While conference realignment has cooled down considerably since the summer when UCLA and USC suddenly jumped from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten igniting several weeks of speculation about the future of college football and conference allegiances. While no other moves happened immediately, the Big Ten has expressed interest in future expansion – that could be disastrous for the Pac-12.
According to a report from Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, the Big Ten is pursuing four more Pac-12 schools to join the Big Ten – California, Oregon, Stanford and Washington. If those four schools do leave, sources told Dodd that it could “collapse the Pac-12.”
“If that [Big Ten move] happens, I think the other [four Pac-12] schools will want to jump to our league,” a Big 12 source told Dodd.
This would obviously be a massive shift in the college football landscape – even bigger than USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten. As a result, the college football world had plenty to say about the wild news.
https://twitter.com/Jeff_Sharon/status/1575200444002861056?s=20&t=3sjv-hPXJMR5YKKDQjVzbQ
Raid em. Hand the schools over to a competent conference that cares. https://t.co/vzNKNJ3sRB
— Chad Wilson | Football Recruits (@GridironStuds) September 28, 2022
https://t.co/8gPc136Qqo pic.twitter.com/KrrFUM5xmq
— Erik Haslam (@haslametrics) September 28, 2022
#atthepeak https://t.co/WDA0LfdYWT pic.twitter.com/k4wVfvOVzs
— Heath Nielsen (@HeathNielsen) September 28, 2022
Raid em. Hand the schools over to a competent conference that cares. https://t.co/vzNKNJ3sRB
— Chad Wilson | Football Recruits (@GridironStuds) September 28, 2022
For what it’s worth, Pac-12 conference commissioner George Kliavkoff did not sound too concerned about the potential for more schools to defect to the Big Ten, saying “If schools [were leaving] for the Big Ten, they would have left for the Big Ten already.”
But it sure looks like the Big Ten is going to try to poach more teams.
