By: Justin Boggs of Associated Press and Jim Williams Sports Talk Florida added to the story.
The Big Ten could become a coast-to-coast league in the latest potential shakeup to college athletics.
USC and UCLA are both in negotiations to join the Big Ten, which would give the league 16 members, according to a report from Sports Illustrated. Their additions, coupled with the additions of Rutgers and Maryland over the last decade, would give the league a nationwide footprint.
It is that nationwide footprint that the Big Ten feels will drive up their 2025 new media deal to a number that could reach nearly $100 million dollars a year per member. Right now the conference is working with FOX Sports as well as ESPN who are their existing partners, while also listening to offers from other networks and streaming services.
The Big Ten expansion would match the SEC in having 16 members. The SEC will soon add Oklahoma and Texas to its conference.
The reports say a deal has not been finalized. The conference has primarily been allies in preserving the status quo of college football. They have been partners in the Rose Bowl Game going back to 1960 when the two conferences played their first game against each other.
The two Los Angeles-based teams have been conference foes since 1922. They were part of the Pacific Coast Conference, then later the conference now known as the Pac-12.
