FanPost

When Penn State joined the Big Ten.


One area of Penn State history of which I've always had a great interest, but found little information on, was the negoations that lead to Penn State joining the Big Ten.  I was young at the time, and my recollection was that the anouncement came totally out of the blue.  Obviously, without blogs and internets, it was easier to keep things a secret.

Regardless, here is an article from the Columbia (Missouri) Tribune which spends a great deal of time talking about the academic merrits of the Big Ten and CIC membership, as well as Penn State's enterance into the league.

There was no public timeline the last time the Big Ten expanded. Instead, the negotiating went on mostly in secret as Jordan, Penn State Athletic Director Jim Tarman and Chief Financial Officer Steve Garban worked closely with Illinois President Stan Ikenberry, who at the time had tremendous pull as Chairman for the Council of Ten, the league’s official governing body.

Some Big Ten coaches and administrators were enraged over the announcement. They expected to be consulted on such a monumental change to the conference structure, but the presidents kept them in the dark.

Can you imagine?  They didn't even tell Bo Schembechler, who was not only Michigan's football coach, but also their athletic director.  No wonder they were so pissed at us.  Regardless, I found this to be an interesting enough read that I expanded it enough to get into the fan posts.

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