Big Ten Expansion

[vinsanity]

I'm very anti Notre Dame and I think Popeye is underestimating ND. There standards aren't head and shoulders above Michigan but I believe the floor is higher.

Everybody can get kids in. Standards are overblown.

I'm not going to argue with you because I don't think Notre Dame only lets in choir boys and geniuses. That said, some schools have somewhat higher standards than other schools.

http://m.si.com/news/sp/wr_hs_sports/de ... nnsilive9i

Good read, I agree that it's not only choir boys and geniuses, but I agree I think the 'floor' is higher.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

And IF Missouri comes into the B-10, watch Pinkel establish a pipeline into Ohio, etc. along the lines of what he has in Texas. Pinkel is from that part of the world, he's not going to have trouble pulling quality FB players out of there in the event of a conference change.

I think he'll have more than a 'problem' than you think. For starters, Ohio State Football is practically the only respectable pro-team in Ohio. They live and die for their Buckeyes (I've got family in Columbus, trust me). Most highly recruited football players stay in the Big 10, and the ones on top usually go to Ohio State.

I don't follow football recruits, especially not Big 12 recruits the way I should, but I somehow doubt Pinkel gets to go down to Texas and take his pick of recruits. The #2 recruit is from Texas, and going to....surprise! Texas. Same with recruits ranked #13-15, Texas Texas and Baylor. Hell, #4 is from OH going to Texas. You have to get down past the top 30 of Texas recruits for 2010 to find one going to Missouri.

Northern Ohio is not the same as southern Ohio. Pinkel was a D-1 head coach at Toledo. The point is that Ohio is an extremely football-rich state(like Texas-lite), and you don't have to get the cream of the crop to end up with the next Sean Weatherspoon or Danario Alexander.

[lukethedrifter]

And IF Missouri comes into the B-10, watch Pinkel establish a pipeline into Ohio, etc. along the lines of what he has in Texas. Pinkel is from that part of the world, he's not going to have trouble pulling quality FB players out of there in the event of a conference change.

I think he'll have more than a 'problem' than you think. For starters, Ohio State Football is practically the only respectable pro-team in Ohio. They live and die for their Buckeyes (I've got family in Columbus, trust me). Most highly recruited football players stay in the Big 10, and the ones on top usually go to Ohio State.

I don't follow football recruits, especially not Big 12 recruits the way I should, but I somehow doubt Pinkel gets to go down to Texas and take his pick of recruits. The #2 recruit is from Texas, and going to....surprise! Texas. Same with recruits ranked #13-15, Texas Texas and Baylor. Hell, #4 is from OH going to Texas. You have to get down past the top 30 of Texas recruits for 2010 to find one going to Missouri.

Northern Ohio is not the same as southern Ohio. Pinkel was a D-1 head coach at Toledo. The point is that Ohio is an extremely football-rich state(like Texas-lite), and you don't have to get the cream of the crop to end up with the next Sean Weatherspoon or Danario Alexander.

Very true. Still, I bet Pinkel is nervous as hell about losing the Texas connect he has established.

[JL21]

Very true. Still, I bet Pinkel is nervous as hell about losing the Texas connect he has established.

Absolutely. I have little doubts that he can re-establish the Ohio pipeline but that kind of thing takes time.

As TT points out, it doesn't have to be the top guys. A perfect example? Brad Smith, Youngstown OH.

[vinsanity]

Very true. Still, I bet Pinkel is nervous as hell about losing the Texas connect he has established.

Absolutely. I have little doubts that he can re-establish the Ohio pipeline but that kind of thing takes time.

As TT points out, it doesn't have to be the top guys. A perfect example? Brad Smith, Youngstown OH.

I guess what I was trying to get at was, so?

Why do you have to play in a state/conference to have that connection? Danny Hope (Purdue's new coach) has been recruiting hard in Florida. The only 4 star recruit he got was outa Florida, he grabbed a few more three stars from there as well. Purdue hasn't played a game in Florida in years.

If Pinkel has that connection in Ohio, why not exploit it now? I suppose those players will see more of you/your team if your in a conference, but I don't think he'd lose any Texas connections he has by moving conferences.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Very true. Still, I bet Pinkel is nervous as hell about losing the Texas connect he has established.

