[HolyHandgernade]

One of the guys on the West Virginia board devised his own "program worth" scale. One thing it doesn't take into consideration is academic status, which could be prized by a conference like the B!G. Obviously not scientific, but interesting none the less:

Expansion is largely based on TV market size, public interest in the team, and success on the field.

I looked at 5 categories
1)TV market size
2)wins since 2002
3)losses since 2002
4)New Year's day or later bowl appearances since 2002(aka quality bowls based on popularity and record) (I took out the January 9th big east bowl)
5)Average bowl TV rating since 2002

Then ranked the teams 1-11 in each category.

I used the tv market number twice to give it equal weight with the other two ideas expansion has been largely based on.

Once I did that added the ranks in each category for each team.

The lower the total number the more the team is worth as an expansion candidate (all numbers are based on data from 2002 on. Here is the total score for the teams.

1) FSU 19 points
2) Notre Dame 25 points
3) Virginia Tech 27 points
4) Miami 28 points
5) Georgia Tech 35 points
6) Cinncy 40 points
7) Clemson 42 points
8) Maryland 46 points
9) Louisville 47 points
10) Rutgers 48 points
11) NCstate 55 points.

Things worth noting:

*Rutger's 2002, 2003, and 2004 records drastically throw off their recent sustained successes. They would be worth more than Maryland Louisville if the wins and loss numbers were based from 2005 on. Not sure if it is fair to include "old" Rutgers numbers in this.

*Cinncy's TV rating number versus Tim Tebow and Florida drastically threw off their average TV bowl ranking. (I am pretty sure that most TV sets were on to watch Tim and not Cinncy) It was enough to get bump them 7 to 8 spots in that category. Take away Tebow and they have a score around Maryland and Louisville total in the 45 to 48 range.

*Georgia Tech had 2 bowl games that registered below a 1 by the neilson numbers, which no other team had below a a 1.5 in any bowl game. But they also some very high neilson numbers in other games. Not sure what to take away from that.

*Virginia Tech and FSU were the only team to finish 1, 2 or 3 in every category but TV market size.

*NC state was the only team that was horribly ranked in every category other than TV market size, they should be left in the ACC. They bring nothing.

*Miami's TV bowl numbers are impressive whether they have 7 wins or 10 wins. They are amazing when they are undefeated. There is a strong argument to made for there inclusion over everyone but ND and FSU, even with the prospect of NCAA sanctions.

What did I take away from looking at everything?
1)If the Big 12 can get 2 or 4 ACC school they should take them before the Big East schools.
2)There is little reason to take any of the Big East schools or Maryland......... unless the Big 12 takes Maryland and Rutgers based solely on TV market size, they both offer very little and the public doesn't care about them.