The 2024 season will be the first of the 12-team playoff, greatly altering college football as a whole. While the playoffs will be different, so will multiple conferences. This upcoming season will be the first year of an 18-team Big Ten when USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington join the conference.
Among the four former Pac-12 teams, their combined record against Big Ten opponents is 190-151-7. What these teams bring is a recognizably different style of football, one that generally involves high-powered offenses as opposed to the Big Ten’s traditionally tough-nosed defensive style of football.
For years, the running punchline was the Big Ten couldn’t compete with “SEC speed.