Like many people here, I initially thought the Big XII should be targeting Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech, etc. Those are all really good football programs, but maybe we should be thinking about this from a different angle.
The Big Ten may have the right idea, adding two teams with less football tradition. This makes the schedules more manageable for their power teams. Seriously, look at our schedule in the Big XII - Kansas is the only "easy" win, and even they were a top 5 team just a few years ago. In the Big Ten, everyone gets to play Indiana, Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, etc. They're just not as good top-to-bottom, and adding Maryland and Rutgers makes it even weaker. A good team has a much easier road to an undefeated season in that conference, and part of me wonders if our conference strength makes it harder to get a team in the NC. Kansas St. just couldn't keep it up every week, while Ohio State is still undefeated. Look at their schedule - some of those games are just as good as bye weeks. Shoot, look at how many bad teams are in the SEC for that matter. For us in particular, it makes it that much harder to make a bowl game every year. How many times have I read on this board, "If only we had Iowa's schedule..."?
I'm not saying we should actively seek bad teams. However, if money really is the main reason for expansion, let the conference focus on that. Maybe we could take one or two of the good teams I mentioned above and then some teams that are middle-of-the-road in the process (UVa, NC State, Houston, SMU, and Louisville come to mind as options). It could be better for us in the long run.
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From a purely selfish perspective, I would love to see UVa and/or VaTech in the Big XII. I've settled down in Richmond, so that would definitely benefit me. I've spent some time on the VaTech campus for my job, and I think we have a lot in common with them. They'd be a welcome addition in my mind.
