Capping a week of wild swings and backroom maneuvering, Oregon and Washington dealt a potential death blow to the Pac-12 Conference by finalizing plans to join the Big Ten, sources confirmed to Sports Illustrated. Formal applications and a formal approval had not yet occurred as of early Friday afternoon, but those steps were expected to taken quickly.
The moves of Oregon and Washington are expected to be complete in time for the 2024–25 academic year.
The landscape-altering realignment came after an 11th-hour attempt to salvage the core of the Pac-12 fell apart Friday morning. Pac-12 sources expressed quiet optimism that a new media rights deal and grant of rights presented by commissioner George Kliavkoff would be accepted in a league meeting, but that meeting failed to produce an agreement. Hours later, Oregon and Washington were being fast-tracked into the Big Ten, a development first reported by Yahoo Sports.
