Source: Big Ten presidents meeting now, discussing Oregon, Washington
Amid the Friday morning whirlwind of realignment — centering mostly around a potential mass exodus from the Pac-12 Conference — the Big Ten Conference presidents are meeting to continue hammering out a deal to get Oregon and Washington to the league, according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. At various points in the last 24 hours, the Ducks and Huskies have seemingly been on the brink of leaving the Pac-12 only to back off.
The Associated Press’ Ralph Russo reported that it’s unclear if a vote will occur. And Russo relayed that a source said Oregon and Washington have not received a formal invite to the league yet. ESPN’s Pete Thamel confirmed it, noting there wasn’t a meeting on the schedule earlier on Friday.
On3’s Pete Nakos reported on Thursday evening that a potential deal to bring Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten would net them a partial payout relative to full members of the league. The payout for the Ducks and Huskies would reportedly be in the $30-40 million range.
The Pac-12 presidents held a meet on Friday morning to potentially sign a Grant of Rights for the conference, and thus ending speculation of possible realignment. But it appears now that the Ducks and Huskies, at least, have backed off on signing a deal with their current league.
According to Yahoo! Sports Ross Dellenger, Oregon raised some last-minute concerns about the Apple TV streaming deal the Pac-12 was about to sign on to.
As Rittenberg noted, “some work to do” still exists.
Along with Oregon and Washington, Arizona is an important variable in what happens to the Pac-12. The Wildcats are reportedly deep down the road of trying to join the Big 12 Conference. However, issues involving leaving Arizona State behind could lead the school’s board of regents — which governs both Arizona and Arizona State — to nix a move. What happens with Arizona could sway how the rest of the remaining Pac-12 members respond.
Some Big Ten schools might be a roadblock in adding Oregon, Washington to the league
As those conversations go on, it’s not a sure thing that all Big Ten teams would be on board. That includes the newcomers, and Thamel shared why on College Football Live on Thursday.
If Oregon and Washington jump ship, Thamel said they likely won’t get a full revenue share. And although it would also give the Big Ten a larger presence on the West Coast, that might not sit will with USC and UCLA. Plus, it’s hard to tell how adding Oregon and Washington would lead to more money for the rest of the league, which is why some other teams might not be in favor of expanding.
“I think that this morning’s news out of the Big Ten is sort of an incremental but important formality of the league moving forward for the potential addition of Oregon and Washington,” Thamel said. “The addition would likely come at a cut rate. There’s no expectation that these two schools would be added at a full share. They would have to decide whether they would want to go and work their way up to full revenue shares in the league. And obviously, if they left behind the Pac-12, they’d be leaving behind an easier path to the Playoff.
“There are some headwinds here that remain. USC may not be thrilled with this. They went to the Big Ten in part to keep those types of schools on the West Coast out of the LA recruiting market. And there’s other Big Ten schools, too, that aren’t going to be getting any more money, so why would some of the blue bloods or even the rank-and-file be part of throwing someone else a lifeline when they don’t profit from it?”