Park Ridge, IL – The Big Ten and the Pac-12 have a long, rich rivalry, and the two power conferences announced Wednesday they will schedule more games against each other in all sports.
Details of the collaboration still have to be ironed out, but the objective has been made clear.
"Through numerous conversations over the past several months with stakeholders from the Big Ten and Pac-12, we decided there would be great value in building upon the history and collegiality that exists between our member institutions, by initially committing to an increased frequency of play between our schools in all sports," said Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott.
The expansion of the football feud will call for each school to play an opponent from the other conference every year, with the plan set to start in 2017, though it could be sooner.
The history between the conferences dates back to over a century, when they met in the inaugural Rose Bowl Game in 1902. They have met in Pasadena on 62 occasions, including 55 consecutive meetings from 1947-2001 before the BCS system changed the landscape of college football.
Other sports, such as men's and women's basketball, could schedule inter- conference games more frequently as early as the 2012-13 academic year.
"We believe that both conferences can preserve that sense of collegiality and still grow nationally by leveraging our commonalities in a way that benefits student-athletes, fans and alumni. This collaboration can and will touch many institutional undertakings, and will complement our academic and athletic missions," said Big Ten commissioner James E. Delany.
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