Shatel: KU better fit than Mizzou for Big Ten
By Tom Shatel
WORLD-HERALD COLUMNIST
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany says the league won't be "reactive" if the Big 12 falls into the earth. I believe him. For now.
Delany won't act for two reasons. One, he's not in a hurry to become the first "super conference." Same with Mike Slive of the SEC. They'll sit back and let Larry Scott of the Pac-whatever carry around the baggage as the man who blew up the world. That's why there won't be super conferences anytime soon.
Second, the Big Ten is going to wait on Notre Dame. Will the Irish eventually come around to the Big Ten's way of thinking? If the only road to a national championship is being a member of a super conference, you bet your Golden Dome they will.
If 16 is the magic number, here's what the Big Ten should do: add Notre Dame, Boston College, Syracuse and Kansas.
BC gives you the New England market and helps coax the Irish in. Syracuse gives you New York (city and upstate), which Rutgers can't. KU?
Missouri is a name that still comes up with the Big Ten, and this time it's not the Tigers floating it. Still, I could see the Big Ten being more attracted to Kansas.
Sure, there's the Kansas City market. MU can't deliver it. KC is a KU town. A KU hoops town. Also, you bring the Hawkers in for the same reason the Huskers were invited: KU brings a national brand to the Big Ten Network, in hoops, of course. But hoops is a point of pride in the league. Add Kansas and Syracuse? That's the No. 1 league in college hoops.
The Big Ten won't go after Oklahoma, because it brings along Oklahoma State in its luggage. Texas? No TV rating is worth that trouble. And then there's the Longhorn Network. Is that thing on yet?
http://www.omaha.com/article/2011090...ou-for-big-ten