A small group of Big Ten presidents held a preliminary meeting Wednesday to discuss adding two to four new members from the Pac-12, sources confirmed to Sports Illustrated. The potential expansion targets are Oregon, Washington, California and Stanford. The news was first reported by Yahoo Sports.
A source familiar with the Big Ten thinking said the conference’s presidents are more interested in adding all four schools, while the league’s media partners are more interested in a two-member addition of Oregon and Washington. While one league source cautioned “nothing is there” in terms of an imminent move, a second source said “a real proposal is going to take shape fast” regarding Oregon and Washington.
However, that doesn’t mean the proposal would be accepted. Sources stressed there is reluctance among Big Ten stakeholders to strike what would be a death blow to the Pac-12, which is also trying to keep the Big 12 from poaching Arizona, Arizona State and Utah after already taking Colorado last week.
