Cryptic post from Ohio State, Oregon kicks off football expansion rumors (again)
A recent Instagram post released by the Ohio State football mascot Brutus Buckeye alongside The Duck, the face for the Oregon Ducks, has a lot of fans talking. On Wednesday, the IG account posted an image of the two mascots standing together at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, and it was the caption that stuck out, in particular.
"BIG things coming," the caption read.
What does it all mean? Well, in the world of college football conference expansion, it naturally got fans thinking that something could be in the works where the Big Ten is thinking of adding Oregon in another round of realignment.
After the league voted to add USC and UCLA starting in the 2024 football season, insiders reported that reps from both Oregon and Washington were having informal talks with the Big Ten about the conference expansion landscape and where they fit in.
But with the current trend seeming to indicate that what's left of the Pac-12 will stay together, it appears that Oregon will in fact stay put for the foreseeable future.
Another, perhaps more plausible, explanation for the post is that Ohio State and Oregon are thinking of re-scheduling what was the first of a home-and-home series, especially given the location of the photo being in Eugene.
OSU was set to play at Oregon during the 2020 season but the Covid-19 pandemic got in the way and the teams had to cancel that game before playing the second of those games, in Columbus, an Oregon victory, in 2021.
The schools have a home-and-home football series scheduled for 2032 and 2033, but maybe they're preparing for a reunion sooner rather than later?
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