Never say never. The Big XII was a shotgun wedding and Texas isn't happy to be in it, but geographically it's the only thing that makes sense right now. If Colorado joins the Pac 10 or Missouri joins the Big 10, the Big 12 would be dead and Texas would join the Big 10 (SEC academics/sleaziness make that a non-starter).

I really don't get where you guys are coming from with the "Illinois and Wisconsin are so clearly superior to tOSU in academics" stuff.

Clearly UM and NW are at the top, but after that I think

Indiana
tOSU
Illinois
Wisconsin
Iowa

...are all about the same, with varying degrees of strengh in different areas of study.

And yeah, the SEC is unbelievably craptastic academically.

I don't know how i feel about rutgers. let themstay competitive for a decade or so at least in football before I would want them in the B10.

I don't think syracuse would be willing to leave the big east, assuming they would bring their basketball program with them. if it was just for football, maybe, but I doubt that would happen.

I'd like Missouri.
I'd like Nebraska.
I'd think I'd like PItt.

Would not like West Virginia. they don't have any rivalry ties within the conference, seems like a purely location based fit.

I'd rather drop Iowa than add Iowa St.

But then Texas would have to play a decent out of conference team in Oklahoma.

Texas is too far away for it to work well. Football has the budgets for that kind of stuff, but all the smaller sports would increase travel expenses so much for Texas and every other school. Though I would absolutely love having Texas in the Big 10- it would make watching the Buckeyes a ton easier for me. It just reminds me too much of my high school sports conference- we had a bunch of schools all resonably close, then one school that was a 3 hour drive away. It was just a pain in the ass. Eventually they got out of the conference and someone closer was put in. Nebraska and Iowa State would be decent schools to add. Another one that sticks out is Pittsburgh.

Yeah, I always hated the trip to happy valley. We didn't get to fly

Going by USNews Rankings (not the best ratings, but whatever), for top publics its:
Michigan 4
Wisconsin 7
Illinois 10
PSU 15
tOSU 19
Minnesota 22
Iowa 26
Purdue 26
Indiana 30
MSU 30

Riverman- surprised that you thought Indiana was near the top when they are at the bottom here. Although 30th isn't exactly anything shabby at all.

(Miami OH was 26 and Texas was 15).

Would enjoy Pitt, Mizzou, or Nebraska joining.

Devin Gardner MVP of the Cincinnati Scout combine. He competed at QB, DB, and WR. 4.57 40, electronic timed.

was that timed on his or someone else's start? If it was his start, that that time is good, but not otherworldly. If it was a gun start, you can take about .2 off of that to get the time, and that would be crazy.

Pretty much all of the big 10 are good academic schools. Since Michigan and NW are two of the best of the best schools in the country, the rest of the conference doesn't shine as much. Still no one looks down his nose at a degree from a Wisconsin or an Ohios St.

LaMarr Woodley, Wolverine for life...

and hugh jackman!

- Dr Percival Ulysses Cox.

so, this is really the first year (maaybe last year a little) that i've payed attention to recruiting. i knew about 1 or 2 players tops each year (mostly local kids)..

i have a question for any of you that have payed attention for a while, or maybe several..

am i wrong to be getting reeeally excited? i mean, there are a TON of players i'm pumped to get to watch for the next 3+ years. all these names getting thrown out, us going down south and snatching kids away from florida schools and lsu...

is this just my UM bias? i get most of my info from brian at mgoblog, and here. so there's definitely a chance that i'm just getting excited over kids JUST BECAUSE they're going to michigan. but then again, i read everything. the good and the bad. and having a top 10 class means that i'm not being THAT biased, right?

question #3: also, couldn't there be a bit of negative bias, in that we're getting kids to fit a system, and therefore they're 'ranked' lower than they really should be? basically, if these kids are being ranked on their overall ability, that doesn't take into account specific talents that will fit perfectly into rrod's system?

there are just sooo many names that i'm familiar with, and it's not even the summer before their freshman year. this is a relatively new thing for me, and i'm wondering if some of yall that have payed attention to this thing before have been burnt more often than not buying into the hype...

question for you wiper, and im not trolling. why did you become a michigan fan instead of an ohio st fan, living in ohio?

also is there more michigan or ohio st fans in your area?

