On Wednesday, The Associated Press reported that the Big Ten Conference was again looking at expansion out west.
Anonymous sources said that the conference has had preliminary conversations concerning the addition of Oregon and Washington, as well as some interest in Cal and Stanford. UCLA and USC are joining the Big Ten in 2024, while Colorado recently announced it will return to the Big 12 next year.
Those three departures will leave the Pac-12 to just nine schools as it stands.
In response to the reports, the Big Ten released a statement on Wednesday addressing expansion, stating:
“The Big Ten Conference is still focused on integration of USC and UCLA, but it’s also the commissioner’s job to keep chancellors and presidents informed about new developments as they occur.”
Last week, new Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti was asked about further expansion of the conference during media days in Indianapolis.
“What I’ll say is all the direction I’m getting from leadership, our presidents and chancellors, athletic directors, is to focus on UCLA and USC,” Petitti said. “I’m proud of the scheduling format we created in football. I think it touches on all the right things.
“We have significant work to do on scheduling of other sports, especially our Olympic sports, to come up with the best solutions. I believe we have a good plan in motion. I think we’ll learn from it. Like anything, there will be tweaks and changes. Overall that’s really where we are. I’m not getting direction to do anything else other than that in terms of just what the conference looks like right now.”
The addition of Oregon and Washington would give the Big Ten a footprint in the Pacific Northwest and strengthen its hold on the west coast. Potentially adding Stanford and Cal would make the Big Ten the first 20-team conference while giving the conference more market share in California.
The Pac-12 has been trying to negotiate a new media deal, with Apple reportedly looking to get into the college football market. Other schools, such as Arizona and Arizona State, have been rumored to potentially be looking for an exit if an appropriate deal is not reached.
According to The Associated Press, the Big Ten may be reluctant to add more teams immediately due to its own media deal wouldn’t increase in value. The seven-year, $7 billion media rights agreement with three networks (Fox, CBS and NBC) could see total payouts reach up to $90 million per year.
During media days in Indianapolis, many of the coaches and players in attendance gave their thoughts on the additions of UCLA and USC next year, but perhaps Penn State coach James Franklin said it best.
“Yeah, I think obviously the Big Ten has made some decisions that I think most people would agree, whether it’s athletic directors or coaches, that we made decisions that we felt like were going to put the conference in the best position to compete for National Championships, and not only that, give us the best chance to get multiple teams into the playoffs.”
