Thoughts on the New Big 10

The college football landscape is changing yet again. I figured after Texas and Oklahoma decided to join the SEC last season that this was going to quiet down a bit. Quite the opposite has happened. I was checking out the sports news, mainly to see where NBA free agents were signing, and saw that the Big Ten was going to vote later in the day on adding USC and UCLA to the conference.

This news shocked me. I was, for real, stunned. I am an old school fan when it comes to college football. I like the conferences. I like how they align with bowl games. The conferences, for the most part, make geographical sense. Even when Missouri joined the SEC, or when Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big 10, that made some kind of sense. Those teams have pull in the South and Midwest and East. It also made recruiting sense. Hell, even Oklahoma and Texas make sense on paper in the SEC. Most of their fans have southern roots, or still live in the South. But USC and UCLA joining the Big 10 is just wild. It makes no sense. It is so far out of the way from the rest of the Big 10 teams. The time zones don't work. The recruiting is totally different. The game times are completely different. The style of play is not the same. It just doesn't make sense to me at all.

This is the way college football is going. There is, eventually, going to be two, maybe three mega conferences, and it will probably happen before 2030. It is what is going to happen. There is no sense in me being surprised by this news anymore. The fact that the conference I watch the most, with my favorite sports team of all time, is going to stay relevant should make me happy. The Big 10 is more than secure with USC and UCLA joining. I cannot think that Notre Dame, Washington and Oregon are going to be far behind joining. I can see Arizona and Arizona State leaving for the SEC soon.

This is the death knell for the Pac 12. They are all but done as a conference come 2024. They have one full season left, and that is going to be that. The money is just too much for these schools to pass up. That is the main reason this is all happening. The Pac 12 is a big deal, but they are the lowest of the power five conferences. Their games are on too late, no one really watches them after the primetime night game, usually featuring a Big 10 or SEC matchup and the Pac 12 network is the bottom of the barrell. The amount of money, some people are saying upwards of 100 million a season, that USC and UCLA are going to make in 2024 is too good. It is too much of a lure. It is too hard to pass up. The matchups are also way, way better and more TV friendly. USC-Michigan is going to become an instant rivalry. As will the university of Ohio State-USC. Penn State-Washington is a dope old school matchup. Michigan-Washington was a great Rose Bowl matchup. Wisconsin-UCLA is going to be modern 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Oregon-the university of Ohio State has given us great out of conference games, now imagine that in conference. This benefits the Big 10, and helps the teams at the top get an even better hold on the CFP. Michigan, Michigan State, the university of Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa and Purdue will all benefit from the addition of USC and UCLA, with Washington and Oregon soon to follow. But those former Pac 12 schools will benefit even more. They get better matchups, better competition, better game time slots, better TV times and millions upon millions of more dollars coming into their programs.

The old fan in me despises this. But the fan I am now, more logical and older, understands why this is happening. This is the new world of college sports. We all have to get used to it. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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