Oregon, Washington officially leave Pac-12 for Big Ten - ESPN

Oregon and Washington finalized a deal to join the Big Ten beginning in the 2024-25 season on Friday, a move that continues to dwindle the Pac-12 and puts that conference's future in the crosshairs.

The schools formally applied for membership Friday and were accepted after a Big Ten vote later in the day.

«We are excited to welcome the University of Oregon and the University of Washington to the Big Ten Conference,» Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said in a statement. «We look forward to building long-lasting relationships with the universities, administrators and staff, student-athletes, coaches and fans.

»Both institutions feature a combination of academic and athletic excellence that will prove a great fit for our future."

The finances of the move are not immediately clear, but both Oregon and Washington will receive only a partial share of the conference allotment through the length of its upcoming television deal, which goes through the 2029-30 school year.

The move would push the Big Ten to 18 schools. Starting in 2024, that will include a western wing of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. None of those schools is required to pay an exit fee because of the Pac-12's expiring television deal.

The departures put Oregon and Washington's former conference, the century-old Pac-12, in flux. Arizona has applied to and been admitted to the Big 12, ESPN sources said, although that deal has yet to be finalized. And Utah and Arizona State also applied for formal membership in the Big 12 on Friday, sources said.

With the Pac-12's television deal expiring after the 2023-24 school year, the conference is in peril. The departure of Colorado last week, the loss of Oregon and Washington, and the expected departure of Arizona leave