(02-24-2018 03:47 AM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  Do you think at some point the Big Ten presidents will stop pandering to Delany's obsession with all things East Coast? or is this really the only strategy the B1G has?

NYC makes a lot more sense for the ACC (with BC and Syracuse where they are), and I'm not even sure THAT is such a good idea. The college teams which are really close to NYC are in the Big East (although wit Syracuse and BC in the ACC, I doubt that tournament ever recaptures the old atmosphere)

To an outsider looking in, Chicago just makes so much sense for the Big Ten basketball tournament. Maybe Indianapolis, with an occasional trip to Philadelphia or Washington to appease Penn State / Rutgers / Maryland fans? Sure, NYC has lots of B1G alumni (as well as ACC, SEC, and Big XII alumni), but it's just outside the Big Ten footprint - even assuming the league can get a venue during the normal week.

Thoughts?

The Big Ten has the Midwest on lock-down. They want to expand into areas they don't have an iron grip on. Based on geography, that would either move through the Dakotas into Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and into the Pacific coast, down the Mississippi into Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana area, the Ohio Valley area of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia area, or the Northeast. Based on demographics, the Northeast makes the most sense at this time. Delany is probably doing what the presidents want, not the other way around.

If Rutgers got any sort of momentum for men's basketball for any length of time, I think they could really turn some heads in New York City. Penn State is never terrible but they are almost never good enough to make the NCAA tournament and can't get a real following (plus their football is a juggernaut that everyone focuses on). If the right schools did well enough for a decent length of time, New York City would be the Big Ten's but shared with others. I don't think the ACC is stronger there. Boston College is basically Rutgers but further away and without the potential. Syracuse is the biggest NYC draw for the ACC (and is a good one) but that's about it. Duke and North Carolina have the brand to draw but that's true of anywhere. If Michigan State and Indiana were both highly ranked, they'd do well in NYC as well. The Big Ten wasn't going to be huge in NYC overnight. They are playing the long game.