There are now just four of the original Power Five conferences in college athletics. The Big Ten is joined by the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), SEC (Southeastern Conference), and the Big 12. The PAC 12 has looked to rebuild with lower-tier schools.

It’s now possible that the Power Four, specifically the Big Ten, isn’t done adding more members either.

Growth for the Big Ten still on the horizon

Minnesota Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle talked with Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press recently. The discussion hit on multiple topics, but among them was the future growth of the conference.

Budget forecasts for the 2027 fiscal year include an expected uptick in revenue from the College Football Playoff, money that goes to the Big Ten and then its members. The CFP field is expected to grow from its current structure of 12 teams to possibly 16 next year.

Coyle also expects the Big Ten to expand at some point. The conference grew from 14 members to 18 in 2024, with the addition of Southern Cal, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

“Our friends at Oregon and Washington wanted so badly to be in the Big Ten that they’re getting half the media revenue. I mean, think about that,” Coyle said. “I think Minnesota is very well positioned. We are a charter member of the Big Ten.

“Whether it’s two days or two years, I do think there is going to be continued fluctuation because we are in this House settlement era for two months now. I can tell you peers in the Big Ten are trying to find revenue, right? What are peers and other conferences trying to do right now? We have the best media deals in the country, so there’s going to be movement.”

Pioneer Press

As Coyle notes, the Big Ten has participants that span the entire country. The media markets that the conference is part of are some of the largest in the world. That obviously has value.

The more other schools look to generate revenue and carve out future earnings, the more they could become enamored by inclusion within the Big Ten.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Fall in CFB Poll

Minnesota is well-positioned as a charter member of the conference. The Gophers also remain competitive amongst the group they directly compete with as well. Hoe additional expansion changes that, or helps things to evolve, remains to be seen.

College athletics have drastically changed in recent years. More schools continue to gravitate towards those in good revenue generating positions. That leaves Minnesota, and the Big Ten, as something of a constant target.

#RTB x #RollTide

????: https://t.co/H8e68cY9MF pic.twitter.com/wDNoBgd0pd

— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) October 11, 2022

According to the athletic department’s media release, Minnesota Gophers football has only played Alabama one time, a 20-16 win in the 2004 Music City Bowl (Nashville, TN). Minnesota is 9-8-1 vs teams that currently play in the SEC. Their last win vs an SEC opponent was the 2020 Outback Bowl, a 31-24 victory over Auburn.

Nick Saban will be 80 and 81 years old when these games takes place. If PJ Fleck is still coaching from the Gophers sideline in 2032, there will already be streets, buildings and practice facilities named after him by then.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

So, what shoe drops next? Some expect Oregon and/or Washington to join the PAC-12 exodus. Others wonder what will happen with the ACC rivals and college basketball immortality schools in North Carolina (UNC, Duke).

Big 12 Wants Gophers…

But one move that nobody anticipated, before Charley Walters wrote his bi-weekly Sunday column in the Pioneer Press this weekend, was the Big 12 conference trying to woo the Minnesota Gophers away from the Big Ten. Yet… here we are.

The Big 12 Conference is said to be quietly seeking the Gophers, but Minnesota can’t afford the revenue loss of a new Big Ten Network deal, which, with the expansion of USC and UCLA in two years, could be worth nearly $100 million a year. – Charley Walters (Pioneer Press)

The Big 12 is reeling and can’t even guarantee its future in whatever new college sports landscape is ahead of us. So they’re effort to counterpunch, after losing Texas and Oklahoma, shouldn’t be surprising. But, for all of those same reasons, a move to the Big 12 would make ABSOLUTELY zero sense for the University of Minnesota.

No Chance.

As Scooter (Walters) points out, the Big Ten is on the verge of inking a $1+ billion TV contract. The Gophers would turn their back on $100 million per season, in TV revenue alone, if they jumped conferences. It’s been a long time since the University of Minnesota considered themselves a Big Ten powerhouse.

But the University of Minnesota’s status as a founding member of the Big Ten back in 1896 guarantees them all of the same financial benefits as conference powers like Michigan (1896), Wisconsin (1896) and Ohio State (1912). Something that newer schools like Maryland, Nebraska and Rutgers cannot say. Why would the University of Minnesota jump off of the Big Ten gravy train to become the newest member of a lesser conference?

So they have a better opportunity at in-conference athletic success? Given the uncertain state of the Big 12, even that is far from a guarantee. Not to mention how much it would hurt recruiting. We’re talking about a conference that may not exist in a couple of years. Come on…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Yes, the defense needs to tighten up, but this is an Ohio State offense with playmakers that anyone else in the Big Ten can only dream of.

