College Football Expansion: Will the Big Ten Conference Add More Teams?

The most historic round of college football expansion and realignment took place in the Big Ten a couple seasons ago in a series of sweeping changes that completely redrew the borders around the Power Four conferences forever.

Now, as Congress goes through the motions of trying to pass the Protect College Sports Act, which would allow the conference to add two additional members, the question has once again been raised if the Big Ten will pursue any more additions in the future.

Big Ten Makes Final Expansion Decision

College Football Expansion: Will the Big Ten Add Any More Teams? — USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

From what the Big Ten itself has said, the answer is no.

Conference commissioner Tony Petitti said that while the league is supporting the bill going through Congress, there are “absolutely no discussions taking place around expansion, and there haven’t been for quite some time.”

“This conference has got 18 strong members. We’re focused on that,” Petitti said at the start of Big Ten basketball media days. “There’s lots of things that we think we can do inside the conference to continue to grow the position that we have with the 18 members.”

What the Bill Says

The text of the proposed Protect College Sports Act seeks to cap conference membership at 20 teams and make any school that wants to move from one Power Four league to another to spend three years with no conference before joining the new one.

The bill passed the U.S. Senate by a 77-22 vote and will go to the House of Representatives next.

Big Ten Has Been Aggressive

College Football Realignment: Big Ten Makes Final Decision on Expansion — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Originally centered around the Midwest, the Big Ten first took a more national approach with expansion back in the 2010s, when it added Nebraska, Rutgers, and Maryland.

Then in 2024, the conference played a major role in a much larger realignment project, inviting former Pac-12 members Oregon, USC, Washington, and UCLA, who promptly accepted.

That year also found the SEC extending its reach by bringing on college football powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma. The Big 12 brought on Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah, and the ACC added Stanford and Cal to its rotation.

Playoff Expansion Coming?

The other college football expansion currently under discussion relates to the possible enlargement of the national playoff to 24 teams, and it sounds like the Big Ten is all in favor.

“The definition of success in college football is qualifying for the CFP. That is the clear definition. So what we’re focused on is giving more programs a chance to have that level of success,” Petitti said.

Such an expansion of the College Football Playoff would do away with the traditional Big Ten Championship Game, but it’s clear the conference believes it will make more money by having more playoff teams than playing that one game in early December.

Where do things stand now?

The playoff’s exclusive 30-day negotiating window with ESPN is wrapping up, with the deadline extended slightly into mid-October to finalize terms or transition to a formal counter-offer process.

CFP leadership has a hard deadline of Dec. 1 this year to finalize any expansion plans for the 2027-28 season. Whatever happens, the Big Ten looks locked in at 18 teams.

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