CHICAGO • Nebraska athletics director Tom Osborne met with his new Big Ten brethren Monday as the league began the transition to add its 12th member.
Osborne emerged from a day of meetings intent on addressing the reasons why his school opted to switch conferences, a move that temporarily threw the Big 12 into a state of distress.
"We won't see tremendous financial rewards for some time, so that's not why we did this,'' he said. "It's certainly not because we're mad at anybody or afraid of competition. It's simply a matter of feeling comfortable with what we know of Big Ten culture. Our ideals and aspirations matched up pretty well.''
Osborne said there were significant academic issues that were part of the equation. Nebraska felt there would be an opportunity for research money to increase significantly. He also pointed to the success of the Big Ten Network and its ability to help the school recruit nationally. And because Nebraska is not a warm-weather state, officials thought the school could compete better in sports such as baseball and tennis in the Big Ten, which has more northern-based schools than the Big 12.
Osborne said he first heard of the Big Ten's interest through Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez. When Ohio State coach Jim Tressel told him the same thing soon after, he realized something was brewing. But he emphasized that he can't spend too much time on the Big Ten yet.
"Our focus has to be on the Big 12,'' he said. "We'd like to finish up on a good note. We have a lot of respect for the teams that we've played.''
Paterno's health
With each new season, Joe Paterno handles increasingly graphic questions about his innards, which long have been of equal interest to fans and physicians.
At 83, the Penn State coach didn't back down Monday from responses that frequently contained a bit too much information.
His absence from several personal appearances during the offseason were credited to intestinal problems and led to further speculation about his future.
"Actually,'' he offered to assembled media and a Big Ten Network audience, "it was a little bit below the intestines.''
But Paterno said too much was made of his illness and insisted that it wasn't an indication that he would not be able to handle his usual workload.
He is about to start his 45th season as Penn State's head coach. He is 394-129-3.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
• Ohio State was picked to win the conference title, ahead of Iowa and Wisconsin. Only the top three teams were announced.
• Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor and Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones won repeat honors as the Big Ten's preseason offensive and defensive players of the year. Jones went on to win the regular season defensive honor in 2009. Pryor finished strong and was the MVP of the Rose Bowl.
• The Big Ten will continue its emphasis on improving safety, especially as it relates to head injuries, after seeing the number of helmet-to-helmet incidents almost triple from 2008 to '09.
