Oh, good. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney says the conference is staying put at 12 schools right now and, if additional expansion occurs, it will take place in  12 to 18 months.

Delaney first started using that timetable six months ago to assure his fellow conference commissioners that  he is in no hurry.

Every time he says something like that, however, something dramatic usually happens. Count on the next few days to be equally chaotic.

Delaney may be control of the Big Ten but other events are overtaking him on the national scene. He has two months at the most to get his act together.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

9 thoughts on “Big Ten In No Hurry”
  1. Jurich cannot input changes into what he cannot control. I hope the Big 12 stays together..it may end the Big 10’s pre-emptive strike on the Big East.

    We are not chopped liver. We’re just the weakest link in the BCS conferences and it looks like survival of the fittest out there these days.

  2. For those of you who think that the Big East is a major power broker or sitting at the main table in this conference alignment bruhaha…think again.

    We are Poland…waiting to be invaded by either Germany or Russia.

    UofL will end up wherever the “bigs” decide. And, get ready to go shopping for new Cardinal gear that had the new conference logo embroidery on it.

    1. So you’re saying we are chopped liver? I can’t see Tom Jurich standing idly by without having any input into the discussions.

  3. Yep, Delaney has stirred up a hornet’s nest. But I don’t think he really has a handle on what he’s gotten into. These power plays usually wind up biting one in the behind. Too many other people want to play power politics.

  4. I’ve heard SO many different opinions, from “experts” to those that are not, no one knows what the future holds for the Big East or any other conference for that matter. Everyone has a different opinion, and that’s all they are…opinions. This can play out many different ways, so the speculation will continue. My hope is that the Big East makes a move and seizes the opportunity to expand when they have the chance and maybe that will afford us a safety net for the future.

  5. Charlie,

    First of all, I live in Louisville and am a HUGH HUSKER fanatic. We are experiencing just the start of the conference realignment. The ultimate goal of the Big TEN is to accept the application of Notre Dame to the Big TEN. The next move by the Big TEN (12) will be to take aim at Rutgers. That move is nothing more than a potential money maker for the BTN. This also disrupts the Big East and makes the SEC and ACC react (as they said they would). The SEC will grab a couple of ACC teams to top off at 16 (along with Texas A&M and possibly Oklahoma) and the ACC will rob PETER (I mean the Big East) to fill it’s ranks to 16. Louisville could possibly end up in the ACC. Once this has taken place, the Big East is dead as a BCS conference. Notre Dame will have no other choice but to join the Big TEN (12 or will it be 13). Notre Dame has to have a conference to schedule it’s non-revenue generating sports other than football. With the demise of the Big East they will not have choice in which conference they will join (Big 10 (12/13) which ever). Eventually they (the Big TEN) bring on Missouri, Pitt and possibly Iowa State(probable)/Syracuse(highly probable)/Maryland (remote chance).

    1. No kidding Rick about just getting started although we’ve been talking about it for about five years. I don’t believe Delaney factored in what the PAC would do and I don’t think Notre Dame appreciate being a pawn in his game. Notre Dame has considerable power and is putting its brain trust to work to decide in which direction it really wants to go. Since Nebraska wanted in the Big Ten so much, congratulations are in order to you. Good luck in your new conference.

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