Feel Good Weekend

After the game, Buckeyes Head Coach Ryan Day credited PJ Fleck and Minnesota for their complimentary football and called the Gophers “a really good team.” However, the reason Minnesota should feel optimistic isn’t thanks to the outcome from Thursday night or Coach Day applauding their effort. They should feel good after watching the rest of the Big Ten West flounder this weekend.

An uninspiring performance from Northwestern led to a 38-21 shellacking vs Michigan State. Wisconsin spit the bit vs Penn State, turning it over four times in their loss. And Scott Frost was only up 17-10 at half vs Fordham, before pulling away and winning big in the 2nd half. Iowa looked good vs Indiana so I’m going to hope that was more of a fluke while the rest of the games were closer to reality. This is my blog, not yours.

No matter, Minnesota should feel really good about where they are compared to the rest of the division.

#Gophers still in this game, even without Mo Ibrahim. No matter how this ends, clearly an improved team with a ton of experience. Will be a tough out in the Big Ten West.

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) September 3, 2021

I know we all love to dunk on Wisconsin no matter what, but the #Gophers really needed them to lose in order to negate the OSU loss. Truly a best case scenario.

— Chelsea Breza-Berndt (@ChelseaBerndt) September 4, 2021

No Mo, No Problem

Mohamed Ibrahim left the Ohio State game in a boot which is never a good sign. He ended his night rushing for 163 yards and 2 TD’s. With the way Minnesota’s offensive line is built, I could average 2.5 yards per carry (Mo averaged 5.5). We saw Trey Potts run for 34 yards on 10 carries Thursday but he and Cam Wiley won’t be the only backs we see in Ibrahim’s absence. Minnesota’s running back room is one of their strongest, thanks to repeated success on the recruiting trail.

If Mo is indeed out for an extended period of time, I see the Gophers taking a 2019 San Francisco 49ers approach to their run game. A three-headed monster at running back complimented by a quarterback that isn’t asked to do too much but won’t make a lot of mistakes, either.

Tanner Garoppolo

Like Jimmy Garoppolo, Tanner Morgan doesn’t need to throw for 300 yards a game. He needs to take care of the ball, deliver accurate throws and understand when to take shots down the field. One of Trey Potts, Cam Wiley or Bryce Williams should be ready to step up and be Raheem Moster. The others will settle in as Tevin Coleman and Matt Breida.

This style of spreading the wealth and wearing down teams could end up being better than giving Ibrahim the ball 30 times, especially when looking at Minnesota’s future backfield. If Mo is indeed out, these backs are about to get a wealth of experience that only playing can give.

The Gophers will be fine without Ibrahim. RB has been a top-3 recruited position in PJ’s time and fans will be pleasantly surprised by the talent behind him.

I’m concerned about Mo. I was shocked he didn’t go pro after 2020. I wish he would’ve.

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) September 3, 2021

The Road Ahead

The month of October will be a crucial one for this Minnesota Gopher team. They’ll head to West Lafayette to face off vs Purdue. Then, they’ll come home for two against Nebraska and Maryland before visiting Northwestern to finish the month. Those are four games the Gophers should win.

If they can steamroll through the rest of September’s non-conference and win those October Big Ten matchups mentioned above, they’ll set themselves up for a November that will decide the Big Ten West. Iowa and Wisconsin will both be on the schedule and revenge will be on the minds of Minnesota faithful.

The Big Ten West is as open as it’s ever been. This year will fall in the disappointment category if the Gophers aren’t battling for a spot for the Big Ten Championship, come late November.

Stephen Strom | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Golden Gophers had the most difficult start to a conference schedule of any team in the country. You don’t agree? Find me another college basketball team that started conference play against EIGHT consecutive top-25 teams and I’ll amend this blog.

That gauntlet stretch is now over (finished 4-4) and the Gophers’ first unranked conference opponent, the Maryland Terrapins, will come to The Barn Saturday at 1 PM.

Schedule Slow Down

The scheduling gods have reversed course on the Gophers, after their 4-4 start vs that brutal stretch. Not only do their opponents start to get easier from here, but they’ll have a lot more rest too.

When Minnesota takes the court on Saturday afternoon vs the Terrapins, it will mark a full week since the last time they played competitive basketball (victory vs Michigan on 1/16). This week of rest followed a 6-day break between that win vs Michigan and a loss that came @ Iowa before it.

If you include those two games vs Michigan and Iowa, the Gophers will play just 5 games between Jan 7 and Feb 7 (31 days). That’s not even 1 game per 7-day week. Talk about a lot of rest for a basketball team that’s supposed to be grinding out a difficult conference schedule.

On top of all the rest they’ve been getting (and will continue to get for the next couple weeks) there isn’t a ranked team to be seen on the schedule for the next SEVEN games.

