Jim Harbaugh on Big Ten expansion: ‘I’m an old school guy’
Big Ten expansion continues with the addition of USC and UCLA, and there seems to be no end in sight. Notre Dame has been rumored for some time — Rick Neuheisel said from PAC-12 media today the Irish are “very much in play” for the Big Ten — and several other PAC-12 teams are, as well.
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Per Brett McMurphy, Washington, Stanford and others are among them, as are a couple of Florida schools:
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh understands the reason for the expansion, and he’s accepted it.
“They’re great programs … great academic programs,” he said of UCLA and USC Tuesday from Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis. “They’ll be a great fit, I think.”
At the same time — and like many traditionalists — there’s part of him that like’s the old way better.
“Personally, I’m an old school guy,” he said of more proposed expansion. “I like a strong west coast conference, a strong southeast conference, a strong Midwest conference, a strong east coast conference.
“But things are different now. Things have changed, and it’s probably not the last [expansion] either I would guess. But — we’ll see. I’m glad we’re in it. It should be a heck of a ride.”
Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren all but said as much from Media Day. They aren’t going to be the “Sears & Roebuck,” he said, and get left behind in expansion while everyone else snaps up good teams.
“Regarding expansion, I get asked every single day, ‘what’s next?’” he said. “It may include future expansion, but it will be done for the right reasons at the right time — with our student-athletes, academic and athletic empowerment at the center of any and all decisions that we will make regarding any further expansion.
“We will not expand just to expand. It will be strategic. It will add additional value to our conference, and it will provide a platform to even have our student-athletes be put on a larger platform so they can build their careers, but also that they have an opportunity to grow and learn from an education and from an athletic standpoint.”
They’re in a perpetual state of evaluation when it comes to expansion and everything else, Warren said. And make no mistake — more is coming.
Harbaugh may not love it, but he’s certainly not against it, seemingly happy to be along for the ride in a conference that keeps getting stronger.
