This season’s national champion will be playing in the Big Ten next season.
That statement will be true no matter who wins Monday night’s College Football Playoff final. While Washington will be representing the Pac-12 one last time in the national championship game, the Huskies will officially become Big Ten members in August. They’ll join a conference that has always included Michigan, the other team playing for college football’s top prize Monday night in Houston (7:30 p.m., ESPN).
As the Big Ten prepares to welcome four new members later this year, it couldn’t ask for better marketing than what it’s going to get from one of its current members going head-to-head with one of its incoming members on college football’s biggest stage.