James Franklin addresses Big Ten expansion, potential further conference realignment

The news that USC and UCLA are moving to the Big Ten within the next couple of seasons has been the talk of college athletics this summer, and Penn State head coach James Franklin is excited for the new teams to join his program’s league despite his want for tradition and normalcy in the Big Ten.

Well, James Franklin, welcome to your new normal.

“I will say this, I’m somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to college football and the regionality that it used to be,” Franklin said. “I still feel myself wanting that, but again, I also understand that, like I said, college football has changed dramatically and you better be changing with it as a conference, as a school, as an AD, as a head football coach.

“You better be embracing the change, because it’s changing whether you want it to or not. And obviously some other conferences made some decisions and it put us in a position where we needed to as well. So obviously when you’re able to get two universities that are respected not only athletically but also aligned with the Big Ten from an academic perspective, that’s really valuable.”

UCLA is considered one of the top academic public universities in the country, while USC follows closely behind. Add in the rich sports history of both of programs, the already established rivalry, and the Los Angeles market (No. 2 largest in the country)- and any conference would be crazy not to want the Trojans and Bruins within their ranks.

The self-proclaimed traditionalist in Franklin’s heart might be telling him the UCLA-USC move doesn’t make sense geographically, but the fanfare and profitability the move will undoubtedly bring is more than enough to bring the Penn State headman on board with the impending conference realignment.

“Obviously I think there’s going to be a lot of attention and a lot of excitement about maybe some games that I think our fans and our alumni and our lettermen aren’t able to see or haven’t been able to see as often as a Penn State vs. USC or a Penn State vs. UCLA,” Franklin said. “I hope as many of those games are at home as possible, but I think it’s a good thing for our conference and it makes sense in the current landscape of college football.”