Faced with the possibility of severely damaging a conference it helped establish more than 100 years ago, Oregon chose to leave the Pac-12 and join the Big Ten, even though this decision meant receiving only half of the annual revenue payout given to long-time members for several years.
The Ducks really had no other option.
In today’s college football, there are three groups: those in the Big Ten or the Southeastern Conference; those trying to join the Big Ten or SEC; and those worried about being left behind by these two conferences.
The era of the Power Five conferences is over. Now, it’s a Super Two.
It’s unclear if this is beneficial for major college athletics as a whole. But for now, during a time when college sports are more unstable than ever, the Big Ten and SEC are stable and wealthy.
“An incredibly strong conference, amazing TV deals, incredible partner, certainly exciting times to be part of the Big Ten,” Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens recently said on the Navigating Sports Business podcast. “So lots of excitement from our student-athletes, our coaches. Our fans are thrilled.”
