Big Ten going coast-to-coast with additions of UCLA, USC

Another day, another seismic event in the college football landscape.

The latest earth-shaking news is a report from Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News that says USC and UCLA will join the Big Ten as early as 2024.

The financial disparity between the Big Ten and Pac-12 was the impetus for USC and UCLA to jump, per reports. The Big Ten is set to announce new TV deals that reportedly could pay each school $71 million annually. (They were supposed to be announced in May; this may be why they've been delayed.)

Pac-12 schools get roughly $34 million now--with little prospect for substantial growth.

And reports also say the move has been in the works for months and it could become official soon.

This bombshell comes after the SEC flexed its muscle last summer by poaching Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12, a move on track to take place after the 2024 season.

The Big Ten will soon stretch from Los Angeles to New Brunswick, N.J., encompassing markets like New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit, Minneapolis, Chicago and, of course, L.A. That's a lot of media heft--unmatched media heft for a collection of schools with huge enrollments and alumni bases.

Plus, USC and UCLA fit the academic profile the Big Ten presidents desire, causing the mortar board crowd to nod approvingly.

These major shifts in the Big Ten and SEC come on top of a college landscape already adjusting to Name, Image and Likeness and the transfer portal. Oh, there also is talk of Power Five conferences pulling away from the NCAA and governing themselves.

On and on it goes.

What’s this latest news mean for Purdue?

The Big Ten currently has 14 schools divided into an East-West alignment. The Boilermakers play in the Big Ten West, a division perceived as weaker than the East. Bottom line: It's not a steep hill to climb vs. Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern.

But it’s believed the conference will dump divisions in 2023, like the Pac-12 and ACC already plan to do, and play as one division with the top two teams meeting in the Big Ten title game.

Now, reaching the league title game--and getting a College Football Playoff bid--seemingly would be more difficult. But an expanded CFP, which is coming, could perhaps include three or maybe four Big Ten teams in some years.

When the Big Ten is a 16-team conference after USC and UCLA come aboard, it would seem to make sense to align in divisions to help from a scheduling standpoint.

Having four, four-team divisions, or pods, would seem a logical way to organize the growing conference. One possibility:

The Big Ten could then have a "final four" playoff among itself to crown a champ, with the four division winners facing off. Seed No. 1 vs. Seed No. 4, and Seed No. 2 vs. Seed No. 3. The winners then meet for the Big Ten title the next weekend, feeding into the College Football Playoff.

Lots of speculation. Lots of conjecture. Lots of questions. As soon as one question crops up about what USC and UCLA coming to the Big Ten means for college football, another emerges. Among some pressing queries that come to mind:

• Is the Big Ten done expanding?

• Would Notre Dame join?

• How will the Pac-12 respond?

• Will the Big 12 and Pac-12 try to raid each other? Or merge?

• Will the SEC make another move for, say, Clemson, Miami and Florida State?

Stay tuned. This wild ride in college football is far from finished.

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