Big Ten Waiting For PAC-12 Implosion To Further Expand: REPORT
The Big Ten reportedly will hold steady and wait on a potential PAC-12 collapse before further expanding.
USC and UCLA will join the Big Ten in 2024, and everyone expects further expansion to happen in the coming years. Could it happen within a year or two, five years or the next decade? A timeline is unknown, but nobody expects the Big Ten or SEC to stop growing.
It's an arms race, and you never stop building weapons in an arms race.
Big Ten expansion reportedly hinges on PAC-12 implosion. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Will the Big Ten add more teams?
Oregon and Washington have both been circled as potential additions. It was previously reported the Huskies and Ducks had already been vetted and cleared to join the B1G.
Yet, no official invites have come as of late June, and further expansion might hinge on the PAC-12 collapsing.
An unnamed Big Ten AD told Saturday Tradition the "marching orders from the conference university presidents" is to not "raid the Pac-12 until it’s abundantly clear the conference already has been mortally wounded."
Will Oregon and Washington join the Big Ten? (Photo by Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
That means the B1G won't expand until the PAC-12 implodes. Then the B1G can swoop in and snatch up Oregon and Washington as other programs head for the lifeboats.
The PAC-12 still lacks a new media deal.
The biggest problem for the PAC-12 is the conference still lacks a new media deal, and July is just a couple days away.
George Kliavkoff and his conference are entering the final football season of their current deal. There's no new one on the table, and it's unclear if there ever will be.
There have been nonstop whispers about Colorado and other teams preparing to jump to the Big 12, and Oregon and Washington have no reason at all to sign a bad media deal. Both programs seem to believe the Big Ten is waiting for them. Why sign a lowball deal instead of just waiting to see if the B1G ever comes calling?
Will the PAC-12 survive? (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
There's still a little time for everything to shake out, but it certainly appears the PAC-12 remains in limbo. That's not good for the conference's survival. Will the Big Ten swoop in soon? Stay tuned to find out!