Big Ten presidents authorize further research on Oregon, Washington as conference members

The Big Ten presidents met on Thursday morning to authorize Commissioner Tony Petitti to explore further conference expansion. In particular, they are looking for information on Oregon and Washington, according to a report by Pete Thamel.

Notably, no offers for admission into the Big Ten have been made.

A deal is also uncertain at this time due to several different reasons. The first is that these additions wouldn’t add any new money to the Big Ten immediately. On top of that, USC does not currently have a vote within the conference. However, they’ve been vocal about not wanting any additional West Coast schools in the conference.

According to the report, Oregon and Washington also wouldn’t receive an immediate full share of the revenue. This is similar to what happened to Rutgers when the Scarlet Knights entered the Big Ten. It’s not what either of those schools want but they have to weigh it against their current options in the Pac-12.

The most recent news out of the Pac-12 is that the conference’s proposed new media deal would primarily be a streaming deal with Apple+ and how much schools are paid would come down to how many people sign up to watch the conference.

This news comes one day after it was reported that the Big Ten presidents had begun exploratory discussions on further conference expansion.

It has also been reported that the Big 12 being aggressive in conference realignment could force the Big Ten’s hand in realignment. Despite that, Tony Petitti has maintained that his focus is on UCLA and USC transitioning into the conference.

“What I’ll say is all the direction I’m getting from leadership, our presidents and chancellors, athletic directors, is to focus on UCLA and USC,” Petitti said. “I’m proud of the scheduling format we created in football. I think it touches on all the right things.”

Pete Thamel explains why Oregon and Washington make sense for the Big Ten

Amid swirling rumors, Pete Thamel explained why Oregon and Washington would make sense for the Big Ten.

“In talking to sources this afternoon, those logical expansion options would be Oregon and Washington. The Big Ten had been engaged with Oregon and Washington after its expansion of USC and UCLA. That didn’t work out. This time around, however, the Ducks and the Huskies are in a vulnerable position and they could likely come for a discount. I was told today that Oregon and Washington would ultimately represent about 13 football games that would get spread over the league’s current four partners. So it’s not like a whole new network would have to come in. Somebody would have to step up within the partners,” Thamel said.

“But there’s a logical landing spot, and it’s a matter of what price Oregon and Washington would come in for. I think it’s a lot more attractive to the Big Ten now to get them at a discount.”