Breaking down the latest Big Ten expansion rumor — which is focused around the Utah Utes
Could the Big Ten be looking to expand yet again? There is an interesting rumor out there right now surrounding one school linking up with the league.
There is a rumor swirling around the web right now that the Big Ten is interested in adding Utah as a new member to the league. The rumor started with a message board post and has since been picked up by at least a pair of notable podcasts related to the Big Ten, including Locked on Big Ten.
Craig Shemon — host of Locked on Big Ten — talked about the thought of Utah joining the Big Ten during an episode on Wednesday where he broke down the rumor. Shemon said the rumor could have some merit to it since Utah does meet a number of the Big Ten checklist items. But he also noted how Utah just joined the Big 12 last year and there would be a number of financial hurdles for the Utes to clear to even consider leaving for the Big Ten.
Shemon added that it seems very unlikely that anything could materialize between the Big Ten and Utah for at least a few years, but down the road it would make sense for the Big Ten to add the Utes when the league is ready to expand again. The full break down from Shemon can be found in the video below:
My Take on Big Ten-Utah Expansion Rumors
This feels like something that probably doesn’t even warrant a post since it started on a message board. But let’s not forget that some of the biggest moves and stories have started with message board posts. So let’s not just instantly dismiss the idea of Utah eventually joining the Big Ten. The key word there being eventually…
Like Shemon said in his recent podcast episode, this doesn’t seem like a move that is anywhere near close to being done. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Utah was on a shortlist of schools that the Big Ten is targeting in future expansion. It would make sense for the Big Ten to look out west again in its next expansion to help spread its footprint more equally and make travel easier for the other newcomers (USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington).
So for now, I wouldn’t spend too much time looking into this one. But in three or four years, I wouldn’t be surprised it we see Utah joining the Big Ten along with a few other western schools.
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