Delany defines criteria for Big Ten expansion

CHICAGO -- Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany on Tuesday revealed the values his league holds dear when it comes to potential expansion candidates.

Delany spouted them off during a winding interview at the annual Big Ten meetings and most were in line with traditional thinking. Academics, competition and financial potential are important. Future demographics and the league-owned Big Ten Network also will play a role.

"We may not expand, or we may expand," Delany said. "But if we do, it will be the result of a very thorough set of studies that touch on the competitive aspects, the intercollegiate competitive aspects, the educational fit. All of our member institutional are members of the AAU (Association of American Universities), and also it would have to be fiscally sound."

The Big Ten formally announced in December it planned to explore expansion from 11 schools to an undetermined number in a 12-to-18-month time frame. Delany said the league won't deviate from that schedule.

Demographics was the overlooked criteria entering the meetings, but Delany said that subject may have the most long-term impact.

"We've been blessed in many ways by the economy and the density of population in the 20

^th

century," Delany said. "I think our schools have benefited from healthy economies, strong job market, by growth, by integration … In the last 20 or 30 it's been a clear shift. The rates of growth in the Sun Belt are four times the rates in the East or the Midwest. That has a demographic meaning long term for the economy, for jobs, for the recruiting of students, recruitment of athletes, for recruitment of facility, of tax base."

Population shifts could impact the conference in 20 years, Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta said. That could affect the league's media markets, television contracts and filling up football stadiums, he said.

"It's a broader question," Barta said. "It doesn't get specific to one school it says, 'OK, here are we are today.' When we look at what's happened over the last 20 years demographically, if we project out another 20 years,  should we be looking at changing our makeup to address that? Without going into any specific school, it's just projecting ahead. Do we need to grow the business in the next 20 years and if so does adding school  any sense? That's part of the principle of whether or not we look at with expansion."

The league-owned network is widely available in the Big Ten's eight-state footprint but many cable systems in markets outside league borders offer it only on a tiered basis. Adding additional schools could penetrate larger markets and push the network to a basic cable tier. That could make the network available beyond the 75 million people that currently can access it.

There are hundreds of questions that remain, ranging from expansion's financial settlements (of which Delany would not comment) to ensuring Michigan and Ohio State play every year in football. Those are questions for another day, Ohio State Athletics Director Gene Smith said.

"(The key is to) be objective and do what's best for the conference, whatever that means," Smith said. "I can't think locally. I just can't be narrowly focused on just our issues. I have my thoughts about if we do expand and what do we do with the Ohio State-Michigan game, and then I'll get real local. At this point in time it's really thinking about the greater good."