Shatel: The Big Ten expansion is a move on a 100-yard chessboard | Huskers

Surf’s up, dudes. Big summer waves. Again.

USC and UCLA are joining the Big Ten Conference in 2024, according to multiple sources in college football. It makes as much sense as last summer’s Blockbuster: Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC.

If you’ve been paying attention at all in the last decade, you know it makes perfect sense.

So much for Nebraska being the “San Diego of the Big Ten.” Husker coaches will love these additions. Recruiting in LA is back in play in a big way.

On the other hand, NIL inflation may take place, going up against USC collectives.

Good morning, Californians for Nebraska. Can we get some more direct flights from Omaha to LA?

Okay, okay. This is crazy, right?

What in the name of the Rose Bowl are two pillars of west coast tradition doing in the same league as Woody and Bo?

Simple. There is no such thing as crazy or unconventional in today’s world. Make of it what you will.

That’s just what the Sunshine Boys did.

Why did this happen? Let me try to explain.

A wise, old athletic director once told me that there are two commissioners in college football. ESPN. And Fox Sports.

The future of the sport, as laid out in two TV executive board rooms, is one super league against another.

These will be billion-dollar conferences. Entities. Corporations.

This game is played on a 100-yard chessboard. The USC-UCLA move is a direct response to OU-Texas going to the SEC last summer.

This was Fox Sports as the quarterback of the Big Ten, calling the plays.

When it came out that Fox Sports officials were part of the Big Ten’s negotiating team for a new media deal, some thought it strange that a network would be in that role.

Turns out Fox Sports is also in charge of the Big Ten’s future. That should be okay with the Big Ten poobahs, who learned to love money long ago.

Did Fox Sports call USC-UCLA? Or did the schools throw out the hint that they wanted to leave?

Doesn’t matter. This is a sign that the new Big Ten Media Rights deal is a doozy, and USC-UCLA must be a significant part of that.

If the two LA schools did initiate this move with the Big Ten, they took their cue from Oklahoma and Texas.

Last year I asked an Oklahoma athletic official if there was any thought about staying loyal to the Big 12, and remaining in a league where the Sooners were the big dogs and had much success.

He said going to the SEC was a mandatory chess move in a world where college sports changes by the week, with pressure to keep up in the NIL race and oncoming caps coming off scholarships and size of coaching staffs.

OU and Texas wanted to be on the right side of the money.

All those years of history and tradition in the Pac-12 — over. But now USC and UCLA will get a slice of pie so large they won’t ever have to worry about anything — except how to get to West Lafayette, Ind.

Power. Money. It’s been a familiar theme in college football for decades. But now we are in an unimaginable place.

Imagine it. Believe it. And make those reservations at Spago.

Some other questions from the news of the day:

USC was the Pac-12. The Trojans leaving essentially ends the league as it existed.

If the Pac-12 merges with the Big 12, or becomes something smaller, something different, does that change the Rose Bowl match-up?

Who would pair up with the Big Ten then? Not the SEC.

At one point I jokingly wrote that the Big Ten championship game would be the Rose Bowl. But who knows?

The Rose Bowl should probably be the site of the national title game every year.

Remember when people said the Big Ten cares too much about the Rose Bowl? Looks like they care more about something else. Guess.

This reminds me of a famous line from Norm on “Cheers.” He said, “It’s a dog-eat-dog world and I’m wearing Milk Bone underwear.”

There are probably two legitimate revenue-producing conferences among those three. How that happens will be interesting. And chaotic.

Gentlemen, watch your backs. And fronts.

If so, talk about checkmate.

Would it add Oregon or Washington? Would it add the Irish if they were available?

I think you go to 18 if the Golden Dome is in.

One of the keys to this could be the make-up of the Big Ten Media deal. There’s been a lot of buzz that the Big Ten will go with Fox, CBS and NBC — and no ESPN.

Including NBC could be a move to get ND.

Once upon a time, ESPN access was a necessity for college programs. Not anymore.

But expect many Nebraska vs. USC and UCLA games.

It might be just beginning, particularly if the Big Ten and SEC — sorry, Fox and ESPN — aren’t done. Then there will be fallout in the conferences below.

Where does it end? I already received an email from a fan saying he was done with college football after this.

At some point, you wonder if college football is going to devour so much that it’s going to implode.

Then, maybe we’ll go back to having smaller conferences and games on streaming networks.

Have a great summer. See you at the beach. Soon.