Wisconsin AD offers opinion on possible Big Ten conference realignment

The Big Ten has big decisions to make. Oklahoma and Texas have already accepted invitations to join the SEC, prompting plenty of conference realignment talk across the nation. Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel the Big Ten will look very different in five years.

“There’s going to be a lot of change,” McIntosh said. “I think the Big Ten will look like a bunch of schools that are going to come together and they are going to stand for something more than just playing a sport.

“It is going to stand for education. It is going to stand for getting a degree from a world-class institution like the one that we represent. And at the same time competing for championships. I think that is where it is going to go.”

Wisconsin is a name consistently at the top of the Big Ten football standings. The Badgers have finished with at least 10 wins in five of the past seven seasons. They claimed victories in the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl, while making an appearance in the Rose Bowl during that span.

Big Ten members Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State have claimed a combined 21 national titles. Could adding teams through conference realignment make them a competitor to the SEC?

It has been speculated the conference may reach out to Big 12 schools Kansas and Iowa State, as well as USC. However, it was reported Tuesday that members of the Big 12 and Pac-12 met to discuss a merger.

Notre Dame is another candidate that makes sense geographically and would add a rich football history. The Irish are one of college football’s independent teams in football, but compete in the ACC in all sports other than football. The Big Ten has reached out to them in the past about joining, and perhaps recent events can persuade Notre Dame.

Whatever happens, it’s clear the Power 5 conferences we are used to will soon look much different. Whether or not the Big Ten adds teams, it should be safe. The history of many of its programs will keep it alive, but it will only rival the SEC for the title of best conference if it expands.

The Big Ten also has an interest in keeping its academic reputation up. It has been reported that the presidents in the conference would prefer to add schools that are members of the Association of American Universities. McIntosh alluded to preserving the academic quality of the conference, so it’s clear this is about more than sports.

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