Analyst Gerry Dinardo sees Notre Dame joining Big Ten

Angelique S. Chengelis / The Detroit News Link

Bigger is better.

That's how Big Ten Network football analyst Gerry DiNardo, a former Notre Dame player and college head coach, views the prospects of Big Ten expansion.

"I think expansion is a positive thing because I think college football, the bigger you are, the more money you make, and that usually makes you better," DiNardo said this week.
There has been considerable speculation about what expansion means. Will the Big Ten expand to 12 teams? Fourteen? Sixteen?
"The advantage of 16 teams, in my opinion, is that would include Notre Dame," DiNardo said of the Irish, who remain an independent in football but are otherwise associated with the Big East. "A lot of people think Notre Dame in the Big Ten is a good thing. I happen to be one of them."
Many schools have been speculated as future members of the Big Ten, including Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, all Big East members. If the Big East loses some of its members, the thinking is it no longer will be an attractive option to Notre Dame.

A radio report this week, which later was widely refuted, cited sources indicating Missouri and Nebraska, Notre Dame and Rutgers already had been contacted by the Big Ten. Earlier in the year, Texas, according to sources in a newspaper report, also had received contact. DiNardo said he never thought the Texas rumor had any legitimacy.
ESPN.com this week suggested Georgia Tech could become an expansion target, but DiNardo does not see the Big Ten heading south. He sees the Big Ten going west and southwest of Iowa, which would suggest Nebraska and Missouri, and east of Penn State, which suggests Rutgers and Syracuse.

"That seems most natural to me," DiNardo said in terms of geography.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany announced last December the Big Ten was exploring expansion and said then it would be a 12- to 18-month process. He said recently at a meeting in Arizona the plan is to stick to that timetable.
Delany also has cautioned maybe the Big Ten won't expand. DiNardo thinks that's a highly unlikely option.
"There's always a chance, but I don't think there's much chance of that," he said.
"I don't think the Big Ten would have gone down this path they've gone."
One of the keys to the expansion talk is the Big Ten Network, which launched in June 2006, and has been called a "cash cow." The network has been exceptionally profitable, and Big Ten teams have received enormous payouts. Sports Business Journal has reported that each team in 2008 received $22 million apiece.
The expectation is the payout will significantly increase especially if the conference expands, broadening the appeal of the network.
"I don't understand the downside of increasing revenues," DiNardo said.
"You make $22 million to north of $30 million. I think that's a good thing."