Is Big 10 Expansion Over?

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith is quoted as saying that he believes the Big Ten's expansion efforts essentially are over.

A snippet from the Lantern, OSU's student paper:

"We're finished (with expansion)," Smith said. "The only thing that would cause us to look at it further is if someone contacted us."

Smith acknowledged that few Big Ten representatives have closed the door to further expansion.

"The reason most of us say it's not done is because we think there are some schools that are going to try to talk to some conferences. But we're not actively out looking at expansion," Smith said. "After our October meetings, that's going to be the last we talk about it."

The Big Ten, of course, added Nebraska to its stable in June, bringing conference membership to 12. After adding the Cornhuskers, commissioner Jim Delany said the league would return to its scheduled timetable for examining further expansion, which is scheduled to wrap up between this December and June 2011.

Sounds like the league has gauged the interest of its top targets (Notre Dame, Texas, etc.) and is just waiting to see whether any of them will change their mind.