Published Friday June 11, 2010
Big Ten chief welcomes Huskers
By Jeffrey Robb
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany welcomed the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to the conference Friday, capping a day of quick action that sealed Nebraska's move out of the Big 12.
At a press conference on the UNL campus, Delany praised NU as a good fit with the Big 10 athletically and academically.
"We were ready to move more quickly when this opportunity arose," he said as he stood with NU Athletic Director Tom Osborne and UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman.
Delany said Nebraska will move to the Big Ten effective July 1, 2011, and that he presumes the 12-team conference will hold a championship game at the end of that football season.
"The competition will commence quickly," he said.
Delany said the Big Ten is like a family and that the conference will work hard to integrate Nebraska into the operation.
"For us, we're in a great place," Delany said. "We are stronger today than we were yesterday."
After expanding by one team, Delany said, the Big Ten will continue over the next 12 to 18 months to examine the potential to bring in other teams. He would not comment about other prospective members, although Notre Dame is high on the list.
With Nebraska's departure from the Big 12, Delany said he doesn't believe the loss of any single team means the end of a conference.
"I don't buy that any one institution can be responsible for anything of that dimension."