Oregon and Washington to join Big Ten. Photo Credit: Joe Hermitt
After adding USC and UCLA to the conference last summer, the Big Ten is expected to unanimously vote in favor of admitting the University of Oregon and the University of Washington.
Oregon and Washington are both founding members of the Pac-12 Conference, and would be the third and fourth Pac-12 schools to leave for the Big Ten.
Discussions surrounding Oregon and Washington, as well as Stanford University and the University of California-Berkeley, joining the Big Ten began Wednesday, Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic reported.
Just two days later, the Big Ten is reportedly preparing an official invitation to the conference for Oregon and Washington, which would give each school a partial share of the Big Ten’s media revenue, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported.
The move comes after a frantic summer filled with Pac-12 teams leaving or threatening to leave the conference. The University of Colorado announced its plans to join the Big 12 in 2024 in an official statement July 27, which led to speculation about Arizona, Arizona State and Utah potentially following its lead.
Oregon and Washington would be the Big Ten’s 17th and 18th members, after Penn State joined in 1990, Nebraska in 2011, Maryland and Rutgers in 2014 and USC and UCLA in 2022.
While USC and UCLA will begin competing in the Big Ten in 2024, it has not yet been announced when Oregon and Washington would officially join the conference.
