Fresh off the Chicago Tribune‘s report this past weekend that the Big Ten could make a serious move toward expansion in short order -- as in as early as this week -- the Tribune has a report this afternoon on a new development on the process.
Or non-development, as it were.
Citing a top administrator from an unnamed Big East school, the Tribune reports that no expansion targets have been contacted by the Big Ten as of yet. However, as the conference has seemingly ramped-up its timetable for expansion, that’s expected to change, perhaps as early as this coming week as has been previously stated.
The Tribune has also tossed out another interesting nugget regarding any Big East school that may ultimately decide to bolt for another conference. Not only would a school have to pay a $5 million “penalty” for leaving the Big East, they would also have to give a 27-month notice prior to leaving.
That would mean that any Big East school that may bolt for the Big Ten would not technically be able to do so until the 2012 season at the absolute earliest, with 2013 looking more likely for football if the current Big East stipulations remain in place.
Rutgers, Syracuse and Pittsburgh seem to be the Big East schools that would hold the most interest for the Big Ten, with UConn being mentioned as well.
With the BcS meetings commencing Tuesday, expect even more news/rumor/innuendo/speculation to come out in the coming days.