Last 2 Big Ten Joiners

[Parsighian]

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=146&f=2445&t=10761942

[mr.MUskie]

Sweet 16?

[Tugg Speedman]

Pitt (another defection from the ACC?)
Virginia  Tech

To be announced Friday

Is this true?

[jficke13]

well Va-Tech isn't in the AAU. So if the Little 10 really cares about that sort of thing, they'd be making an exception there.

[Bocephys]

well Va-Tech isn't in the AAU. So if the Little 10 really cares about that sort of thing, they'd be making an exception there.

They already did it for Nebraska.

[PJDunn]

A Nebraska education gives community colleges a bad name.  VaTech fits in just fine.

[GGGG]

They already did it for Nebraska.

Nebraska was in the AAU when they joined.  They were kicked out later.

[Bocephys]

Nebraska was in the AAU when they joined.  They were kicked out later.

Technically they were accepted while still an AAU member and lost membership before officially joining: http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/26078/nebraska-loses-aau-status.  Either way they're no longer "clean" from an AAU perspective and you could argue that the B1G had the AAU hold off on kicking out Nebraska until after the announcement of their addition to avoid a PR hit.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

The AAU thing is important, but $ is more important.

Always keep that in mind.

[Litehouse]

Pitt and VaTech make no sense to me.  They alrady have the PA cable markets wrapped up, and I don't think VaTech has a strong enough following to command basic tier cable for the BTN in all of Virginia.

[GGGG]

Virginia Tech is much larger than Virginia, and has a greater following throughout the state - particularly in the Richmond and Virginia Beach areas. 

But I haven't seen any reports discussing this anywhere.

[Litehouse]

VaTech may have a bigger following, but is it big enough to strong-arm all the local cable providers?  Like most of the mid-atlantic/northeast, VA is fractured among several schools with no one school having the critical mass of your usual Big Ten school.  Maryland and Rutgers/NJ might be the closest things to that north of North Carolina because they're really the only big state schools in those states, and I think the BTN is going to have problems getting accepted in those markets too.

[Bocephys]

The AAU thing is important, but $ is more important.

Always keep that in mind.

Absolutely correct.  Remember when the ACC was too good for Louisville's shady academic profile?  That sure didn't last long.

[Parsighian]

Absolutely correct.  Remember when the ACC was too good for Louisville's shady academic profile?  That sure didn't last long.

Some of those Crum teams were incredible. A lot of fun to watch. He eschewed scheduling cupcakes, feeling that a tough non-con schedule made his Cards a better team. He should have continued to coach but Jurich forced him out to hire Signor Porcini.