I think they're gonna end up taking Marshall. No reason behind this pick, just guessing a scholl that hasn't been mentioned yet.
I was looking into this a while back. I agree New Mexico, Colorado St, and Hawaii would be a stretch (Hawaii because of distance more than academics). But I seem to remember New Mexico and Colorado St being pretty solid schools. I don't think Arizona and Arizona St are super academic institutions. Schools like Boise and Fresno are a step below the schools I mentioned academically (I believe). Colorado St is a land-grant university and is designated a Doctoral/Research University-Extensive, with 25k+ students in a city of 100k+. New Mexico is in a city of 700k+, 25k+ students and is designated a Doctoral/Research University-Extensive.
Delany is now saying that Des Moines Register took his comments out of context and that the Big Ten has no plans to expand. Since today is Big Ten Media day, there should be a lot more on this by this afternoon - LINK
Read in USA Today that Notre Dame and Michigan have extended contract and will play for the next 25 years.
Stanford has a National Championship in synchronized swimming. That's why the PAC-10 will never be the greatest conference in the land.
It's all relative man. Football isn't NEARLY as big in the west as it is here in the south. But, I don't think that any school should be ashamed of a title in anything except, perhaps, basket-weaving.
I did see Swimming and Diving for Stanford but not synchronized swimming. But don't forget that sports are secondary to any University's primary goal which is education and that is fostered through fund raising, research and donations. Here's a list of the top 20 in those terms. Looks like the Pac is doing quite nicely. 1 Stanford University (CA) $ 911,163,132 2 Harvard University (MA) 594,941,000 3 Yale University (CT) 433,461,932 4 University of Pennsylvania (PA) 409,494,598 5 Cornell University (NY) 406,228,837 6 University of Southern California (CA) 405,745,421 7 Johns Hopkins University (MD) 377,336,025 8 Columbia University (NY) 377,276,204 9 Duke University (NC) 332,034,301 10 University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI) 325,938,048 11 University of California, Los Angeles (CA) 319,580,552 12 University of Washington (WA) 316,251,912 13 New York University (NY) 279,918,813 14 University of Minnesota (MN) 266,991,894 15 Northwestern University (IL) 253,401,792 16 University of Michigan (MI) 251,476,551 17 Indiana University (IN) 247,520,018 18 University of California, Berkeley (CA) 245,966,241 19 University of Chicago (IL) 237,117,399 20 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC) 236,579,182Top Twenty Institutions By Amount Raised Stanford is clearly not interested in putting all their focus into winning a football NC (NCAA doesn't count football anyway) but they certainly have competed on just about every other level.
