Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1410640
4 2 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M most dramatic moments. So without any pressure to grow eastward, maybe it won't expand at all. It appeared for a while as though the conference might look to expand in some other direction by absorb- ing a couple of the eight Big 12 schools that were left in limbo with Texas and Oklahoma on the way out. One of those schools — Iowa State — is located in a state in which the Big Ten already op- erates. Three others — West Virginia, Kansas and Kansas State — are in states bordering Big Ten territory. But the Big 12 isn't having the going- out-of-business sale that some ex- pected after the Sooners and Longhorns announced their plans. And even if it were disbanding, Big Ten officials might not be very receptive. They haven't publicly expressed in- terest in adding any of those schools, and the one school in which they have expressed strong interest over the years — Notre Dame — does not appear to be a realistic option. If they were ever to give up their longstanding football indepen- dence, the Irish would most likely join the ACC, which is already home to most of the school's varsity sports and was a temporary refuge to its football team in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis. Value Over Growth In addition, there's no real financial imperative for the Big Ten to grow. Dur- ing the 2020 fiscal year, it paid out $54.3 million per school, more than the SEC ($45.5 million), Pac-12 ($33.6 million) and ACC ($30.9-$37.0 million). Even though the pandemic played havoc with its moneymaking sports, the league's media rights deals kept its finances strong. Barbour said that the Big Ten "feels like it's in a really good place." Still, it could always be in an even better place, which is why she didn't rule out expan- sion altogether. "It's all about what brings value," she said. "And I'm not just talking about money. Certainly, money is important, but I'm not just talking about money. What institutions or what steps could we take that would bring value to our conference?" Any effort to expand would involve finding schools that fit the league's template in areas other than just ath- letics. Even more than its Power Five brethren, the Big Ten has emphasized academic compatibility as a key part of the bond between its members. Thir- teen of the league's 14 members belong to the Association of American Univer- sities (AAU), a consortium of research- oriented schools in the United States and Canada. The only exception is Ne- braska, and that school was in the AAU when it was approved for membership in 2010. The Big 12 has only three AAU schools in its membership, and one of those schools — Texas — has already made its choice. The other two — Iowa State and Kansas — are schools in which the Big Ten could conceivably have interest at some future date should the Big 12 struggle without Texas and Oklahoma. "I do think there are [choices] out there that could bring value from a monetary standpoint," Barbour said, "particularly speaking about our tele- vision contract and our television rev- enues, but also in terms of the impor- tance to us and to the Big Ten of this concept around likeminded institu- tions. "The Big Ten really prides itself on being more than just an athletics con- ference. Our provosts get together, we share some library resources, some other academic resources. You look at that footprint of the Pac-12, ACC and Big Ten, and 40 percent of the AAU membership lies in those three con- ferences. I'm not trying to downplay the importance of value as it relates to upsizing our revenues. That certainly is important. But that's not the only reason, and I think that there are some reasons around likemindedness that are very valuable to the conference." Still, if the three-way alliance sat- Now in his eighth season as head coach of the Nittany Lions, James Franklin has compiled a 38-23 Big Ten Conference record, including this year's Week 1 victory over Wisconsin. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL