Big Ten Invites Penn St. : Football: Illinois president says conference extends an offer, and Nittany Lions agree in principal to join.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. —  Penn State has accepted an offer to abandon its independent status in football and join the Big Ten Conference, a high-ranking conference official said Saturday.

A news conference probably will be held in Chicago some time this week to announce that the Big Ten will be expanded to include Penn State, said Stanley D. Ikenberry, University of Illinois president.

Ikenberry is chairman of the Council of 10, the Big Ten’s association of presidents.

“We have reached an agreement in principle that Penn State will join the Big Ten,” Ikenberry said. “We think that if Penn State were incorporated in the conference, it would be a natural and happy extension of the conference.”

But Bryce Jordan, Penn State president, would not say Saturday whether Penn State will make the move.

“I’m not in a position ethically to make a positive response,” Jordan said.

Penn State has similar academic and athletic interests as current Big Ten institutions, Ikenberry said in a telephone interview.

He said Penn State has been negotiating actively to join the conference during the past three months.

As the 11th school in the conference, Penn State would join Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue. The conference probably would keep the name Big Ten, however, Ikenberry said.

Penn State belongs to the Atlantic 10 Conference for basketball and other sports, but has always been an independent in football.

The Washington Post, meanwhile, said only a number of competitive, financial and contractual considerations remained before the move was made. That could delay Penn State’s entry into the conference until the mid-1990s, the Post said.

Asked if the deal had been made, Minnesota Athletic Director Rick Bay told the Post: “That’s the way it sounds to me.”

However, it appears the Big Ten presidents moved ahead without consulting their athletic directors about the move.

“I’m disappointed there wasn’t any dialogue with the athletic directors prior to them (the presidents) getting to this point,” Bay said. “We need to be involved at some point in these discussions, but I don’t know when or if that will occur.”

Ohio State Athletic Director Jim Jones was also concerned about the move. “I’m scheduled for the next 15 years in football,” he told the Post. “Does that mean I have to pick out an opponent every year to drop? Are we going to play a round-robin (conference season)? . . . There are a lot of things to be determined before I’m ready to say whether this is a good idea.”

The decision to issue an invitation to Penn State apparently was made in Chicago last Sunday, the first day of the Council of 10’s two-day semiannual meeting.

Penn State football Coach Joe Paterno said Friday: “The schools in the Big Ten are similar institutions to ours academically. It would be a great thing for the prestige of this institution to be identified with those people.

“Athletically, it would be a plus in just about every area.”

Penn State has rejected the idea of joining a proposed conference that has been under discussion since June. Meetings have been held on the possibility of forming an eastern conference that could include such schools as Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Temple, Rutgers, West Virginia, Florida State, Miami, South Carolina and Virginia Tech. But such a conference would probably not include all sports, which Penn State wants.

Paterno, speaking during a news conference to discuss Penn State’s Dec. 29 Holiday Bowl game against Brigham Young at San Diego, said he understood Jordan would make an announcement next week.

Paterno said joining the conference might be too tempting to miss, with his scheduled retirement coming in three years at age 65.

“Any time you get into a new challenge it kind of gets the blood going,” he said.