ROSEMONT, Ill. — A group of presidents from the Big Ten conference began discussing the possibility of adding more West Coast schools to the conference in light of the Pac-12’s recent struggles, according to a report from The Associated Press.
The Big Ten already added USC and UCLA, starting in 2024, and with Colorado’s departure back to the Big 12 happening at the same time, it leaves the Pac-12 with just nine remaining member schools committed going forward.
The Pac-12 has yet to reveal a media rights deal, a saga that has gone on for over a year now, with ESPN recently reporting the conference is looking to make Apple TV their primary home.
However, with no media deal just yet, and with the Big Ten having already vetted Oregon, Washington, Stanford, and Cal, the opportunity for more growth is hard to ignore for new Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti.
Petitti doesn’t appear to share the same gusto around Western expansion as his predecessor, Kevin Warren, saying conference realignment wasn’t a priority during the conference’s media days.
“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,” the Big Ten said in a statement Wednesday.
Still, the race to build bigger, wider reaching conferences is happening and it makes sense for the Big Ten to at least explore additional options to pair alongside UCLA and USC in what is a rapidly evolving landscape in college athletics.