While the Big Ten is unlikely to announce any decision on conference expansion in the near future, other conferences around the country are keeping a watchful eye on its actions.
Last week, Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive told The Associated Press that while the conference is not considering adding new teams, it is internally examining the pros and cons of expansion in the event of a “significant shift in the conference paradigm.”
Rumored targets of the Big Ten include Big East schools Rutgers U., U. Connecticut, Syracuse U. and U. Pittsburgh, as well as several Big 12 teams, including U. Texas and U. Missouri.
U. Minnesota Athletics Director Joel Maturi is aware that any move the Big Ten makes could have a significant effect on the landscape of college sports. Maturi said last month that that effect is one of the many considerations for the conference before it reaches a decision on expansion.
“Others might [be] concerned [with] what we’re doing, if we’re going to take a team from their conference, and how … that positively or negatively impacts the whole climate of intercollegiate athletics, and I think we’re sensitive to all those things,” Maturi said.
Losing member universities to another conference can be devastating.
Former Southwest Conference Commissioner Kyle Kallander had a front-row seat for the conference’s dissolution after losing four schools when the Big Eight, now the Big 12, expanded in 1994.
Three years after U. Arkansas abandoned the SWC for the SEC in 1991, it was announced that Texas, Texas A&M U., Texas Tech U. and Baylor U. would leave to join the newly formed Big 12 in 1996.
Kallander, currently the commissioner of the Big South Conference, came to the SWC as an assistant commissioner in 1992 and served as commissioner in its final season. He said that at the time, conferences were beginning to develop their own television packages, and schools left seeking more television revenue than the SWC could provide.
After Arkansas’ departure, the eight remaining SWC schools were all in Texas, limiting its television footprint.
“It became all about the number of households and ratings, and the Southwest Conference was in an unenviable position of being a one-state league … so the leverage at the bargaining table was pretty limited,” Kallander said.
He said there was little talk of trying to save the conference, and the issue was determining the next step for the four remaining schools: Southern Methodist U., Texas Christian U., Rice U. and the U. of Houston.
But historically, other conferences have not always sat idly by as another conference poached its members.
In 2003, the Big East filed a lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference, which had extended invitations to three Big East schools — U. Miami, Virginia Tech U. and Boston College — to join the conference. The suit alleged that the ACC conspired with Miami and Boston College to weaken the Big East by stealing its top football programs.
A separate suit was filed against Miami, Boston College and its director of athletics, Gene DeFilippo.
DeFilippo declined to comment for this story.
A settlement was ultimately reached, but the Big East wanted to deter members from future departures. As a result, it established a loyalty clause requiring departing members to pay $5 million to the Big East Conference in exchange for their release.
In 2005, the Big East turned to Conference USA for replacements, plucking U. Cincinnati, U. Louisville, U. South Florida, DePaul U. and Marquette U. from its ranks.
Conference USA in turn added six new members from the Mid-American and the Western Athletic conferences to fill its vacancies.
Kallander said a similar “ripple effect” occurred when the Big Eight expanded and the WAC added three former SWC members.
While it’s unknown what the Big Ten will do, Kallander said any expansion could have a far-reaching impact.
“It depends on who all’s involved … but if it’s a dramatic shift, then it could affect everybody in college athletics at the Division I level in the country,” Kallander said.