Washington officially accepts invitation to join Big Ten

The situation unfolded quickly, but it’s now official. Washington is off to the Big Ten in 2024.

The university announced it has accepted an invitation to join the league as the conference realignment dominoes continue to fall. Reports indicated the Big Ten’s growing interest in Washington as the week went along, and it will now add another team from the West Coast.

“The Big Ten is a thriving conference with strong athletic and academic traditions, and we are excited and confident about competing at the highest level on a national stage,” UW president Ana Mari Cauce said in a statement. “My top priority must be to do what is best for our student-athletes and our University, and this move will help ensure a strong future for our athletics program.”

One of the biggest questions about the move was the future of the Apple Cup game against Washington State. Cauce made it clear Washington hopes to continue that tradition after making the jump to the Big Ten.

“We are proud of our rich history with the Pac-12 and for more than a year have worked hard to find a viable path that would keep it together. I have tremendous admiration and respect for my Pac-12 colleagues. Ultimately, however, the opportunities and stability offered by the Big Ten are unmatched,” Cauce said. “Even with this move, we remain committed to the Apple Cup and to competing with WSU across all of our sports.”

How Washington ended up in the Big Ten

The conversation picked up after the Pac-12’s media rights negotiations appeared to stall. Commissioner George Kliavkoff presented a deal to membership this week that included a “primary streaming deal” with Apple, but no vote was taken. Then, on Friday, the Pac-12 had another meeting to presumably sign a new grant of rights. However, talks fell through as multiple teams — Washington, Oregon and Arizona — flirted with leaving the conference.

The Big Ten started “exploratory discussions” about adding Oregon and Washington earlier in the week, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Dan Wetzel. Commissioner Tony Petitti then received authorization to further pursue the two schools depending on what happened with the Pac-12. At the same time, the Washington Board of Regents held a late-night meeting on Aug. 3, but didn’t take any action despite extending executive session multiple times.

Wetzel reported the Big Ten didn’t want to be the league to “kill” the Pac-12, which is the reason for the hesitancy.

“The [Big Ten] doesn’t want to be the conference that killed another conference, especially their supposed alliance partner. It was a really beautiful relationship that they had,” Wetzel told On3’s Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “I find this comically hysterical because it encapsulates college athletics. We’re not going to kill you, but we already killed you … Taking USC and UCLA away is what will eventually kill the Pac-12.

“There is a scenario where they survive, but if Arizona goes and all of a sudden it gets rocky. If Utah and Arizona State go with them to the Big 12, we don’t know if the Big 12 can get to 16 teams. Will their broadcast partners keep giving $31 million to the bill to add Arizona, Arizona State and Utah. … If this thing falls, the [Big Ten] is circling the [Pac-12’s] carcass and saying, ‘What do we want?’ and just pick this apart.”

The Pac-12’s situation is growing more and more dire as teams depart. Thursday night, the Big 12’s pursuit of Arizona picked up and Oregon accepted an invitation to join the Big Ten during an emergency meeting on Friday. Colorado already announced its plans to leave for the Big 12, putting the Pac-12 in a tough spot with its media rights talks still up in the air.