CHICAGO -- Despite murmurs through the media grapevine that the Big Ten was looking to take in a 12th university, it appears fans will have to be content with 11 -- for now.
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany told reporters at the conference's preseason media gathering yesterday that he hasn't had serious conversations about expansion since the conference considered adding Notre Dame to its ranks in 1999.
The swirl of rumors about an impending expansion began with an article in The Des Moines Register last week that quoted Delany as saying, "I think we need to look at it in the next year."
Other media outlets immediately picked up the story. That, Delany said, is where things were blown out of proportion, so he took several minutes yesterday morning to clarify his earlier comments.
"There were no misquotes there, but as the stories get reiterated in other media, whether it's blogs or talk radio, I think one would believe that we're on the cusp of expansion," Delany said, "and that's probably not an accurate characterization."
This is the way Delany tells the story: He was in a meeting with Register reporters when he was asked to offer his opinion on expanding the conference and if it was at all affected by the upcoming launch of the Big Ten Network.
"I said, 'you know, that's a very good question. It is a little bit different,' " Delany said, further explaining that having the network allowed for more hours to produce games, more room for content and possibly a broader base from which to distribute the network.
But don't count on it any time soon.
"It is not a front-burner issue," Delany said. "With the exception of Notre Dame, we really haven't had conversations with anyone, nor do we have plans to have conversations with anyone."
However, conference officials look into expansion every three to five years and will continue on that path, Delany said.
The last time the Big Ten opened its doors to a new university was 1993, when Penn State was added, becoming the 11th university in the conference.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno admitted he has thought about Big Ten expansion.
"Once in awhile, I think, 'yeah, it'd be great to have 12 teams, have two divisions, do like some other people in the country are doing and have a playoff game and go from there,' " Paterno said. "But I don't know what the problems are there."
To be a good candidate for the Big Ten, Delany said a university would have to fit based on academic quality and broad-based programs, a commitment to integrity and the availability of marketing opportunities.
Expanding the Big Ten to 12 teams would make it easy to divide the teams into two divisions and hold a conference championship game at a regular season's end. Still, many head coaches said yesterday that it just wasn't important.
"I suppose it would be good for revenue," Purdue University coach Joe Tiller said. "The Big Ten is very healthy with 11 teams. Unless a team could come into the conference and really add something -- versus the conference adding to that university -- we were better off without expansion."
And there are potential downsides. A team that has a stellar regular season but loses a conference championship game might miss getting a Bowl Championship Series bid, said University of Illinois coach Ron Zook.
"It really doesn't make a whole lot of difference what I think," Zook said. "If you do have 12 teams, if you do have a championship game, it just makes it a little bit tougher. It's one more big game that you have to play ... there's a lot of things that people who make those kinds of decisions are gonna have to look at."
