Indiana AD: Everyone has 'expansion fatigue'

CHICAGO -- Expansion talk has dulled to a whisper at the Big Ten meetings, a complete flip from the recent past.

After adding Nebraska in 2011 and accepting Maryland and Rutgers as new members in 2014, the Big Ten appears content at the moment to stay at 14 members. It's possible the rest of the college world might follow suit.

"Dead is a strong word," Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said when asked if expansion was over. "But I would say integration and consolidation is where we have spent our time since the announcement of Rutgers and Maryland. I told you guys that we were inactive and all of our time was being spent on integration and consolidation and that continues.

"I shouldn't speak for others, but for us we've been focused on making a home in a new region, making new members feel at home in this region and everything we'll do competitively and in television and in bowl is to bring as quickly as we can a level of comfort."

The league has realigned in football twice since adding Nebraska. The first go-around was based on competitive balance. The second, which begins in 2014, is focused on geography.

The ripple effect is massive since the Big Ten first announced it would look at expansion in December 2009. Thirteen different members have shifted to the five major conferences. The Big East once was consider a power league, but will have lost seven football members and eight basketball members by 2014.

Big Ten officials continue to monitor the college athletics landscape, but no one said expansion is a front-burner issue right now.

"I think there's expansion fatigue around the country," Indiana Athletics Director Fred Glass said. "People like stabilization. They like old rivalries, and they like regionalization. I don't think any of us are particularly excited about those things changing. But in the modern world, they are.

"If we stay at 14, I'd be a happy camper. But if there's some people who are interested that the commissioner and the leadership of the conference think makes sense, I think it would be foolish not to be open to that."

Delany even chided reporters for continually asking about expansion.

"Some people say they're tired of writing about it but they keep asking questions about it," Delany said. "So I really don't know which direction it is.

"From my perspective, we're inactive and we're focused on bringing new members into the fold."