The Big Ten is on the verge of adding Oregon and Washington. The Pac-12 is on the verge of falling. And social media is having its say!
Conference realignment has struck again!
On Friday, after several twists and turns that spelled the doom and salvation of the Pac-12 depending on the hour, the final shoe finally dropped.
Oregon and Washington are Big Ten bound.
That’s according to multiple reports from around the college football media, though an official vote is still to take place.
The powers in the Pacific Northwest choosing to jump ship from the Pac-12 pretty much seals the fate of the conference which has been quietly in its death throes since USC and UCLA put in with the Big Ten a year ago.
Social media was all over the place with reaction to the big news:
Best memes and tweets after conference realignment struck again with Oregon, Washington to the Big Ten
— Freezing Cold Takes (@OldTakesExposed) August 4, 2023
the biggest new rivalry in the Big Eighteen is Northwestern vs actual schools in the Northwest pic.twitter.com/Z6JZINF5VA
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) August 4, 2023
Arizona/ASU/Utah avoided having to defect until the last moment possible.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) August 4, 2023
Oregon needed last-second convincing to join the freaking Big Ten.
George K had 13 months to deliver a TV deal that, if even slightly better, keeps the conference together.
A failure of epic proportions.
Don’t love this at all. I hate all of this. I loved my Ducks playing in the P12. Loved the scar tissue w/opponents, shared tradition, etc … However the landscape of college sports has changed and you have to adapt with the times. I trust Oregon’s leadership. Go Ducks https://t.co/tO1mlmV7O3
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) August 4, 2023
On one hand, it’s sad to see college football destroying the regionality that makes it great in the chase for TV contracts.
— David Helman (@davidhelman_) August 4, 2023
On the other hand, it just dawned on me that B1G After Dark is now on the table. pic.twitter.com/Q6EkQ5m9Wu
The cycle for the last 20 years has been:
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) August 4, 2023
Everyone complains about Realignment Move X. Bad for the sport, bad for the athletes. Schools are greedy.
Then everyone keeps watching the games.
Maybe there's a tipping point coming, but it hasn't yet. https://t.co/DeVjowYjLI
https://twitter.com/nocontextcfb/status/1687509673912733696?s=20
The college football landscape is changing. But that’s always been the case.
The Pacific Coast Conference started with four schools and expanded to include programs like Montana and Idaho. That conference technically dissolved. Montana and Idaho were left behind and eventually, the PCC morphed into the Pac-8, which became the Pac-10 with the addition of Arizona and Arizona State. Then it became the Pac-12 with Utah and Colorado, a former member of the Big 12, joining up.
The Big Ten didn’t add Penn State, a now essential member, until 1990. Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers followed.
Football conferences have come and gone (we’re looking at you Big East). And the Pac-12 won’t be the last conference to face an existential crisis like this. The ACC already is as well.
The one constant through it all is the college football games that will continue to thrill fans every fall in some way, shape or form.