Discussion on Big Ten expansion accelerating?

According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, that headline is most definitely the case.

The Tribune reported Saturday that “high-ranking Big Ten officials” are meeting Sunday, with the discussions expected to center on the expansion issue. The Association of American Universities, of which all 11 of the conference schools are members, are holding their semi-annual meeting in Washington through Tuesday, so it gives the league the opportunity, with all the key players in town already, the opportunity to perhaps put the expansion issue even further along the fast track.

If all goes well during this latest round of discussions, the Tribune reports, some type of announcement of schools the Big Ten is targeting for expansion could come as early as next week.

If the conference can emerge from the meetings with a mandate to expand, Commissioner Jim Delany could take a substantial step next week at the annual Bowl Championship Series meetings outside Phoenix.

As laid out in the Big Ten’s Dec. 15 statement, Delany would “notify” the commissioners of the affected conferences before “engaging in formal expansion discussions with other institutions.”

If that is indeed the case, it would be an accelerated time frame relative to what officials declared back in December. When the league announced publicly that it would once again discuss the expansion issue, it was expected to take anywhere from 12 to 18 months.

With this latest development, it could be just seven months -- if not earlier -- after the expansion search announcement that the dominoes begin falling in earnest.

And, more than likely, the Big East will look radically different -- if it even exists at all in football -- because of it.