Penn State, the Big Ten & new opponents: How conference shakeups affect the Nittany Lions
The Big Ten is set to add two new members in 2024 for the second offseason in a row. Oregon and Washington finalized a deal to join the conference, it was announced late Friday.
This comes just over a year after USC and UCLA both accepted invitations to join the conference.
With four former Pac-12 teams set to join next academic year, what does that mean for Penn State? Let’s take a look.
Scheduling impact
Penn State’s opponents in 2024 and 2025 were unveiled this offseason and now that is almost certainly out the window. The Nittany Lions were set to welcome USC to Beaver Stadium next year before traveling to UCLA the following year. Now they will likely see their entire schedule revamped as the Big Ten works in two new teams in just over a year.
The new additions may even lessen the likelihood that Penn State will face Ohio State or Michigan with any consistency. The program was already the only team in the conference not to have any protected rivals under the previous format. If that remains a thing, it’s unlikely Oregon or Washington becomes a protected rival, leaving the Nittany Lions with a constantly rotating schedule and 17 other opponents as options to face.
It, of course, will also mean more trips to the West Coast and more opportunities for fans to visit different stadiums to see the team play. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team make a trip out west at least once a year with almost a quarter of their potential opponents residing that direction.
Not to mention, with the Rose Bowl hosting a College Football Playoff semifinal this season, it’s possible that Penn State played in the final Rose Bowl featuring a Big Ten-Pac-12 matchup, with the latter conference looking certain to disband.
The non-football and basketball aspects of scheduling will also have to be sorted through, as each school’s athletic programs will surely have to spend more on travel as away opponents now stretch across the country.
What comes next
Realignment seemed unlikely to end with USC and UCLA and now it’s all but guaranteed it will continue after Oregon and Washington. Arizona, Arizona State and Utah could all follow Colorado to the Big 12, all but eliminating the Pac-12.
How does that impact Penn State? Well, teams in the ACC are unlikely to stand pat after seeing a conference continue to grow as it falls behind the Big Ten and SEC — especially after recent comments at a Florida State trustees’ meeting made it abundantly clear the program saw leaving the ACC as an option. Inevitably that will lead to more growth for either the SEC or Big Ten as college sports continues to trend toward having two massive conferences and everybody else. There will likely be more additions in the future, with reports of California and Stanford already getting consideration to become members 19 and 20.
Florida State looms as a potential option — as does Clemson — if the ACC schools can find a way to break the conferences grant of rights deal that could keep them in the ACC until 2036.
Then, of course, is the always-relevant Notre Dame question. The school remains independent in football, but with media revenue continuing to expand for the Big Ten and SEC, it’s possible that pressure could increase for the program to latch onto a conference in the sport. It already competes in the ACC in basketball, but that does not guarantee that would be the football destination if they decide to abandon their independent status.
Any other additions of high-level schools will only increase the competitiveness of the conference, potentially harming the Nittany Lions’ ability to make the playoff based on the difficulty of the regular season schedule. Future expansion of the conference could also lead to a return to divisions, as the conference attempts to find ways to manage having a limited number of opponents in football.
The primary influences of future changes — more scheduling alterations, more potential trips — are obvious, but the underlying and unknowable impact of what it means for all of college sports continues to loom.
This story was originally published August 4, 2023 at 3:02 PM.
