James Franklin reacts to Oregon, Washington joining the Big Ten
Opinions about recent conference realignment have been swirling all across social media throughout the last few days as various major moves have been set for the 2024 football season. But how do the coaches feel?
Penn State head coach James Franklin was asked about the Big Ten’s most recent additions, as Oregon and Washington are slated to join the conference starting in 2024. But before answering made sure to take care of housekeeping before diving into the conference’s new future additions at a recent press conference.
“It’s really cool that our president Dr. Bendapudi picks up the phone and calls me and includes me in those conversations and discussions, and Pat Kraft as well. I’m very appreciative of that and don’t take that for granted,” Franklin said. “I will say that my focus, and obviously, this press conference is about specifically our football team and getting ready for West Virginia and getting ready for the Big Ten Conference.”
Franklin then got into the heart of the topic, displaying honesty about the state of collegiate athletics as a whole and the repercussions of the Big Ten’s most recent decision.
“I do think obviously with what you see that’s going on with college football right now it’s not shocking that these things are kind of happening, it’s somewhat sad in some ways,” Franklin admitted. “Not that these people are being added to our conference, because I think obviously there’s a lot of strategy that goes into that, but I do think that there’s some challenges that come along with it and it’s just very different for most of the people in this room, it’s very different for the college football that we all grew up with. And not really college football, college athletics where at least for most of the year it was pretty regional.”
The Ducks and Huskies leaving the Pac-12 conference mark a max exodus of the former west coast powerhouse conference, with USC and UCLA leaving the conference as well to join the Big Ten as well in 2023 and Colorado, Utah, Arizona State, and Arizona scheduled to join the Big 12 in the same season.
Only four teams now remain in the Pac-12 after being founded in 1915, with the future of the conference definitely uncertain. Franklin didn’t have too much positive to say about the latest conference realignment news, but found a silver lining in regards to geographical significance of Oregon and Washington’s additions to the Big Ten.
“I do think it’s a huge win for USC and UCLA from a travel perspective, I think it’s a huge win for them,” Franklin concluded.