MADISON, WI (WSAU) – The Big Ten is about to get a little bigger after two prominent West Coast schools are announcing that they will be joining the conference in 2024.
The University of Oregon and the University of Washington have been heavily engaged in talks with the Big Ten over the last few days, as both schools hoped to be “vetted and cleared” by conference officials.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, a Big Ten vote to formally admit Oregon and Washington to the conference is anticipated to happen on Friday. Thamel also reports that the decision will likely be unanimous.
Last summer, both USC and UCLA announced that they would be leaving the PAC-12 to join the Big Ten, which prompted the conference to change up its scheduling by doing away with divisions in 2024.
According to Action Network, Oregon and Washington have been in talks with Big Ten officials about potentially joining the conference since last August. Sources close to the matter stated that Oregon met with Big Ten executives in Chicago, while Washington met with Big Ten officials in New York.
With 18 members, the Big Ten will now be the largest conference in college football history. The conference will now have another tough decision to make: whether to continue growing or stay at 18 teams. According to Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, the Big Ten is debating whether to consider adding Stanford and Cal as well as any potential departing ACC schools such as Florida State and Clemson.
The Big Ten is also expected to be the top choice for Notre Dame if they decide to join a conference, but the Irish haven’t indicated they want to give up their independent status.
Although Oregon and Washington won’t get their full shares of the new Big Ten media rights contract with FOX, CBS, and NBC right away, they will still make more money than they would have if they had stayed in the Pac-12, according to McMurphy’s sources.
This move, along with the University of Colorado’s decision to join the Big 12, is widely considered to be a catastrophic blow to the PAC-12 and could very well be the end of the once-historic conference.