From what I can gather, I don't think it would be a huge issue. Pinkel has pointed out when asked that it's about the relationships you establish with coaches and where your assistants are. If they keep a presence in Texas, I don't think you'd see more than a stray commit or two go away, since they only play in Texas about once a year, and in the B10 they could see every game on the B10 network.

[JL21]

I guess what I was trying to get at was, so?

Why do you have to play in a state/conference to have that connection? Danny Hope (Purdue's new coach) has been recruiting hard in Florida. The only 4 star recruit he got was outa Florida, he grabbed a few more three stars from there as well. Purdue hasn't played a game in Florida in years.

If Pinkel has that connection in Ohio, why not exploit it now? I suppose those players will see more of you/your team if your in a conference, but I don't think he'd lose any Texas connections he has by moving conferences.

Exposure, which you hint at. It's one thing when you're a high profile program like Nebraska or Florida or Alabama and kids are going to see your games no matter who or where you play. But when you're a school like Mizzou, kids in Ohio don't know anything about your program (right now) short of what they might hear from a coach or three who remembers Pinkel from a decade ago. The connection dried up a while back for the most part.

States like California and Texas and Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida are so football-rich that you could get plenty of kids from those states. Why not go to the state where it's easiest, where you have the most exposure? In Pinkel's case now, it's Texas. It used to be Ohio when he was first trying to get Mizzou off the ground.

[lukethedrifter]

Very true. Still, I bet Pinkel is nervous as hell about losing the Texas connect he has established.

From what I can gather, I don't think it would be a huge issue. Pinkel has pointed out when asked that it's about the relationships you establish with coaches and where your assistants are. If they keep a presence in Texas, I don't think you'd see more than a stray commit or two go away, since they only play in Texas about once a year, and in the B10 they could see every game on the B10 network.

Yeah. I don't totally believe him. Of course he can still recruit in Texas and can still have success doing so but I am stuck thinking that being in a Texas based conference makes some difference.

Plus, Pinkel needs to recruit really well because he sucks as an in-game coach.


/Mizzou fan

[StL Dan]

Very true. Still, I bet Pinkel is nervous as hell about losing the Texas connect he has established.

From what I can gather, I don't think it would be a huge issue. Pinkel has pointed out when asked that it's about the relationships you establish with coaches and where your assistants are. If they keep a presence in Texas, I don't think you'd see more than a stray commit or two go away, since they only play in Texas about once a year, and in the B10 they could see every game on the B10 network.

I have to believe that those are words used by a head coach trying to keep everyone in the Tiger fan family calm.

[vinsanity]

I guess what I was trying to get at was, so?

Why do you have to play in a state/conference to have that connection? Danny Hope (Purdue's new coach) has been recruiting hard in Florida. The only 4 star recruit he got was outa Florida, he grabbed a few more three stars from there as well. Purdue hasn't played a game in Florida in years.

If Pinkel has that connection in Ohio, why not exploit it now? I suppose those players will see more of you/your team if your in a conference, but I don't think he'd lose any Texas connections he has by moving conferences.

Exposure, which you hint at. It's one thing when you're a high profile program like Nebraska or Florida or Alabama and kids are going to see your games no matter who or where you play. But when you're a school like Mizzou, kids in Ohio don't know anything about your program (right now) short of what they might hear from a coach or three who remembers Pinkel from a decade ago. The connection dried up a while back for the most part.

States like California and Texas and Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida are so football-rich that you could get plenty of kids from those states. Why not go to the state where it's easiest, where you have the most exposure? In Pinkel's case now, it's Texas. It used to be Ohio when he was first trying to get Mizzou off the ground.

Right, but like TT said, I don't think they connection in Texas would dry up, and I suppose it's possible they might start getting a few more recruits from Big 10 states, but I don't it would have a drastic change in the recruiting landscape.

Like I said, Hope goes and competes with Florida and the rest of the SEC, when I doubt any of them have ever watched a Purdue game. So I'd have to think something else changed which is why Pinkel didn't hit Ohio as hard. Maybe he was getting as good/better players from Texas with less work, maybe some HS Coaches he knew left for other states/college programs.