Is Pitt Headed to the Big Ten?

Over the past couple months, we’ve heard plenty of speculation about the Big Ten looking to add a 12th team to allow them to hold a football conference championship game. Many a team has been mentioned, most from the Big East, but the most logical candidate all along has been the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Now, according to pretty widespread speculation on Sunday evening, Pitt has accepted the offer:

According to several reports, including personal statements by student athletes on Twitter, Pittsburgh athletic department officials held closed door meetings with all of the University’s student athletes last week about the potential move.

Pitt message boards lit up with the news and the validity of the rumor, though not verified by the University or either conference, was somewhat reinforced when those Pitt athletes who posted about the meeting on their Twitter accounts were forced to remove the posts.

Pitt sports very solid basketball and football programs and would provide a natural geographic rival for an isolated Penn State. If true, this would be a hit to Big East basketball, but an affordable one. However, it would not be an affordable hit for Big East football. Pitt, along with West Virginia, has been the most stable performer in football, so this would represent a crippling blow to an oft criticized football conference.