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Big Ten targeting 5 schools, including Notre Dame, per report
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Big Ten expansion continues to be a hot topic, as it appears the league could be targeting enough schools to even eclipse a potential 20-team super conference.
Per Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, Washington followed in Oregon’s footsteps as the latest Pac-12 school to engage in meetings with the B1G.
Per McMurphy, this comes a week after Oregon’s meeting with the Big Ten to gauge interest in joining the conference:
Washington is latest Pac-12 school to meet w/Big Ten about joining the conference, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. Huskies' meeting w/B1G comes a week after Oregon met w/BIG. Big Ten targeting 4 Pac-12 schools & Notre Dame as new members, sources said https://t.co/CyfWwbzWC9
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 1, 2022
Per that Action Network report, Washington’s interest in the Big Ten means the league is now targeting 5 schools — Notre Dame, Oregon, Washington, Stanford and Cal:
Last month, Action Network reported after the Big Ten added USC and UCLA, the league “is not done expanding” and would expand beyond 16 schools. Action Network also reported the Big Ten was targeting Notre Dame, along with Oregon, Washington, Stanford and Cal from the Pac-12.
If the Big Ten gets all those schools, along with USC and UCLA, that would put the league at 21 teams. Will it actually happen? It appears at the moment that Notre Dame is happy to remain independent, but things change quickly in this era of conference realignment.
We’ll see what happens next, but it appears the Pac-12’s future as a major conference is very much in question.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.