Conference realignment continues to be the hot topic in college football after the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins made waves with their sudden decision to leave the Pac-12 and join the Big Ten by the 2024 season.
If Nike CEO Phil Knight has his way, the Oregon Ducks might be joining them.
Knight, a graduate of the University of Oregon and a major booster of the Oregon athletic department, wants Oregon to leave the Pac-12 and join either the Big Ten or the SEC, according to columnist John Canzano.
The move would seem to make sense for either conference. For the Big Ten, Oregon would be another West Coast school to expand its footprint and compete with newly-added USC and UCLA and help limit cross-country travel. For the SEC, adding the Ducks would be a way to compete with the Big Ten’s expansion to the West Coast.
However, despite Knight’s apparent wishes, there’s still a chance Oregon remains in the Pac-12 or joins a conference other than the Big Ten or SEC – like the Big 12.
Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff is fighting hard to keep Oregon and other teams in the conference, according to Canzano, while the Big 12 is reportedly attempting to add up to six PAC-12 teams to its conference.
Another option would be for the Big 12 to merge with the PAC-12 – and potentially some teams from the ACC – to form one larger conference in an effort to compete with the Big Ten and the SEC’s expansion efforts.
Everything is still up in the air, but it’s becoming more and more clear that college football will look quite a bit different in the coming years.
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