Big Ten Gets Even B1G-ger; Oregon and Washington Joining in 2024

Thursday, Action Network’s Brett McMurphy disclosed that the Pac-12 had worked out a primary media rights deal with Apple for the “low $20 million per school per year” range.

This would move games off of ABC, ESPN and Fox and onto Apple TV’s streaming platform, and it’s a deal that would likely pay the Pac-12 less than what they are currently getting from cable and broadcast networks. Needless to say, that probably explains why Colorado jumped back to the Big XII, and why Arizona started flirting with the Big XII.

And now, the Big Ten has thrown a life preserver to Oregon and Washington.

The deal would be for a reduced deal than what the rest of the Big Ten earns, but potentially double what the Pac-12 is able to deliver.

And the dominoes are starting to fall:

So at this moment in time, the Big XII could add Arizona, Arizona State and Utah along with Colorado, while the Big Ten adds Oregon and Washington along with Southern Cal and UCLA next year. That would leave the remaining Pac-Four with Cal, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State, which would almost certainly be unworkable. Cal and Stanford could get a push to also join the Big Ten, taking the B1G to 20 schools.

Unfortunately for Oregon State and Washington State, that would likely push them into the Mountain West.

Oh, and if you think that it’s just the Pacific coast that’s in turmoil, Florida State is making noise in the ACC.

So yes, college realignment is alive once again... and seems to be in it’s final act. (And did anybody think that the Big XII would be one of the survivors of this?)

And now it’s time to think about the implications of this move:

• Does the Big Ten move their conference championship football game from Indianapolis to Pasadena?
• Does the Big Ten reengage with ESPN/ABC for a limited “Big Ten After Dark” package, featuring Oregon and Washington games? Or maybe CBS wants to add some Saturday late night programming. (NBC isn’t going to preempt Saturday Night Live and Fox already has some commitments for late night games.)
• How does it feel for Nebraska to suddenly be in the geographic center of the Big Ten?
• How long until the Big Ten adds Stanford and Cal?

UPDATE: It’s now official.

The votes were all a formality, as Oregon’s Board of Trustees met via a Zoom online conference call, and Oregon’s board chair Steve Holwerda didn’t let this interrupt his otherwise busy afternoon.

Looks like it did distract him, as he ended up in the bunker moments later.