Big Ten presidents' council votes to admit Oregon & UW in 2024, a crushing blow to Pac-12 Conference

SEATTLE - The Big Ten presidents' council has voted to admit Washington and Oregon in August of 2024, a crushing blow to the beleaguered Pac-12.

The University of Washington is expected to hold a press conference with the school president and the athletic director at around 3 p.m. PT, and it will be streamed in the video player at the top of this article.

There have been rumblings all week of the Huskies and the Ducks leaving the Pac-12. Big Ten officials voted on it on Friday, making it official.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 19: A detail of the Washington Huskies logo on a pylon is seen during the first quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at Husky Stadium on November 19, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

"I’m thrilled that the University of Oregon has the opportunity to join the nation's preeminent academic-athletic conference," said University of Oregon President John Karl Scholz. "Our student-athletes will participate at the highest level of collegiate athletic competition, and our alumni, friends, and fans will be able to carry the spirit of Oregon across the country."

"The Big Ten is a thriving conference with strong athletic and academic traditions, and we are excited and confident about competing at the highest level on a national stage," said University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce. "My top priority must be to do what is best for our student-athletes and our University, and this move will help ensure a strong future for our athletics program."

SEATTLE, WA - APRIL 27: A view of the PAC12 logo before the University of Washington Spring Game at Husky Stadium on Saturday, April 27, 2019 in Seattle, WA. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

After the approval, they became the 17th and 18th members of the Big Ten, and the third and fourth on the West Coast, joining USC and UCLA. The Big Ten will be the largest conference in major college sports, spanning 15 states from New Jersey to Washington.

Former Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren had encouraged member schools to strongly consider adding Oregon and Washington after the conference landed the two Los Angeles schools last summer — the blow that has sent the Pac-12 reeling for more than a year.

The latest departure from the Pac-12 pushed the storied West Coast college sports conference to the brink of extinction.

Pac-12 leaders met early Friday to determine if the nine remaining schools, which at the time included Oregon and Washington, would accept the potential media rights deal with Apple that Commissioner George Kilavkoff delivered to the group earlier this week, according to a person familiar with that meeting.

The Big Ten logo seen on a helmet during the Big Ten Conference Media Days on July 26, 2023 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

But the conferences' two biggest remaining brands decided to seek a new home.

With Oregon and Washington jumping ship, the Pac-12 is in danger of soon being down to four members: Stanford, California, Oregon State and Washington State.

Arizona, Arizona State and Utah are also joining Colorado in leaving for the Big 12. The conference will now feature 16 teams that extends through 10 states and all four time zones starting in 2024.

The Big 12 and Commissioner Brett Yormark outmaneuvered the Pac-12 and agreed to an extension of media rights deals with ESPN and Fox with two years left on its deal.

That left a thin market for Kliavkoff and the Pac-12 and a deal that would have left its schools lagging behind the other Power Five conferences in media rights revenue.