Wisconsin legend Barry Alvarez is fired up about the addition of USC, UCLA to the Big Ten

Barry Alvarez knows a thing or two about success in the Big Ten. The longtime Wisconsin coach and athletic director won three Big Ten titles before moving upstairs to become the Badgers’ AD.

That’s why his excitement about the Big Ten’s additions of USC and UCLA is notable.

Alvarez appeared on SiriusXM College with Pete Pistone and Ben Hartsock to discuss the Big Ten’s huge additions as conference realignment gets rolling once again. Starting in 2024, the Big Ten will be at 16 teams stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific — and Alvarez made sure to shout out commissioner Kevin Warren for pulling off such a seismic move.

“We’re progressing. College athletics is progressing,” Alvarez said. “I give our commissioner a lot of credit for moving ahead and making that decision and moving forward with that. I think it’s really good for our league and the future of our league.”

USC and UCLA announced last week they’re leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, rocking the college athletics world. The moves came as the Big Ten is negotiating a new media rights deal that’s rumored to be upward of $1 billion, and the league’s value likely got better as the two newcomers join the party in 2024.

It also will pit some high-profile recruiters against each other. After the announcement went public, former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer discussed what it’ll mean to have Lincoln Riley and Chip Kelly in the same conference as Ryan Day and Jim Harbaugh — all of whom had top-50 recruiting classes this year, according to the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking.

“You’re going to see the street fight between Lincoln Riley, Chip Kelly, Ryan Day and Jim Harbaugh,” Meyer said. “I’ll tell you, I can’t wait to watch it because this is a new era, man. This is really intriguing. When I saw the news come across, I got a couple calls today, I thought, ‘Man. It actually makes sense. It really does.’”