B1G notes: Satellite camps, title locations, money

A few holdovers from last week's Big Ten meetings in Chicago ...

Discussion over whether football programs should participate in satellite camps has become the national rage the last few months.

Southeastern Conference rules dictate their football coaches can work in camps only within a 50-mile radius from their campus. The Big Ten has no such rule. The NCAA allows coaches to work at a camp off-campus with permission from the host. The SEC's rules put the league at a recruiting disadvantage, which has its coaches in a tizzy.

Last year Penn State's James Franklin appeared at a camp at Georgia State. Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh is scheduled to attend a camp at South Florida on June 6. Purdue will conduct one in Nashville, Tenn. Iowa has four set up: Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Detroit.

Discussion about satellite camps was minimal among Big Ten administrators last week.

'(Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz has) done some of that (satellite camps), but it's not been a focal point, and it's not hot on our radar,” Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta said. 'I know it's hot on the national discussion. We've had a lot more discussion both locally and the conference level about recruiting in general.

'We're going to evaluate what we think is good and what works for us and what works for Iowa. We have some. They're generally more in the Midwest area but at the same time, that's become a real hot topic.”

'I don't have any issue with the satellite camps,” Indiana Athletics Director Fred Glass said. 'I don't think it's that big of a deal.”

At its spring meetings this week, SEC football coaches and administrators continued to lobby for an NCAA ban of satellite camps. If the rule doesn't change, then SEC coaches will be unleashed.

'We are going to make every effort to have our rule adopted nationally,” outgoing SEC commissioner Mike Slive told reporters Wednesday night. 'If the rule isn't adopted nationally, come next summer, our folks will be free to fan out all over the country and have at it.”

TITLE LOCATIONS

When the Big Ten staged its first football title game in 2011, discussion swirled about its location. Should the league stage it in the elements of Chicago's Soldier Field? Or should it be played indoors in comfort at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium?

Indianapolis won the first major contract, and it appears to have won the long-term battle. Last year the league extended its deal with Lucas Oil Stadium through 2021, which gives it an 11-year edge over any other facility wanting to pry it away.

Despite the league's weather-tested image, don't expect administrators to consider an outdoor facility. Wisconsin Athletics Director Barry Alvarez, a Hall of Fame coach, said a cold-weather game has too many disadvantages for both the teams and the league.

'I'd have a hard time voting for a game outside. I really would,” Alvarez said. 'I know purists say, ‘Hey football is supposed to be played outside.' But one reason, I don't want the elements to have a factor in the game, a game of that magnitude. Then you take a look at it for recruiting purposes.

'I've seen games at Soldier Field where you can't kick an extra point and that thing is blown sideways. If you're recruiting someone from a warm-weather state, and they're sitting there watching a championship game like that, they're not real crazy about playing in it.”

Alvarez wasn't particular about one indoor site or another, like Detroit or the new Minnesota dome.

'We can do it in (Milwaukee baseball stadium) Miller Park as far as I'm concerned as long as we close the roof,” Alvarez said with a laugh.

B1G MONEY

According to its recent tax return, the Big Ten earned $338.9 million during the 2014 fiscal year. That's about $20.5 million more than in 2013.

Ten of the league's 12 programs received at least $27.55 million from Big Ten coffers. Penn State picked up $24.8 million after forfeiting bowl revenue stemming from NCAA sanctions. Nebraska, which joined the league in the 2012 fiscal year, received nearly $16.5 million. Nebraska won't receive the full allotment until 2017.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany earned $3.09 million in reported compensation and another $300,245 in other compensation.

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