Big Ten discussing expansion, but Clemson Football is not on the agenda

A small group of Big Ten university presidents have initiated a discussion to examine adding teams to the conference. They are reviewing the possible additions of Oregon and Washington to expand the conference to 18 teams, or potentially include Stanford and California to expand to 20 teams.

Yahoo published this information from columnist Dan Wetzel on Wednesday amid swirling rumors about expansion by the Big Ten that had not been substantiated up until now.

For Clemson fans, this might sound interesting, but ultimately disappointing because there doesn’t appear to be any discussion of the Tigers or anyone else from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wetzel doesn’t mention the ACC until he mentions them as an option for the Southeastern Conference should they wish to counter potential moves by the Big Ten, but he also reminds his readers about the Grant of Rights.

Florida State has been rattling their sword about making sure they do what is best for them. Comments from their administration suggest the Grant of Rights isn’t a major component of their thinking, but the reality that Big Ten presidents are considering schools like Stanford and California, but aren’t actively discussing ACC schools suggests the GOR is still a barrier.

Dan Wetzel says Big Ten presidents are discussing Pac-12 teams, but not Clemson Football or the ACC

The possible reason for including the two private schools, which are known to not have a large fanbase for football, would likely be to lock up the four current Power Five programs in the state of California. If the state became ‘Big Ten territory’, it is conceivable that the Cardinal and Golden Bears could add enough value to make the addition make sense.

That would mean the southeast would be the last region where the Big Ten did not have a member institution. To date, we don’t know if they would have an interest in adding southeastern schools such as Clemson or Florida State, but if the GOR is the reason they aren’t at least talking about ACC schools, the whole point might remain moot for several years.