The Big Ten operated as an actual 10-team conference from 1917 (after Ohio State joined in 1912 and Michigan rejoined five years later) until 1946, when original member Chicago left the conference.
As the Big Ten moves toward the Big Twenty, what comes next?
July 8, 2022 at 4:30PM
Four years later, Michigan State was added as a new 10th team, starting a 40-year run of the conference being accurately named.
It has not been an actual Big Ten, though, for more than three decades. Penn State was added in 1990, giving the conference 11 teams. There was no name change, just a tweaking of the logo that was either cheesy or clever depending on your perspective.
They couldn't very well call themselves the Big 12 after adding Nebraska in 2011, since that was the name of the (also often inaccurately named) conference the Huskers were leaving. Rutgers and Maryland joined in 2014, giving the Big Ten 14 teams. And of course the news last week that USC and UCLA are joining in 2024 will boost that number to 16.
While it might be nice to update the conference name for the sake of precision, what's more likely is this: Wait a few more years until the conference realignment dust settles, and we can call it the Big Twenty.
More expansion seems inevitable, which Chip Scoggins and I talked about on Friday's Daily Delivery podcast.
Keeping in mind the Big Ten's appetite for TV markets and prestige — perhaps in that order — these three scenarios seem the most likely for future expansion:
*Add Notre Dame and three more Pac-12 schools: Notre Dame is the white whale for the Big Ten, with national prestige and a big footprint in Chicago.
If the Big Ten can lure Notre Dame, it would make sense to round out the Big Twenty with three Pac-12 schools — quite possibly Stanford (capture the Bay Area market) plus Washington (Seattle market) and Oregon (emerging national football power).
*Add Notre Dame, Kansas and two Pac-12 or two ACC schools: If Notre Dame is added but two Pac-12 schools make sense — or if the Big Ten would rather set its sights on the likes of Duke and North Carolina — it could aim for Kansas as a natural geographic fit to round out its 20-team league.
*Add two Pac-12 and two ACC schools: In this scenario, one could imagine adding Washington, Oregon, North Carolina and Duke.
And from there, don't change the name again until it's the Big Thirty.
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