Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delany Shoots Down Conference Expansion

Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delany was in Minneapolis on Saturday as he attended the Huskers/Gophers game at TCF Bank Stadium.

Delany made it clear, the Big 10 is not pursuing more teams to currently join the Big10 conference.

I asked Delany about possible expansion of the Big10 conference to a round number of 18 teams and his response was simple... "Not, not, not", and he added "you can't misinterpret that".

There was a follow up question about the possibility of Notre Dame ever joining the conference and his answer was simple once again, "Not."

Currently the Big10 has 15 schools and there is constant speculation that the Big10 would and is pursuing more teams even though Delany now admittedly denies the possibility.

The Notre Dame rumor has been circulating for decades, but with the control that Notre Dame Football currently has on so many fronts, it makes it a decision that seemingly would benefit the Big10 more than it would Notre Dame.

Now let's play the hypothetical game for a second.  Say the Big10 Conference did the opposite of what Jim Delany is saying they will and adds three teams to the conference, what would that mean for other conferences in the Power 5?

Personally, I think the Big10 would target more Big12 schools than ACC schools and thus would cause the Big12 to finally fold.  I'm not sure the ACC would be as big a part of the expansion, thus not affecting them in the case of Big10 expansion.

Even though I think expansion would be a good idea for the Big10 and Delany and I disagree on that aspect of the conference itself, we did find middle ground on a topic that Delany also discussed on Saturday and that was national recruitment by the football programs within the Big10.

Delany sited the SEC and their ability to recruit nationally as good as any Power 5 conference and would like to see the Big10 be on that crusade as well.

So would I.

Plus, if that is the case and the Big10 continues to evolve in that direction with recruiting, then confernces like the Pac12, ACC and Big12 would all be in play for expansion with a imprint in more of the country than ever before.

Time will tell on whether more teams become a part of the Big10 Conference, I'd just like to see that time come sooner than later.