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Big Ten done expanding ‘for now,’ University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson says
Big Ten has been ‘asked by other schools,’ but conference lacks ‘compelling reason’ to further expand
IOWA CITY — The Big Ten Conference is done expanding “for now,” University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson said Thursday.
“If we’re going to grow, it will be for the right reason, and right now there’s no compelling reason,” Wilson said at the university’s monthly Presidential Committee on Athletics meeting.
The Big Ten — now with 18 teams after USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon officially joined the conference this summer — is in a relatively enviable position among power conferences, in part because of its $7 billion media rights agreement.
“We certainly have been asked by other schools,” Wilson said.
Wilson’s comments on further Big Ten expansion (or lack of it) come with a caveat.
“But I’m one vote in the grand scheme of things, just to let our media folks know,” Wilson said as she obviously looked over to the reporters attending the open meeting.
Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com
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