If Oregon, Washington, and other Pac-12 schools join the Big Ten, their athletes will have to travel long distances.
When the USC-UCLA Big Ten story broke Thursday morning last week, my initial thought was that the Trojans and Bruins would make this move in football and basketball, but not the Olympic (non-revenue) sports. I was obviously wrong.
We asked Ducks Wire writer Don Smalley, “Do you think Oregon goes to the Big Ten in football only, football and basketball only, or in all sports?”
Don Smalley: “It’ll be in all sports. I never understood schools being in one conference for some sports and in another conference for other sports. Travel isn’t going to be fun for anybody. Imagine being a huge football player making a cross-country flight to play Rutgers or visa versa.”
Don is undeniably correct. It is worth emphasizing that if Oregon and Washington do go to the Big Ten, USC and UCLA would have two more West Coast sites to travel to, which would ease the travel burden on them and require Midwestern Big Ten teams to fly to more West Coast locations. This would give Big Ten scheduling more overall geographical balance. We will see how much this is valued in upcoming realignment skirmishes and negotiations.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Basketball | Trojans Wire…