The number of Michigan fans living in Ohio >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Ohio State fans living in Michigan for whatever reason.

osu to michigan fans around here are a 100:1 ratio.

my mom could tell you this exact story, when i was 6 or 7, i was at a garage sale and saw a michigan hat. bought it, and never took it off the entire summer.

then i found out my dad rooted for osu, and i thought it'd be fun to root against them.

from that point on, i've lived and died with them. as much as i'd probably rather see the indians win a title, saturdays in the fall, i root harder for michigan than any of my other teams.

it helps that i live amongst all these ****s bothering me all the time..

i know about 4, including me.

me, my best friend, his brother, and....well i GOTTA know somebody else! oh, one other guy i used to teach with.

and my fiancee roots for them too even though her brother went to osu and still lives there..she realizes her saturday nights are dependent upon what happens in the afternoon..

i know there are virtually NO buckeye fans in michigan, but trust me, michigan fans in my neck of the woods are few and faaaaar between. i'll occassionally run into someone wearing a michigan t-shirt, and i'll always give the headnod, because it's so rare..

Yeah...if Texas goes anywhere, it might look west and join the Pac-10 (there was a thread on that a while ago), or maybe it would even go independent. Their football program makes more than enough to pay for all the other sports, and they ought to be able to land a sweet TV deal if Notre Dame still can.

and while i'm on it...the ones i DO run into wearing michigan really don't know much.

they know they hate osu.

they know they like michigan.

but as far as remembering games and/or players and/or recruits...notsomuch.

Not at all. Rod's first full class coming off a 3-9 season was really, really strong and the 2010 class has the potential to be quite a bit better. Hopefully, he can fill some of the defensive needs and make that happen. He does need to get his players to fit his system and I am anxious to see how things run once that happens. There have been massive speed upgrades made all over the place.

There are definitely reasons to be excited about Michigan football right now. I really, really like the direction the program is going. It's not just the kids, but the culture, the attitude, the increased involvement of former players, perfect timing for stadium renovation and facility upgrades, etc.

I get excited over the kids too, but they are the BEST kids in the world because they play for Michigan, LDO.

For some of the lower-rated undersized guys, this is definitely true. Take a guy like Vincent Smith, for example. He's pretty freaking small but he's already shown signs this spring of being an absolute stud. 3* kids from Florida usually >>> 3* kids from the Midwest.

There are always busts and there are always diamonds-in-the-rough. I look forward to seeing the new kids on the field every year as much as anything.

I grew up in Michigan and have only been in Columbus for four years but I have met 10x more Michigan fans down here than OSU fans up there. I knew maybe a half-dozen OSU fans in Michigan. Four of them were from the same family and the dad played for Woody.

thanks for the responses, i figured i wasn't the only one, just had to make sure!

my brother in law lives down there and works trauma at osu medical center (i think), and he says there are a LOT more michigan fans in columbus than up here near youngstown..

i know last time i was down there, i wore something michigan both days, and expected to be harassed, but i actually had more michigan fans come up to me than osu...

it's a brotherhood. a stand against the evil empire. a snag on the sweatervest, if you will..

There's an ultrasound tech in the middle of motts children's hospital who cheered for OSU. It was weird to see a bunch of OSU stuff on campus. I decided I didn't like him much either because the test he ran got me a night of observation in the hospital.

Toledo is what makes Ohio more pro-Michigan. There is no city in Michigan that is that pro-OSU.

I only know of 3 Buckeye fans here in Michigan and 2 of them are transplants.

I think in the Toledo area it's a 50/50 split.