Big Ten versus Pac-12 | Both Programs Look to Increase Fan Base

By J.B. Big Ten Buddy | Posted Wednesday, January 4

The Pac-12 and Big-10, while rivals in the Rose Bowl, will be partnering in 2012 to begin their own phase of conference expansion. The two conferences have maintained a historic relationship since 1947, and will differ from their nationwide counterparts as they attempt to promote their brand.

As multiple contracts between school's athletic programs and their conferences expired this year, some universities are considering other options before simply renewing. The Big East has lost a plethora of football programs. The teams that jumped ship found better, more lucrative, opportunity elsewhere. The Atlantic Coast Conference has provided a new home for many orphaned organizations, bringing the conference’s current tally to seventeen. Straying from the norm, the Big-10 and Pac-12 don't plan on losing (nor gaining,) any teams this year. Instead, they will conduct one of the largest conference-to-conference collaborations in NCAA history. They hope to improve the fate of the twenty-four schools and 17,000 athletes that make up the two conferences.

Badgers Football at Lambeau Field

Big-10 commissioner Jim Delany and the Pac-12's Larry Scott have begun preparations for the partnership. With football being the big breadwinner these days, it makes sense that the sport has garnered the most attention of the two commissioners. So far, plans include a regular season, non conference game for each team where a Pac-12 or Big-10 rival will face each other on a regular basis. The Rose Bowl committee has also gotten in on the action by agreeing to an annual preseason match-up between a team from each conference. Delany has been scouting venues in the Midwest, such as Soldier Field or Lambeau Field, for future games. A helping hand came from the already established Big-10 network out to the Pac-12 network. The changes in Pac-12 televised sports will debut in August.

While football is a priority as of now, Delany and Scott both agree that this partnership will go well beyond just one sport. Low profile sports that generate few incoming dollars won't be left behind. Scott has already publicly announced ideas for an Olympic style competition between the conferences, as well as an annual golf tournament. He even toyed with an idea for an academic quiz event.