Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta: Expansion 'must make sense'

Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta supports Big Ten expansion, provided the league finds the right fit as its 12th member.

"We do have a great conference and in order to add somebody it's going to have to make sense,"  Barta said Tuesday. " When we added Penn State, it worked out wonderfully. They fit our philosophy. They fit athletically, academically, geographically. If we ever find the perfect partner, then I think it's worth looking at. If we don't find the perfect partner, then I'm not interested in expanding."

Discussion has raged for years ago potential league expansion. This year it has heated up with several football coaches publicly promoting expansion so the league can divide into divisions and play a lucrative championship game.

"Every year since I've been here, every year we have a very generic conversation about “should we, or shouldn't we” talk about expansion," Barta said. " It sort have has started and ended at that level.

"This year there's a little bit more discussion about, 'Hey, we havea great conference but with all the changes going on across the country, maybe it's time to take a ... instead of it being on the back burner, that's the way we've looked at it, maybe study it a little bit closer.' I was aware that that was sort of the position that the commissioner and something that we all agreed, 'maybe it's time to take a look at.' But that's where it's at."

Barta said there are four main components to expansion: academics, athletics, philosophy and finance.

"There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle and in order for us to expand, in my opinion, those are all going to have to make sense," he said. "It's going to be considered as a whole, not just on one particular parameter.

"The benefit if we can make our conference better by adding a school or university, then it's worth considering. If we can't, then I'm not going to be supportive of it. I'm not speaking more specifically than that because there are so many variables. If it's going to make us better as a conference, then it's something worth looking into. If it's not then we shouldn't do it."