Rumor: Pitt Joining the Big Ten

[FedEx227]

I guess the appeal of having a Big Ten title game, but honestly that doesn't benefit them all that much besides the extra revenue from another game.

As it stands now they have a better chance of making the National Title game without the conference matchup at the end of the year.

Plus I can't imagine the other 11 teams are really going to be in joy about sharing more Big Ten Network revenue with as Senser put it "another mouth"

[Sven Draconian]

Pitt adds a two things.

1) A major sports market
2) Success in both major sports.

Dividing the conference into divisions also makes sense so you don't get wildly uneven scheduling (Remember when the Big 10 champ never played Ohio State or Michigan a few years back?) and you get to foster tighter rivalries. You get the benefits of a small conference, but the prestiege of the big ones. Perfect setup.

Pitt allows the Big 10 to add some depth. Too many bad programs in each sport. Northwestern, Pudue, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State and Minnesotta are just bad football programs. They may have a standout season here and there, but they've been consistantly bad for too long.

That's an 11 team conference with 6 bad teams (on a year to year basis). Let alone now that Michigan is down. That leaves Ohio State and Penn State. Iowa and Wisconsin are good programs, but they aren't annual contenders.

The Big 10 is hoping that Pitt can slide into the Iowa/Wisconsin grouping of good progams. Win between 8-10 games a year, win some bowl games and threaten for the conference a couple times a decade. Obviously they wanted Notre Dame, but the Golden Domers have no interest in joining the conference.

Unfortunately, I don't really see Pitt as that program. Ohio State and Michigan already steal recruits from Pennsylvania...and Penn State is already the big brother. It's only going to get worse once the difference is played out on the field, yearly. Pitt should compete initially because they still have some talent and they can use this new Big 10 status for a few years. Eventually though, the annual losses to Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan (plus having to deal with Wisconsin and Iowa) are going to take a toll.

Pitt fans....Michigan State football is your future.

[Senser81]

Pitt allows the Big 10 to add some depth. Too many bad programs in each sport. Northwestern, Pudue, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State and Minnesotta are just bad football programs.

Funny how Michigan State used to routinely kick Pitt's ass only a couple seasons ago. The last time Pitt was relevant in football was when they had Dan Marino at QB.

[SuperKevin]

This makes sense more for basketball than it does for football I think.

[NAHSTE]

This makes sense more for basketball than it does for football I think.

This. Pittsburgh is a solid hoops program that already plays a brutal brand of basketball that will fit right in with the Big Tweleven.

On the football field, I'm not so sure, since their biggest recruiting draw was always "We have a really easy path to an auto BCS bid" and now they're gonna be competing with tOSU, Penn St. and Michigan for recruits, asking these recruits to come play for a 4th or 5th place team. One that is coached by Wannstedt.

[Senser81]

Seriously? Michigan? Rich Rod hasn't done much of anything with the program. They aren't that good. I mean you speak of all the teams in the Big 10 and really Penn State and Ohio State are really the only "good" teams in the conference. Michigan, Iowa, Wisonsin, Michigan State border closer to mediocre than to good. Pitt will be a decent addition, much better than any other team they were looking at bringing in. I think they will be competitors most years. They aren't nor will they ever have the tradition to draw in the players that the Buckeyes or Michigan or Penn State will draw in and thats not gonna be from being a bad team or from losses but merely due to tradition. Its almost like saying you expect Texas Tech to get the recruits and be yearly competitors in the Big 12 but they aren't gonna get many if any recruits from Texas, Oklahoma, or Nebraska.

Lets look at Scouts top recruiting rankings:

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Alabama
5. Auburn
6. Penn State
7. LSU
8. Washington
9. Michigan
10. Oklahoma State
11. Georgia
12. Pitt
13. Texas A&M
14. Stanford
15. UCLA
16. Tennessee
17. Ohio State
18. Miami
19. USC
20. Florida State

I mean look at that, most all of those teams have good history to them and even at that, look Pitt is right there with everyone. I mean I don't expect them to play and compete at high levels but I think you are thinking way too highly of this conference that Pitt would come in and be a loser year in and year out....

Possibly one of the worst NFL/NCAA postings I have ever read. The wasted effort put into this posting is only equaled by its stupidity.

[Senser81]

Point is that you are over ranking your conference. You think much too highly of the teams than what they are.

No, the point is twofold...

One, I don't need Scout's top recruiting rankings to tell me the Big 10 is better than the Big East in football. Two, its funny how your measure of Pitt's excellence is their recruiting ranking, and its STILL below Michigan's.

Fail.

[FirstTimer]

No, the point is twofold...

One, I don't need Scout's top recruiting rankings to tell me the Big 10 is better than the Big East in football. Two, its funny how your measure of Pitt's excellence is their recruiting ranking, and its STILL below Michigan's.

Fail.

Not to mention in the ranking he just posted only 2 of the seasons (2007 and 2002) had the Big East ahead of the Big 10 in recruiting.

Does this idiot even look at the shit he posts?

[jHammack]

Pitt being in the Big East drains from their recruiting right now and they are still in the top 25 (top 30) every year since Wannstedt has became coach. Most kids want to play in the top major conferences, Big 10 with the history it has is one of them which will make it an even better recruiting tool for Pitt. Pitt gets a lot of people from Jersey and New York (Dion Lewis) and they get a lot of talent inside of PA. So before you start saying that they don't get players, you should really check what you're saying.

