Within the Big Ten office last summer, then-commissioner Kevin Warren led an expansion exploration that spanned more than a dozen schools, many of whom reached out to the league about an acquisition after the Los Angeles schools joined. Conference office administrators created a list of desired programs thought to be attainable, according to multiple sources who have seen the list.
They included Notre Dame, North Carolina, Clemson, Florida State, Pitt, Kansas, Cal, Stanford, Arizona, Virginia and, of course, Oregon and Washington. In fact, outside counsel for UO and UW met with Big Ten administrators twice last year — once in Chicago and another in New York.
