The Lawrence Journal-World created quite a bit of noise earlier this month by reporting that the Big Ten and Texas had engaged in “preliminary exchanges” about the school joining the conference.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany put the kibosh on that talk in the days after the report first appeared.
Now, Barry Alvarez is reiterating Delany’s stance that Texas is not part of the discussion. At least not yet.
Speaking to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Wisconsin athletic director said that the Big Ten had hired a firm to help flesh out candidates for possible expansion. Alvarez stated that there were 15 teams included in the initial study; “there wasn’t anything on Texas” Alvarez told the paper.
Alvarez declined to divulge the names of the schools that are under initial consideration, but did speak in generalities as to what was contained in the report.
“They basically broke down what they would bring to the table,” Alvarez said. “They talked about academics. They talked about size. They talked about size of their arenas. They talked about attendance. They talked about the populace in that specific area.”
Another interesting aspect of Alvarez’s conversation was the fact that the A.D. seemingly confirmed that expansion of the Big Ten might not be limited to just getting to 12 teams -- and might take as long as initially thought -- saying that he “think(s) it could be one (school), or I think it could be multiple.” While the league initially stated that it could take anywhere from 12 to 18 months to finalize the expansion question, Alvarez said a recommendation of either one or multiple schools could be made to university presidents as early as this summer.
Alvarez also reiterated the stance of many that Notre Dame will be a no-go as part of any league expansion.
[Tip O’ the Hat: CBS Sports.com’s Dennis Dodd]