Home vs #22 Illinois currently stands as the only ranked opponent left on the Gophers’ schedule. Minnesota is 11-0 (4-0) on the season at Williams Arena (knock on raised hardwood).

Other Big Ten Teams Must Grind

While the Gophers schedule eases up, and they take some time off to ramp up for a final stretch filled with unranked opponents, other Big Ten teams ahead and behind them in the conference standings, will do the opposite.

This table below lists the top-8 Big Ten teams, along with their conference and AP Poll rankings. Next to each team is the top-25 opponents remaining on their schedule (sorted left to right by schedule date).

As you can see, other teams that surround the Gophers still have up to SIX games remaining vs top Big Ten (and national) teams.

Games still have to be played on the court.

The easing schedule means absolutely nothing, if the Minnesota Gophers can’t continue to bring the energy at home and turn it up on the road. The Big Ten is the best conference in college basketball and unranked teams have been upsetting their ranked counterparts all season.

Maryland for example, Minnesota’s opponent Saturday afternoon, has already upset both Wisconsin and Illinois on the road this season.

Those two victories are the Terps’ only wins in conference play, however (2-6). A focused Minnesota team should pull out a victory with relative ease, given their track-record at Williams Arena in 2020-21.

Time to make hay… and history.

This is a stretch that Richard Pitino needs to take advantage of. It’s an opportunity to rack up some victories and get rest, while other top teams in the conference are ripping each other apart.

At 4-4 in Big Ten play and looking forward to a more favorable schedule, Pitino’s 2020-21 Gophers should easily finish with the program’s first above-.500 conference record since 2016-17.

Their 11-7 Big Ten record that season was good for a 4th-place finish. That’s the best conference standing the Minnesota Gophers have held in men’s basketball since 1996-1997, when Bobby Jackson and Clem Haskins DID NOT lead the maroon and gold to a 10-2, 1st Place Big Ten record or a Final Four appearance.

So if Pitino wants to quiet the haters and possibly grab another extension when this season ends, he’ll calmly navigate this final stretch in dominating fashion and secure a top 3-4 seed in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments come March.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sport Fan

The Big Ten is making waves today. It was broken earlier by The Athletic‘s Nicole Auerbach, and has now been confirmed by the conference. Big Ten teams will face only other Big Ten teams this 2020 fall season. The biggest hit is to football. That is the money-maker at most schools, including the University of Minnesota.

The Big Ten is expected to announce today that it will go with a conference-only football schedule for this fall, a person with direct knowledge situation tells @TheAthleticCFB.

— Nicole Auerbach ? (@NicoleAuerbach) July 9, 2020

To that end, the Big Ten Conference announced today that if the Conference is able to participate in fall sports (men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball) based on medical advice, it will move to Conference-only schedules in those sports. Details for these sports will be released at a later date, while decisions on sports not listed above will continue to be evaluated. By limiting competition to other Big Ten institutions, the Conference will have the greatest flexibility to adjust its own operations throughout the season and make quick decisions in real-time based on the most current evolving medical advice and the fluid nature of the pandemic.

Big Ten Statement

Expected Move

This doesn’t come as a surprise, though. A move like this has been speculated to occur over the last few weeks. This became especially true, when schools such as Ohio State suspended voluntary workouts Wednesday, due to positive COVID tests.

As Chip Scoggins mentioned to KFAN’s Dan Barreiro on Wednesday, he believes the Big Ten wants to have as much control over the environment as possible. That means, having full control over the process. They know how schools inside the Big Ten will test players, coaches and then protocols that follow. They don’t want to worry about how other schools (outside the Big Ten) may or may not be doing things.

Currently scheduled Big Ten 2020 OOC opponents by Conference:
• 10: MAC
• 5: ACC, FBS Independent
• 4: AAC, MVFC
• 2: Big 12, Pac-12, CUSA, MWC, Sun Belt
• 1: Big South, CAA, MEAC, OVC

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) July 9, 2020

GOPHERS IMPACTED

For Minnesota, this means their non-conference games against Florida Atlantic, Tennessee Tech, and BYU will be canceled in football. That’s not the end of the world, as those schools are not marquee matchups.

The league has yet to announce whether it will fill those slots with additional conference games. There are rumors circulating about a 10-game season, which would mean one more conference game than what is scheduled.

Given today’s news, what’s one opponent you #Gophers fans would like to see Minnesota add to the schedule? Your answer can involve playing the same opponent twice or someone from the East not currently on 2020 slate.

— Phil Ervin (@PhilErvin) July 9, 2020

Personally, with 14 teams in the Big Ten, I don’t know why they wouldn’t go with a 12-game season. That would ensure Big Ten teams the best shot at bowl berths and the playoff… but who knows if that will even happen.

Let’s just hope we get some semblance of college football this year.

Jack Kewitsch | Minnesota Sports Fan