Wisconsin and Notre Dame seem to swirl every year, but this time it is Bret Bielema that stirred the pot -- and it wasn't just the Irish he was talking about.
In a tweet Tuesday, Bielema wrote: "Trying to lock up a home and home contest with Notre Dame or Nebraska for the future (home 2012 away 2015). Would be fun for WI fans."
It's no coincidence that Notre Dame and Nebraska are the two schools Barry Alvarez has ties to, which is why either school has appeared to be a natural non-conference opponent for years now. The sticking point in these deals with big schools always seems to be which school gets the home game first, and based on Bielema's tweet, he obviously wants the home game in 2012.
Blake Geoffrion was named Inside College Hockey's Player of the Year Wednesday. He is also one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, which will be announced Friday.
Wisconsin arrived in Detroit Tuesday for the Frozen Four, which gets underway Thursday when UW takes on RIT at 4 p.m. CT.
And if you missed it, Brian Butch has made the NBA. He will join the Denver Nuggets for the rest of the season after a very impressive stint in the NBDL.
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Nebraska?
It’s going to look like a scrimmage out there!
www.californiagoldenblogs.com... A cacophony of colloquially contemporary commentary...
Personally I think the ND series is unlikely
If nationalchamps.net is correct, the Irish already have 5 games away from Notre Dame Stadium in 2012. Only 6 games at home seems a little light, and I’m not sure ND would want that.
Honestly, I don't think either school would be OK with playing the first game of the home-and-home on the road.
Bucky's 5th Quarter. SB Nation's Wisconsin Badgers community.
I don't think it's a matter of not wanting to play the first game on the road for us,
I think it’s more that we aren’t interested in playing 2 nonconference road games against BCS opponents in one year (or probably 2 nonconference road games period). When you assume that, we’d have to uproot the schedule we currently have to allow ourselves to go to ND before 2015:
2011: schedule filled up
2012: @ Oregon State
2013: @ Arizona State
2014: @ Washington State
I've been saying this for a while:
if the Big Ten really does want Notre Dame to join the conference, they should ask all member schools to cease scheduling them until they agree to play in the context of a league schedule. The Big Ten currently props up a quarter of the Irish’s schedule i.e. we’re enabling them to continue jilting us.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
But how many Big Ten teams are willing to give up the paycheck that comes with those Notre Dame games? I agree with your logic, but ND has way too much clout financially to cater to those kind of demands…
www.californiagoldenblogs.com... A cacophony of colloquially contemporary commentary...
What kind of paycheck do they get?
Are you telling me Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue would be unable to find any takers? They play in the Big Freakin’ Ten for God’s sake! They may not all be great programs, but the Big Ten = money, and that’s clear to pretty much everyone right now. Ditch Notre Dame as a collective and see how long it takes for them to come calling. As has been well documented in the Big Ten expansion talk, Indiana and Northwestern make 8 million more per season than the Irish do from TV revenue.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Apr 8, 2010 5:49 PM CDT up reply actions
No, you can`t exactly point to the check that ND would pay these schools to come into South Bend. What I meant was that scheduling Notre Dame gives these schools a chance to advertise themselves at a national level, something that perhaps Indiana or Northwestern couldn`t do scheduling a Boston College or a Utah. National networks push the marquee matchups for ratings, therefore, scheduling marquee teams is the way to boost your school`s brand and enhance revenue. There just isn`t that much national interest in regional matchups, and i`m not saying this to be an ass, it`s just the way it is. Notre Dame, just like the USCs and Floridas of college football, pull national attention, transcending regional and alumnus borders.
California Golden Blogs... A cacophony of colloquially contemporary commentary...
There is no way to say this without sounding arrogant
but that is the thinking of a school still living off the old model of television revenue (the Notre Dame or even Pac 10 model, if you will). The Big Ten Network makes money on a subscription basis and, since it is carried on basic cable in almost every market in which it is available, everyone is subscribing. Networks are slaves to advertising revenue; they need Nebraska vs. Texas while a crap BTN game featuring Wisconsin against Indiana will prove even more profitable to the participants regardless of profile or record. Again, in regards to the Big Ten, you’re talking about a league whose members include nine of the 15 largest universities in the country. If you somehow think Michigan, the winningest program in the history of the sport and academic giant, needs Notre Dame to help them “get their name out there”…well, sorry, there’s not a lot I can do for you.
You also cite tradition as a key component for their reticence and reference their three “traditional” California rivals as being equally important to propping up Notre Dame’s schedule. Um, how are you arriving at that number? You’ll get no argument for me that USC is their major rival, but to name Stanford a “traditional” rival is being charitable. That series began in 1988 and has been played most years, not annually, since its inception (less frequently than the Michigan series, which began a few years prior to that). And unless they’re secretly scheduling games against Fresno State played in an underground stadium, I’m not finding a third California school on that list. You want to talk about tradition? Michigan State and Purdue have been on the Irish’s schedule since the early 1960’s. Those are traditional rivals.
I would think Notre Dame is capable of reading the writing on the wall. Their once-sweet, now antiquated TV deal is more and more in jeopardy with each passing, sub-par year (not to mention the peril NBC finds itself in after being acquired by…a cable company!). Their AD has come out and all but announced they will be open to the idea of joining a conference. Again, the Big Ten holds all the cards and would be wise to play them decisively.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Apr 9, 2010 6:10 PM CDT up reply actions
Their once-sweet, now antiquated TV deal is more and more in jeopardy with each passing, sub-par year (not to mention the peril NBC finds itself in after being acquired by…a cable company!)
You make some good points. I see further into your logic now, and it makes more sense. I appreciate the information, because I really hadn’t thought of it that way.
