The Big Ten Isn't Targeting Anyone!
By Kyle Koster
The Big Ten pulled off a massive coup in the escalating battle for conference realignment supremacy by solidifying a West Coast footprint with USC and UCLA. All tea leaves point to more growth as the conference tries to emerge on the other side of this as either top banana or second banana to the almighty SEC. But to hear Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren speak on it, there is no flirting going on and everyone is very happy with the relationship.
Is #BigTen targeting Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford in expansion?
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) July 27, 2022
"We're not targeting anyone. I mean, I really like our 14 current schools and I really like our two new additions that are coming in 2024," #B1G commish Kevin Warren tells @247Sports.
To be fair, this is a tough spot for Warren. Imaging a world where he lays out the masterplan for bringing in more Pac-12 sides with a Miami and Notre Dame sprinkled in is to imagine a world of total chaos. He'd be doing all of those programs no favors and would only deepen the animosity between their current conference overlords.
It will be fun to look back on this as the next domino falls, whenever that may be. Although, there always is the chance the Big Ten stays at 16 teams and everything settles down. Predicting the future with any certainty in the college sports world is a fool's proposition.