Is Big Ten adding 4 schools in the latest conference realignment? How close was Notre Dame to joining the Big Ten, and why is it still independent?
Is the Big Ten adding more teams to the conference? It seems like it, but that surprisingly does not include Notre Dame.
Barstool Sports' Jack McGuire has reported that four teams are likely to be added to the conference this week.
If Washington, Oregon, Florida State and Clemson are added to the Big Ten, things could be extremely difficult to win the conference. The Big Ten has been aggressive in its expansion as they already added the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins in 2024 from the Pac-12. Now with the Big Ten adding four teams, the race to superconferences could be starting.
With the Big Ten adding four teams, why is one of them not Notre Dame?
So the Big Ten adding four teams is exciting for the conference for obvious reasons. However, one team that seemed like a shoo-in was the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as they are an independent program that did not find a home within a Power Five conference.
One thing that seems to be tough is that right now the school has a deal where they have a contract with NBC for their home games. They also are able to avoid any financial issues that arise from joining a conference, such as exit fees.
What is next for the Big Ten as a whole?
If these four teams wind up being the additions to the Big Ten, this feels like the final stage of the conference expansion. Unless there is an agreement that some programs are leaving the conference, adding these four will bring the conference to 20 teams after adding in the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. That easily would be the largest of the Power Five conferences as well.
The next thing would be figuring logistics out as now they would have four west coast teams with Washington and Oregon pairing with USC and UCLA. The Big Ten would officially span across the entire continental United States and continue to be the biggest conference as they compete with the Southeastern Conference.
The Big Ten and the SEC would be huge conferences and could see completely independent schedules. The Big Ten would probably look to continue expanding its footprint in college football, as they just signed a 7-year, $7 billion TV deal and have some of the most intriguing programs in the sport.
Expanding into different international locations might be the next step.