Brewster Favors
Big Ten Expansion
Gophers football coach Tim Brewster
told Sports Headliners he’s “excited” about the possibility of
the Big Ten Conference adding a 12th school, creating two six-team divisions and playing a league championship game in December. He
said it all could happen in the “not too distant future.”
These potential historic changes were
discussed earlier this spring at a meeting of the conference’s football
coaches. While no vote was taken, nor policy statement developed,
Brewster said he didn’t “sense any negativity” toward the possible
changes that would include the Big Ten’s first membership change since
about 20 years ago when Penn State became the 11th conference
school.
“It was discussed at length by our coaches
at the most recent Big Ten meetings,” Brewster said. “I don’t know that
(conference commissioner) Jim (Delany) has stepped out and
has a particular stance at this point but I know that it’s certainly
been something that has been tossed around and discussed. And I think
as we look at things to help our conference that’s certainly got to be
something that we entertain seriously.”
The Big 12 and the Southeastern
Conference, both with 12 teams, have two divisions and play a league
title game between the division champions. Brewster thinks “other
conferences” have moved ahead of the Big Ten with their December
marketing exposure and playing time for their teams.
No doubt Brewster, who seemingly thinks
about recruiting 24-7, likes the idea of high school prospects watching
a Big Ten showcase game. And then there’s bowl game preparation, too,
nearer to the dates of those games. The Big Ten’s bowl record in 2008-09 was 1-6 with losses that included
prestigious bowls like the Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl.
“With our season ending the middle of
November basically, there’s a long way (to bowl season),” Brewster
said. “You look at our bowl records and they haven’t been as positive.
You’d like to think that continuing to play into the month of December
would certainly help us as we prepare to play a game in January. And
again particularly from an exposure standpoint there’s no way to put a
price, a dollar value on a nationally televised Saturday evening Big Ten
championship game.”
Adding a team from the population heavy
East seems likely for when and if expansion comes. Syracuse,
Pittsburgh, Boston College have been mentioned but Brewster said
“probably Rutgers makes the most sense." The school is only a short
drive from New York City, has vastly improved its football program and
has the strong academics the Big Ten likes. “I am not stumping for
Rutgers by any means but that market is certainly appealing,” Brewster
said.
The Gophers would most likely be in a Western
Division that included Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Northwestern. The
sixth school is the most difficult to speculate upon but whatever the
mix is, it appeals to Brewster. “I am fully in favor of a two-division
conference with an eventual champion being crowned on the field,” he
said.
Brewster also said he hasn’t seen the
“true decision makers” (the commissioner and conference presidents)
voice their position on conference expansion and a December title game.
He wouldn’t speculate as to whether the changes would be implemented
within, say, five years. “…I haven’t heard a president, nor have I
heard the commissioner, come out with an exact stance on this issue,” he
said.
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