Big Ten - 12th Team?

There may already a Big 12, but the Big Ten is, once again, chomping at the bit to add a 12th team, and this time they may be dead serious. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany is expected to make a statement today at 4pm regarding expanding the conference. The move is likely being made to cut football into two, six-team divisions where the winners would play each other in a conference championship. It has been estimated this could add an additional $5 million in annual revenue for the conference, and also help with prestige, and bowl game rust.

I'm all for a 12th team, but I'm really undecided on who it should be, and whether the conference can afford to settle. The Big Ten and Delany would clearly love to hit the homerun with Notre Dame, but the Irish last turned down the offer in the late-90's, and aren't likely to come back to the table. It's really a shame, considering Notre Dame could definitely benefit from joining the Big Ten rather than living in their independent past. After the Irish, there are a bunch of Big East schools, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Louisville, and Rutgers, that could be potential matches. I have my issues with each of them, mainly fan support related, but I'll definitely post again after the news conference later and let you know where I stand on the announcement.