Report: Big Ten Still Considering Further Expansion to Include Cal
A number of recent stories have given a variety of possible scenarios about the possible future of the Pac-12 in general and Cal in particular in terms of conference restructuring.
CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd provided such a report on Wednesday, and although it does not break any new ground, it does give us more to think about.
Simply stated, according to the report, the Big Ten continues to have interest in adding Cal, Stanford, Oregon and Washington as the Big Ten seeks an offer from Amazon for additional media rights. If those schools do depart, of course, the existence of the Pac-12 is in jeopardy.
Here is the excerpt from the CBS Sports report that gives you the gist of the new, developing situation:
The Big Ten's continued pursuit of four Pac-12 schools is leading to concern that another round of expansion could collapse the Pac-12, industry sources tell CBS Sports. This as Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren continues to seek an offer from Amazon, or potentially another partner, for additional Big Ten football media rights revenue.
An offer deemed substantial enough would likely convince Big Ten presidents that California, Oregon, Stanford and Washington would be valuable additions to the league from the Pac-12. That figure is believed to be less than $100 million annually.
If the Big Ten makes such a move, it would almost certainly increase the likelihood the Big 12 is able to get some combination of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah from the Pac-12, thus crushing the Pac-12 and hanging Oregon State and Washington State out to dry.
This scenario has been reported before, although this suggests a new reason it might become reality.
Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff has implied that the 10 remaining Pac-12 schools are committed to remaining together. He also wrote a letter to the UC Regents recently suggesting UCLA's move to the Big Ten would not be as financially profitable as UCLA has been led to believe because of the massive travel expenses.
The regents are still considering what do, if anything, regarding UCLA's move, scheduled for 2024. The regents could conceivably block the move, although that seems unlikely, or they could force UCLA to subsidize some of Cal's athletic program from the money it will get from the Big Ten.
Whether Cal would accept a move to the Big Ten if invited is unclear, although the addition of four West Coast schools to the Big Ten along with USC and UCLA would create a Far West wing of the Big Ten that might reduce travel costs for those six schools.
And there's this from Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury-News:
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Cover photo of Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren is by Robert Goddin, USA TODAY Sports
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