Ohio State Football: Big Ten to add Oregon, Washington
By Ryan Stano
It looks like it’s actually happening. Just over a year after the Big Ten dropped the bombshell that they were adding USC and UCLA, they will now be adding Oregon and Washington according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The Ohio State football team has two new foes.
Thamel tweeted out the news on Friday.
Sources: Big Ten expected to move ahead with formal offer letters for Oregon and Washington. A Big Ten vote is expected to take place later today to formalize their admission, barring any last-minute snags.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 4, 2023
Sources: While there had been some initial pushback, the Big Ten vote is expected to be unanimous. First signature move of Tony Petitti's stint as Big Ten commissioner is on the cusp. https://t.co/MgGmPOdShm
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 4, 2023
As you can see, the Big Ten is going to bring in the Huskies and the Ducks. It looks like it will be for less money than what USC and UCLA got, but it looks like the Big Ten is soon to be up to 18 teams. It’s unclear when these two programs will officially join the conference, but my guess is 2025.
The Pac-12 is officially cooked. There is no way they can survive as a Power 5 conference now. They might pick up some Mountain West teams or something, but they are no longer considered a Power 5 conference. Arizona is out the door too, headed for the Big 12.
The Ohio State football program has played both Oregon and Washington in recent memory. The Buckeyes beat the Ducks in 2015 in the first College Football Playoff National Championship Game, only to have the Ducks exact revenge on them in the Shoe in 2021. Ohio State also beat Washington in the 2019 Rose Bowl.
It’s going to be incredibly weird seeing these west coast teams travel across the country to play Maryland and Rutgers. Heck, it’s going to be weird seeing Ohio State go out to Seattle for a conference game. It’s going to take me some time to wrap my head around it.
dark. Next. Ohio State Football has strangely never played these FBS teams
Will the Big Ten make any more moves after this? It’s unclear. There might be some ACC teams that are interested in joining.