I heard also from a no so reliable source that they may even be looking to go to 14 and add Mizz for more west and Syracuse for more east coverage.

Rutgers, Big Ten look like a match
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By Teddy Greenstein
Tribune reporter
10:10 p.m. CST, March 1, 2010

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Eliminate pipe-dream schools Notre Dame and Texas, and what are the best remaining options for Big Ten expansion?

Keep in mind the league's needs and wants:

• Revenue. Having a large and full football stadium is key. A basketball arena, too. But a bigger factor might be the television market. More eyeballs equal more bucks.

• Geography. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told WSCR-AM 670 that he seeks a "geographic connectivity" that would help keep travel costs in check.

• Academics. Every Big Ten school is a member of the Association of American Universities, a consortium of 62 leading research institutions in the United States and Canada. Big Ten expansion candidates Missouri, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse are also members. So are dark-horse candidates Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado.

• Recruiting. Whose area is most fertile?

The consensus among Big Ten sources, officials from other conferences and TV executives is that Rutgers offers the best package. Missouri is second and Pittsburgh third.

Why Rutgers? It doesn't hurt that the New Brunswick, N.J., campus is less than 40 miles from midtown Manhattan. Or that the state of New Jersey alone would be the nation's fourth-largest television market -- after New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Fans wonder: Does New York care about Rutgers? The simplest answer: When Rutgers wins, yes.

During Rutgers' football nirvana season of 2006, its game against Louisville on ESPN drew an 8.1 rating in the New York market, a "phenomenal number," according to one TV executive. That night, the Empire State Building was lit up in scarlet.

The New York market has 7.5 million TV homes, and the Big Ten Network would love to get them on expanded basic cable rather than forcing subscribers to pay extra via a sports tier.

Rutgers just completed a $102 million renovation of its football stadium that added more than 12,000 seats, 1,000 club-level seats, a $5 million recruiting lounge -- and earned the ire of opposition groups. Capacity is up to 52,454 with an option for building a third deck.

Rutgers will play the first ever major-college football game (vs. Army) at the new Meadowlands Stadium, a $1.4 billion facility that will open for the Jets and Giants this fall. Think there's be any trouble selling out the 82,500-seat stadium for a Penn State-Rutgers game? Or when Ohio State or Michigan visits?

The Newark Star-Ledger reported in January that the school also plans to overhaul its outdated Rutgers Athletic Center, a 32-year-old facility that holds 8,000 for men's and women's basketball.

The New York/New Jersey area feeds the nation's top-rated basketball conference, the Big East, much of its talent.

Four other factors can't hurt Rutgers' cause:

• Newark Liberty International Airport is 23 miles from New Brunswick, making Rutgers more accessible than many Big Ten campuses.

• Rutgers calls itself "The Birthplace of College Football." It beat Princeton in what must have been a thrilling contest in 1869. Final score: 6-4.

• Delany hails from the Garden State -- South Orange, N.J.

• By leaving the Big East, Rutgers could quadruple its annual TV share to more than $20 million. Meaning that unlike with Texas and Notre Dame, an R.S.V.P would be a mere formality.