Yes, Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan take players from PA, however, Pitt takes players from Ohio, NY, NJ, Maryland, PA, FL etc. They aren't limited to PA and they continue to get good players. Pitt will be just fine recruiting wise because Dave Wannstedt, actually does that right. Cignetti is also a great recruiter and Pitt will continue to get better.

And the person that said that Pitt's biggest "draw" is playing in the Big East is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Kids want to be playing where they get a lot of exposure, which the Big 10 brings, therefore the recruiting of Pitt will improve rather than decline.

Funny how Michigan State used to routinely kick Pitt's ass only a couple seasons ago. The last time Pitt was relevant in football was when they had Dan Marino at QB.

Funny because the last time Pitt played a Big 10 opponent they won. Not to mention, Pitt was in the shitty era of having no players because Walt didn't recruit and saying Pitt routinely got their ass beat (They played twice, one was a 15 point win and one was a 4 point victory) is a false statement because 2 times is hardly a routine.


----

The point is that Pitt football was down for awhile, but its coming back. Wannstedt might not be the greatest coach of all time, but the guy can recruit. Not to mention he finally got rid of the moron named Matt Cavanaugh and brought in someone with talent at the OC position. Pitt might not contend for National Titles every year, but they will contend for Big 10 titles as long as Wannstedt and Co continue to recruit well.

[JeremyHight]

Point is that you are over ranking your conference. You think much too highly of the teams than what they are. Okay how about this:

Conference recruiting Rankings:

Class of 2010:
1. SEC
2. Pac-10
3. Big 12
4. BIG TEN

2009:
1.SEC
2. Pac 10
3. ACC
4. BIG TEN

2008:
1. SEC
2. Pac 10
3. ACC
4. BIG TEN

2007:
1. SEC
2. Pac 10
3. ACC
4. Big 12
5. Big East
6. BIG TEN

2006
1. SEC
2. Pac 10
3. Big 12
4. ACC
5. BIG TEN

2005:
1. SEC
2. ACC
3. Pac 10
4. Big Ten

2004:
1. SEC
2. ACC
3. Pac 10
4 BIG TEN

2003:
1. SEC
2. ACC
3. Pac 10
4. Big 12
5. BIG TEN

2002:
1. SEC
2. Big 12
3. PAC-10
4. ACC
5. Big East
6. BIG TEN

... so you are somehow arguing that just because the Big Ten doesn't get as good of a recruiting class (ranking wise), they aren't as good of a conference? Funny that they are consistently out-recruited by the ACC, but they are a terrible conference. There are plenty of years that the ACC actually beats the Big XII and those two conferences are light years apart.

Recruiting rankings only mean that the recruits coming in are ranked highly by some guy when they arrive. How they develop from then on is a completely different matter. Several of those conferences listed above are known for getting great recruits and having quite a few of them bust. Some of the biggest game changers in the game were not highly ranked recruits when they came out of High School.

[Vinsane]

Prepare to get groaned by at least Hasselbeck, likely more.

Oh noes?! :yawn:

They annually buttrape other conferences (Pac 10 especially) who underestimate them, so yeah, they're legit.

All-time bowl records between the Mountain West and other conferences.

MWC vs. ACC 1-0
MWC vs. Big 12 1-0
MWC vs. Big East 1-2
MWC vs. C-USA 5-4
MWC vs. MAC 1-1
MWC vs. Pac-10 6-5 (butt rape?)
MWC vs. SEC 2-0
MWC vs. Sun Belt 1-0
MWC vs. WAC 6-2
MWC vs. Independents 1-2

And yet, never played the Big Ten in a Bowl Game.

[Senser81]

And the person that said that Pitt's biggest "draw" is playing in the Big East is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Kids want to be playing where they get a lot of exposure, which the Big 10 brings, therefore the recruiting of Pitt will improve rather than decline.

I think the point is that Pitt is basically guaranteed a bowl appearance by virtue of playing in the weak Big East, and sometimes they even luck into a BCS bowl when, if they had played in any other conference, would not have happened. I believe when Alex Smith was at Utah they faced a 6-5 Pitt team in a BCS bowl...garbage.

If Pitt goes into the Big10, they no longer are guaranteed a bowl appearance, which would limit their exposure.

I remember when Penn State was admitted to the Big10, people were saying that they would replace Ohio St/Michigan atop the Big10 mountain....but, aside from their great 1994 team, Penn State became a very mediocre program, basically NEVER competing with Ohio State and Michigan and falling behind Wisconsin and Iowa.

[Woy]

That Pitt team was 8-4, Senser. However, it took overtime for them to beat Furman.

[jHammack]

They were 8-4 actually...

Guaranteed? Penn State played 3 cupcakes, lost to Ohio State and Iowa and still made a pretty good bowl game. Where Pitt played 2 tougher opponents out of conference and traveled to their rivals field (Ohio State was home this year). Pitt won 10 games this year and they would have won 8-9-10 in the Big 10 this year and still went to a good bowl game.

Yes, generally the Big 10 is tougher, however I don't think Pitt will have a problem especially because playing Penn State each year will increase the amount of players they take from Penn State.

[nesper]

What would the Big10 have to gain by adding Pitt? Its just another mouth to feed. They have pretty good athletics, but they weren't/aren't Penn State when it comes to football tradition. And, perhaps more importantly, Pitt doesn't have the academic prestige of most Big10 institutions.

Unless its Notre Dame, I don't see the Big10 adding another team any time soon.

as far as academics go pitt meets the requirements. which is being a member of this.

http://www.aau.edu/about/article.aspx?id=5474