If Penn State football coach Joe Paterno had his druthers, the Big Ten Conference would expand by three universities — two schools from the East and one from the West.
“The Big Ten is great for us and with three more schools it would be even better,” said Paterno.
Eastern schools most often mentioned as possible new members of the Big Ten are Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse and Connecticut.
Expansion is going to happen, said Paterno, who made similar comments Saturday at a both pre-game press conference at the Blue-White Game and then again while being interviewed by the ESPN2 television crew headed by Brent Musburger.
In part, the growth is fueled by the desire of the Pac-10 Conference to get bigger, which could create a ripple effect, the coach contends. That conference has 10 universities, including USC, UCLA, Arizona, Cal and Oregon, while the Big Ten has 11.
“People I talk with in the Big Ten say the Pac 10 is going to go (bigger and add schools) — the gut feeling is that they’re going to expand,” Paterno said. Possible additions to the Pac-10 might include, said Paterno, “Colorado, Texas, Texas A&M….maybe Boise State.”
The Big Ten is also seeking to add one or more schools to feed its Big Ten Network, as well as create a big-bucks, regular-season ending conference champion in football.
“I wanted us to join the Big Ten for the sports,” said Paterno. “But it is amazing what joining did for our faculty…our research.”
