Report: Big Ten Going To Expand

Things have been rather quiet around MBN the last few days. And for good reason - it's the calm before the storm. I was warned of this looming storm by 3 little birdies (cue Bob Marley music).

The first little birdie told me a day or so ago that Notre Dame was on the outs when it came to joining the Big Ten. They want to stay independent. Irish AD Jack Swarbrick tells WNDU.com [link]:

"We do have to monitor what is going on," Swarbrick said. "There will be significant shifts. "Hopefully we can navigate them by keeping our football independent and keeping our Big East affiliation because that is what we care about."

Another little birdie told me 5 teams were set to announce their intentions to join the conference. Those teams are: Rutgers, Missouri, Pitt, Syracuse and Nebraska.

Good luck to the Irish when it comes to sticking by the potentially dilapidated Big East when it comes to its other sports (non-football) affiliations. If Syracuse, Pitt and Rutgers bail, its over for the Big East.

And finally, the last little birdie told me a potential breakdown of the future Big Ten divisions:

EAST
Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Penn State
NORTH
Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Minnesota
SOUTH
Ohio State, Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern
WEST
Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois

Where any of these birdies speaking a lick of truth? We'll just have to wait and see.