DETROIT – The Big Ten is expected to expand to 18 teams with the additions of Oregon and Washington, according to multiple reports. What does this latest power shift mean for the future of the league?
Conference realignment continues to change the landscape of college sports. The addition of Penn State to the Big Ten seemed earth-shattering to some in 1990, but the conference’s footprint has continued to steadily grow since, with Nebraska joining in 2011 and Maryland and Rutgers following in 2014.
About 13 months ago, the league finalized the additions of USC and UCLA, an idea that just a few years ago would have gotten someone laughed out of a sports bar. The Big Ten suddenly stretched all the way from the northeast to Southern California.
Why stop there? Now, the northwest is apparently getting in on the fun, as Washington and Oregon follow their former Pac-12 brethren to greener pastures.
The Big Ten is expected to officially approve Oregon and Washington as new members later today, sources tell @TheAthletic.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) August 4, 2023
It'll be interesting to see what the revenue share ends up looking like. Expectation has been that UO/UW could come in even as low as 50 percent.
What will this new 18-team conference look like? Will the Big Ten try to reach an even 20? More? We don’t know all the answers, but we do know these types of drastic shifts come with both risks and opportunities.
For the Big Ten, expanding isn’t really a means of survival -- it’s a way to continue widening the gap between itself and the other non-SEC power conferences.
As the Pac-12, Big 12, and ACC struggle to react to the fast pace of change around college sports, the Big Ten has made a point to be proactive. Adding powers like Nebraska, USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington to a league that already centers around a healthy core of blue bloods further cements the league’s standing as one of the best in sports.
For years, football has been divided by “Power Five” and Group of Five” conferences. It feels more and more like we’re heading toward a three-tiered hierarchy that begins with the Big Ten and SEC. The other “power” leagues will make up a still-relevant middle class, while the Group of Five leagues struggle to keep their top members from jumping ship for Tier 2 (a la Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF).
Scheduling is a major hurdle. With 18 teams, there’s obviously going to be plenty of logistical restructuring. The Big Ten recently announced its new scheduling format with protected rivals and every-other-year meetings, but that will all have to change with the additions of Oregon and Washington.
Some rivalries will obviously be protected. But college sports as a whole will soon ditch familiarity in favor of variety.
Sports fans are always resistant to change, but the hard truth is that college sports -- and particularly college football -- were never going to stay the same. TV deals are insanely lucrative. Players can make money and transfer at will. The playoff is expanding to 12 teams.
Fans of the Big Ten should be thankful that their conference is the one driving this change, not reacting to it. How do you think it feels to be an Oregon State fan right about now? Somewhere between the “This is fine” dog and the Fresh Prince standing alone in an empty house?
We’re going to see less Michigan vs. Rutgers and more Michigan vs. UCLA. More Michigan State vs. Oregon and less Michigan State vs. Illinois. While it’s tough to let go of the Big Ten we know and love, the actual week-to-week differences might not be so bad.
And if you’ve got whiplash from all this realignment, you might as well stay buckled in. There’s definitely more to come.
