News broke this afternoon that Oregon and Washington were going to have a vote and, most likely, will end up joining the Big 10. This comes a year after USC and UCLA both agreed to join the Big 10. The details are not set in stone yet, but by 2024 or 2025, the Big 10 will have, at the very least, 18 teams. That is almost double 10 teams as the name implies, so maybe the conference will change names. I hope they do.

Oregon, UCLA, Washington and USC are not the only Pac 12 teams leaving the conference. Colorado is leaving for the Big 12. Arizona seems next for the Big 12. Arizona State is talking to the Big 12. Utah is leaning that way as well. The Pac 12 as we know it in college football is pretty much done for. It is going to be weird to write a preseason preview for that conference in a few weeks because it will most likely be the last one I do for them.

Looking at all this with a much bigger lens, college football is rapidly changing, and it would not shock me if there are two major conferences within the next five to seven years. I fully believe by 2030 college football will no longer be involved with the NCAA, and there will be two major conferences, the SEC and the Big 10. This is just the start. Oklahoma and Texas are leaving the Big 12 after this year for the SEC. Colorado and Utah will never be able to take their places even though I like the direction both programs are going. Schools like Missouri, Texas A&M and Nebraska left the Big 12 years ago. Those are football schools. Two are SEC teams and one is in the Big 10. I read that Florida State was considering leaving the ACC. I wouldn't be shocked if Clemson was that far behind. Mid Major teams, a team like Cincinnati, just joined the Big 12, but they are a Big 10 team at heart. Pitt, Boston College, Virginia Tech and NC State give me Big 10 vibes. Then schools like UNC, Louisville, FSU, they give me SEC vibes. The rest of the teams could just fill in. The Big 12, even with some additions, is ripe for the picking. Kansas State and KU are midwest Big 10 teams. West Virginia likes to air it out, that has SEC written all over it. TCU could go to either conference and be a threat. Iowa State has flirted with the Big 10 before. Baylor and Texas Tech could easily join Texas in the SEC. Same for Oklahoma State. With what is left of the Pac 12, Oregon State and Stanford have a Big 10 feel. Washington State and Arizona State could go to either conference. Cal feels like a Big 10 team. The possibilities are endless. The only problem is the mid major teams and the independent teams. Notre Dame will be fine. They should already be a Big 10 team. Boise State could slide into the SEC. But there are other teams that are more up and down. What does Memphis do? They are in the South, but they would get roasted by the upper tier SEC teams. Tulane is playing well now, but they would also be a bottom feeder in the SEC. Central Florida is up and down, but they cannot recruit with Miami, FSU and Florida. Temple plays a bruising Big 10 style of football, but how would they fare with the cream of the crop in that conference? There are so many more mid-major schools that will be looking for a home and I just do not know how they would all fit. Maybe these schools start a third conference that plays almost like a bracket buster style schedule. That would be kind of cool.

All in all, college football is changing. I used to loathe the idea of super conferences, but now it is pretty much an inevitability. This is going to happen and it is going to happen much sooner than we all expect. I do know it is all about the money, and there are things that have to be worked out on a massive scale but it is coming. Get ready for it. I do fully believe the conferences will have to change names, but that is an easy fix further down the line. Big things are happening in college football, and as a tremendous fan of the sport, I am pretty psyched to see where it goes from here. 

Ty

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

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