The number of college football programs leaving the Pac-12 Conference for the Big Ten could reportedly increase.
According to Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports, the Big Ten is in “very early stages” and “exploratory discussions” about adding four teams: Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford.
Four Big Ten university presidents started the preliminary discussions on Wednesday, according to Wetzel.
The Big Ten will add UCLA and USC in 2024 after both programs announced expansion plans in 2022.
Colorado announced on Thursday that it will leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12 Conference beginning in 2024-25. The Buffaloes’ departure will leave the Pac-12 with nine programs.
Cal, Oregon, Stanford and Washington have been part of the Pac-12 for more than five decades. According to Wetzel, the Big Ten could add Oregon and Washington if it wants to expand to include two more programs and additionally realign to have Cal and Stanford join if it wants to expand to 20 total schools.
The Pac-12 remains in discussion for its television contract which expires after this school year. Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff presented conference presidents and chancellors with a potential streaming- and subscription-based Apple TV deal on Tuesday, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.
On the other hand, the Big Ten agreed to a reported $7 billion, seven-year media deal with CBS, FOX and NBC in August 2022.
