Jun 12th, 2010
Indianapolis Escorts: New alliances, league affiliation ready to reshape college sports
… There is anxiety associated with any type of change,” Wellman said. “It remains to be seen if the changes that may or may not occur will be beneficial to college athletics overall. I would say the changes made in the past have been beneficial. I don’t think we need to fear change. I think we need to make sure the changes are appropriate.”
Is it really about academics?
While acknowledging that the flourishing Big Ten Network is one reason to expand, Big Ten Commissioner Delany has said expansion is one way the league’s schools can counter a general population shift to the South from the Midwest. He also has said that academics are a top priority, emphasizing AAU membership as a requirement for Big Ten membership.
An exception would be Notre Dame, not an AAU member but strong academically and long coveted by the league. Notre Dame turned down the league for membership in 1999.
“Of course they’re going to say that,” Smith College economics professor Andrew Zimbalist said of the Big Ten’s repeated emphasis on academics. “What are they going to say? ‘We’re going to prostitute ourselves?’ “
See the full article from “USA Today”