Ohio State Football: How many more will Big Ten add?

Right now, the Ohio State football program only has 13 other opponents in the conference. We know that will increase to 15 in 2024. That would make the Big Ten a 16-team conference by the time that year rolls around. Is that number going to get any bigger?

We know that the Big Ten is looking to expand. They are fielding calls from other programs that are looking for membership into the conference. The question is whether or not you believe Iowa AD Gary Barta when he says the conference is not actively looking to add more members at the moment.

I don’t believe him personally. I think the conference is waiting to see what Notre Dame does. The consensus seems to be that the Big Ten will eventually get up to a 20-team conference. Who those other teams are remains to be seen at the moment.

It makes sense for the Big Ten to keep adding members after already adding USC and UCLA. It’d be shocking to see them just stay at 16 teams after the SEC is already adding Texas and Oklahoma. They are certainly looking to be a 20-team conference soon.

How long it will take for the Big Ten to add more members is also a question. We could see more members added before the end of the summer, or it might take until next year. My guess is that there wouldn’t be any programs added during the football or basketball seasons.

Either this summer or next summer will see the conference expand. I’m confident in that much. How far it ends up expanding is unclear. What is clear is that college football is changing forever at a rapid pace. It will never be the same again.