California Golden Blogs... A cacophony of colloquially contemporary commentary...
by Maisbikkja on Apr 10, 2010 12:30 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
In many ways it's really not fair for me to get exasperated with you
because, as a Big Ten fan, expansion talk made the term “hot button item” sound boring for a while. It was everywhere, with every angle, candidate and detail of current and potential arrangements out there for all to see at every turn. There were so many articles, threads, manifestos from Frank the Tank, etc. that even a Big Ten layperson likely now holds a much firmer grasp on the topic than serious fans in other parts of the country. It’s an intriguing argument/concept, and one that is far from dying down: all conversation has centered around the Big Ten, Big XII, Big East, Notre Dame and, to a lesser extent, the Pac 10, but there is no way the ACC and SEC will sit around and do nothing (whether in a preemptive or reactionary role remains to be seen). Either way, sorry if I copped a bit of an attitude with you, this is obviously a topic that gets me going!
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Apr 10, 2010 9:46 AM CDT up reply actions
Either way, sorry if I copped a bit of an attitude with you
Don`t worry about it. I can understand where you`re coming from. In actuality, my knowledge of a true Big Ten fanbase is still in it`s infancy (really just started paying closer attention this past season, getting married to a Badger fan in October).
It seems to me that the trend lately for all conferences is shuffling teams. There has also been widespread talk of Pac 10 expansion for revenue`s sake, because the P10`s current contract isn`t going to sustain it after it’s reneg period two years from now. Basically, the buzz going around is about bringing in most likely Colorado and Utah to expand to those markets. We actually have a pretty good article about the whole deal on CGB, if you wanted to browse.
But back to topic, wouldn’t it be controversial for Notre Dame to join the Big Ten, when it competes in the Big East for all other sports?
California Golden Blogs... A cacophony of colloquially contemporary commentary...
Notre Dame expansion to the Big Ten
wouldn’t be all that revolutionary because 1) football drives the bus at all but a handful of major universities (and ND has stronger football ties to the Big Ten than the Big East), 2)Big East affiliation is still in its relative infancy (early 90’s, much like the equally unstable Big XII), and 3)The Big East is such a meat-grinder of a basketball league because it’s not only huge but features a majority of members that throw a disproportionate amount of funding to their hoops programs (an oddity amongst the other “BCS” leagues); Notre Dame has very good basketball teams almost every season and never sniffs the title, a frustrating situation.
Pac 10 expansion is such an interesting phenomenon because the league is clearly in danger of falling so far behind the Big Ten and the SEC in terms of revenue that all but a few elites (USC, UCLA, Oregon) could become all but irrelevant on a national level. In past expansion cycles, Colorado, Utah and even Texas have all been strongly considered. Unfortunately for the rest of the Pac 10, a unanimous vote in favor of expansion must be made, and Stanford remains staunchly against the prospect.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Apr 10, 2010 11:41 AM CDT up reply actions
Sadly I have to agree with you. The Big Ten is earning twice as much revenue as the Pac on a yearly basis, and it`s only going to get worse. People are protesting spending on sports programs on the west coast with more and more vigor, and without an influx in capital gained from these contracts, we may lose more than our shirts in terms of intercollegiate sports teams. Football, as in just about every other part of the country, is the main earner for us, and with the conference standing on the precipice of getting back into the mix with all of the other juggernaut programs, this could set the Pac back a decade or more. Expansion and Networking seem maybe the only way of competing.
California Golden Blogs... A cacophony of colloquially contemporary commentary...
And there's the rub.
The Big Ten knows that expansion is only worthwhile if it presents the opportunity to increase revenue. Unfortunately for the Pac 10, geography is a major hindrance to expansion potential because the Western half of the country remains sparsely populated (except the coast, which would just further split Pac 10 earning potential) relative to the Eastern half. The Big Ten has many options while the Pac 10 is limited to a few, rather unappetizing choices.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Apr 10, 2010 2:20 PM CDT up reply actions
As far as Notre Dame’s income, they`re going to make their money, regardless of who signs the contract to play them, or where.
If the B10 decides to collectively cut them off from that stream of revenue, I can`t see ND pouting and giving in. If anything, they start packing up the team bags and playing south of the Mason-Dixon line. I see them staying mainly in the midwest and their three traditional opponents in California based on that alone – tradition. Schools as unprogressive as they produce alumni just as unprogressive, set in their ways, and always ready to drop off donation funding to coerce the direction of the program. Basically, I see them staying put as independent.
California Golden Blogs... A cacophony of colloquially contemporary commentary...
How exactly is Notre Dame jilting us?
I don’t think they owe us anything. It would be one thing if they were taking BCS bids from Big Ten teams, but that really isn’t the case. The current setup seems fine the way it is. If it makes sense for Notre Dame to join the Big Ten, they will join. You noted they’d gain more TV revenue, but they might lose alumni donations over the backlash of joining a conference.
They already did.
Back around 2000 Notre Dame very publicly embarrassed Jim Delany & Co. by stringing the league along only to rebuff them at the last minute. And you have furthered an argument as why not to play them; due to Notre Dame’s sweet deal with the BCS they require a bare minimum of wins to be invited. Just because Notre Dame hasn’t taken a BCS bowl bid from the Big Ten doesn’t mean that they couldn’t, it just hasn’t worked out that way yet.
Furthermore, you’re (presumably) a Big Ten fan; why do you care what’s good for Notre Dame at this time? It’s obvious that, if they choose to only add one team, Notre Dame is the school which would bring the league the most good (outside of pie-in-the-sky Texas, of course). The Big Ten finds themselves in a real position of strength, why wouldn’t you want them to use it?
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Apr 9, 2010 3:57 PM CDT up reply actions
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