Big Ten Commish. says he never mentioned Rutgers & Cuse

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-070731teddy,1,5811758.column?ctrack=1&cset=true

Big Ten in no mood for change

Conference shies away from expansion, off week, plus-one plan

Teddy Greenstein | ON SPORTS MEDIA AND COLLEGES

August 1, 2007

  "Outrageous" Jim Delany gave way to "reasoned" Jim Delany at Big Ten media day.

And that, college football fans, means Big Ten expansion is not on the horizon, so conferences such as the Big East do not have to stuff their teams in a room and lock the door.

It also means a plus-one playoff system is not coming to a television screen near you.

Another proposed changeâ€â€to add an off week and extend the season past Thanksgivingâ€â€also seems as popular as a remake of Barry Bonds' reality TV show.

Illinois coach Ron Zook loves the idea, arguing passionately that it's in the best interests of student welfare.

"There's no way you can tell me that playing 12 straight weeks is good for the players," he said. "There was a time last year when I was worried about [quarterback Juice Williams]. He was emotionally and physically drained. He hit that wall. He wasn't smiling."

Thing is, the coaches opposed to stretching the season also see it as a student-welfare issue.

Both Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and Ohio State's Jim Tressel said they polled their players, who "unanimously" decided they wanted to be home for the Thanksgiving weekend.

"As I listen to players talk about open weeks they sometimes say we coaches work them harder than they think they ought to be worked, so they don't consider them that open," Tressel said.

Tressel is not among those who believe the Buckeyes' 50-day layoff caused their awful performance in the BCS title game. Same goes for Ferentz, whose Hawkeyes were soundly beaten by USC in the 2003 Orange Bowl after being off the final week.

"Our problems in that game were not because of our layoff," Ferentz said. "It was because of the approach that we took."

Delany is altering how he approaches sticky Big Ten affairs after a year he described as "public."

"In dealing with those issues, my goal has been to be a passionate advocate on behalf of the Big Ten," he said. "I hope 2008 is a slower year. I hope it's a year with fewer issues and it's less contentious."

The issues:

•Expansion. During a Big Ten tour last week, Delany told Des Moines Register reporters the league needs to look at adding a 12th team. Why? To increase programming and add a new TV market for the soon-to-be-launched Big Ten Network.

Delany stopped short of saying he was misquoted but said expansion is hardly imminent. He told Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese that he never mentioned Rutgers and Syracuseâ€â€two schools included in the Register story as possible Big Ten additions.

"We don't plan to expand, but we analyze it on a regular basis," Delany said Tuesday. "We haven't looked at it since we had those conversations with Notre Dame in the late '90s."

Later, he added: "By expanding, are you a better, stronger conference? We've never been able to answer that [with a] yes."

•Big Ten Network distribution. Rather than advising Big Ten fans to ditch Comcast, Time Warner or Mediacom in favor of DirecTV, Delany said the negotiating window remains open: "I think we're at halftime."

•In February, Delany responded to a Sun-Times story about a Big Ten recruiting slump by questioning the admission standards of SEC schools. Delany now wishes he had merely sent the letter to the author of the offending story, rather than posting it on the Big Ten's Web site.

Instead he had to patch things up with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive and talk Tuesday about "the great respect we have" for SEC football programs.

•A plus-one playoff. Delany remains opposed, believing it could compromise the Big Ten's agreement with the Rose Bowl and lead to a full-blown playoff.

But he wasn't as outspoken as Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen, who told The Sporting News that his league would walk away from the BCS before it would accept a plus-one. In essence, secede.

"Secede is a very strong word," Delany said. "And I'm trying to be more politic. So I wouldn't use the word secede."

So what word would you use?

"Here's how I look at it: the Big Ten and Pac-10 have a Rose Bowl relationship that has seven years to go," he said. "We are going to honor that. The BCS has a four-year relationship with Fox; we're going to honor that.

"Now, seven years from now, I think it will be someone else's issue, to secede or not secede. I probably won't be here."

tgreenstein@tribune.com