The news of USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten rocked the college sports universe last week. Widely seen as a positive from competitive, recruiting and financial perspectives, as the Big Ten now effectively owns the three largest media markets in the country, the move nonetheless reflects the theme of expansion to super-conference that began last summer when Texas and Oklahoma announced a move to the SEC.
The thing is, however, that expansion began well before summer 2021. The Big Ten, for instance, hasn’t had 10 teams since 1990 when Penn State joined the conference. The conference also famously poached Nebraska from the Big 12 in 2011, at the same time Texas A&M and Missouri made the jump to the SEC.