Big Ten Expansion Part Three

 

You can read for yourself what Internet report Jim Delany wasn't pleased with.

I stated in my first article that adding Nebraska, Missouri and Pittsburgh was a good thing. Today will talk about why and will also take you inside a rare Big Ten staff meeting I learned about last week. I will tell you what Commissioner Jim Delany said to his staff about a report on the internet and what we can learn from his reaction based on how sources in the meeting took it.

 

Nebraska

The Cornhuskers are an AAU school. I mentioned briefly about AAU, but it is a badge of honor given to a select few schools for their academic and research work. Not only are they a tremendous academic and research school, but they also have a tremendous athletic program and a rich history.

 

The Huskers began losing faith with the Big Twelve when they moved their offices to Texas and they feel “Ignored” by their conference. They will fit well in the Big Ten. They bring everything other than massive TV markets to the Big Ten, but minus those TV households they have it all. This will be a great addition and they will join.

 

Here is a link to get more information on the AAU schools. CLICK RIGHT HERE.

 

Missouri

Missouri is also an AAU school. I am not implying that being that makes them the be all and end all. I mentioned yesterday some schools that have that and I don’t think fit. Missouri is anxious to join. All they want is an offer and it will get done. They have a decent athletic program. They bring good TV markets and they too are not happy with the Big Twelve. They felt disrespected years ago in how their football team was treated by their conference and they will fit and be a solid addition.

 

Pittsburgh

Like Missouri and Nebraska they are an AAU school. Again not the barometer, but with everything else it is a nice plus. They fit the Big Ten model and would be a natural addition with Penn State already being part of the league. Their football attendance is less than 50,000, but they do offer great facilities and that can grow. They have excellent academics and are competitive in all sports. With Penn State already present, Pittsburgh may not bring a large new market, but they do bring new homes.

 

All three of these schools regardless of what Notre Dame and Texas do are prime candidates to join the Big Ten and should be added. They would bring the total teams to fourteen. Then if the Big Ten can’t add any heavy hitters, I say wait. There is no need to add schools like we discussed yesterday with Rutgers and Syracuse that bring nothing to the table in my opinion.

 

The Big Ten office

On a message board called the Wildcat Report on May 8, 2010, a poster put a message up. He claimed to have been with someone from the Big Ten office who gave him information on the expansion efforts.

 

Not a big deal, people go on message boards all the time and say things. What made this a big deal was the reaction of Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. According to my source that works at the Big Ten who spoke to Spartan Nation on the condition of anonymity because of Delany’s comments in this meeting, “The Commissioner was livid. He called a staff meeting for the office and that isn’t normal at all.  In fact, it is a rare thing. He likes to meet in small groups if he meets at all. He cited this post and said if he found out who it was he would fire the person for talking or anyone else for speaking. All of us walked out and wanted to read the post because as angry as he was it had to hit home. One of my coworkers even said to me 15 seconds after we left the room, I can’t wait to read it.” The source went on to add, “There has been so much S***(fecal matter) thrown around about expansion and he didn’t really get to fired up until this. This one hit home. Clearly, Notre Dame and Texas are in play.” I have hence heard about the Delany meeting from three other sources with knowledge of it, and all of their accounts match the above.

 

Here is the link to the thread that set the commissioner off. You can read it when YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

 

In part four of our expansion series we will take a look at some other potential schools that are on the outside of the process looking in.