Big Ten Expansion Picking Up Steam

The Chicago Tribune is reporting the the Big Ten has sped up the process for expansion from within the next year to with in the next three months.

The heads of Big Ten schools are reportedly at an Association of American Universities (AAU) meeting in Washington D.C. this weekend and a discussion about expansion is supposed happen on Sunday.

The Big Ten will reportedly look to expand by July 1 because that is when the new fiscal year will start for the Conference. And any school that is being considered should be notified after the first weekend in June after the chancellors of Big Ten schools meeting in Chicago.

After that meeting the schools in consideration will have a month to consider the move, and the Big Ten will notify the other conferences of the possible merger if they are affected.

There are also reports that the expansion could possibly go beyond just one team. The conference could also be looking to add at least three and possibly even five teams to the conference. There are no reports on whether non-football members, like Marquette in the Big East, could join the conference.

Over the past few years there has been a large number of teams that have been rumored to be looking to come to the Big Ten. Notre Dame is still the most common, but Texas, Iowa State, Missouri, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse also remain part of the discussion. There has been no announcement of the teams the conference will officially go after for expansion, but any announcement could be expect sometime in mid-June.