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With the decision to accept Oregon and Washington among its ranks, the Big Ten became the largest Power Conference in college sports.
The Big Ten's history is one of the most storied, and it is lined with tales of success. As you'd expect, the conference has also had its fair share of arrivals and departures in realignment moves.
In this realignment cycle, however, they have only gained members, not lost any. After the SEC's move for Oklahoma and Texas set off this realignment cycle, the B1G approved USC and UCLA to move over from the Pac-12. The two schools would bring the Big Ten's membership to 16 when they officially join in 2024.
With that, many thought the Big Ten was done expanding and that this conference realignment cycle was over. After all, it was now on par with the SEC, with 16 members to show for next year onwards. But can anyone really tell with these media dollar-driven teams?
The Pac-12's situation quickly escalated as the 2023 college football season got closer. Failing to deliver on its promise of a lucrative media deal to members, the Pac-12 started to disintegrate. It began with Colorado making a return to the Big 12.
The B1G saw the opportunity and decided not to pass on it. Washington and Oregon are in the bag, taking them up to 18 members, an unprecedented fest in college sports history.
It's not over, and anything can still happen in the fast-evolving world of college sports. But this is how the B1G currently looks after adding Washington and Oregon:
East Division
- Indiana University
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Michigan State
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Rutgers
West Division
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Northwestern
- Purdue
- Wisconsin
New members (from July 2024)
USC
UCLA
Washington
Oregon
Have we seen the last of Big Ten expansion?
The Big Ten has asserted itself as the leading conference in college sports. It has set a new benchmark for other conferences. In fact, it may have just ushered us into a new era of super conferences. More marquee matchups are now guaranteed, and that can only mean more revenue for the schools to share.
We may not have seen the last of B1G expansion, especially with the SEC and the Big 12 breathing down their neck. All it will take is another opportunity akin to the Pac-12 situation to occur again.
