Big Ten expansion put on hold

Big Ten fans hoping for major expansion of their conference should not get their hopes up for the immediate future.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany spoke today at the Big Ten spring meetings here in Chicago and was very laid back in his words about the expansion.

"We may not expand, we may," Delany said. "If we do, it will be the result of a very thourough set of studies that touch on competitve aspects, the educational fit and it would have to be fically sound."

Delany said that any major decisions as far a Big Ten expansion would not be made until this fall at the earliest.

There are a couple big factors that play into this expansion being doable financially and competitvely.  The most obvious one is the Big Ten Network which has far exceeded it's financial and populus expectations so far. The question would be whether the BTN (Big Ten Network) would become popular in the areas of the country in which the Big Ten is looking to expand, like the East coast and the South.

The other factor Delany addressed Tuesday was the recent population shift moving from the North to the South.

"As far as the shifting population, that is reason, by itself, enough, to look at the concept of expansion," Delany said. "We've been blessed in many ways by the economy and the density of the population in the 20th century. Our schools have benefited by healthy economies, by strong markets, by growth, by integration. ... In the last 20, 30 years, there's been a clear shift in movement into the sun belt. The rates of growth in the sun belt are four times the rates they are in the East or the Midwest.

"You do want to look forward to 2020 and 2030 and see what that impact would be on our schools."

The expansion would be welcomed by most Big Ten fans and schools. The bigger they are the more money generated, it just seems like it's up to Delany and schools around the country to pull the trigger; however it looks like this trigger will remain locked till the Fall.