Now that expansion has settled down, I am somewhat surprised that the Big Ten did not invite at least two other schools and offer Notre Dame the same type of membership it currently holds in the Big East. Don't get me wrong, I think that 12 universities will work great, but by expanding further, the Big Ten would have really enlarged its footprint. Having a fourteen school league in hoops means that each team would play 19 games in a two division conference format (12 division + 7 interdivision = 19), which is an odd number and likely one too many conference games. Allowing ND to remain an Independent in football, but join the conference in all other sports would do three things: 1) The conference would have an even number of teams in its two football divisions and still garner recognition from Notre Dame as an Independent. 2) Having a fifteen school league in hoops means that each team would play 18 games in a three division conference format (8 division + 10 interdivision). 3) Generate more revenue!