Getty Image / Ali Gradischer
It’s weird to say, but Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks are a Big Ten school, or at least will be soon. Instead of trips to Palo Alto, Boulder, and Pullman, they will be making trips to State College, Madison, and Champaign.
The pros and cons of such a move, one they will make with current conference mates USC, UCLA, and Washington, have been discussed at length. But, the move is happening, and Oregon will be moving to the Big Ten for the 2024-2025 sports season.
Oregon’s second-year coach Dan Lanning was asked about the school’s move to the Big Ten during a press conference on Saturday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a810qetr1UM. Here are some excerpts.
“It’s a league that means more than just football; I think obviously, academically, it brings a certain prestige. And the fact that it hits every single part of the US is big for us because we’re a national brand. We should be seen across the nation.”
The Big Ten is definitely the best conference in terms of academics among the FBS conferences, and now has the most national reach. The SEC may be better on the football field, but it’s very much a regional conference.
More than anything it gives us clear direction. We have a really clear direction right now. It’s not the ‘what if’s’ it’s not the ‘where are’s’ it’s really clear where we’re going to be and where we’re set up for the long term and that’s important.
Lanning was answering a question about recruiting here, and now it will be much easier to give recruits an answer on the stability of the program.
We want to play great teams. Oregon State’s a great example of a game we’d love to keep. We want the opportunity to continue to play against them. I think it means a lot to the people in this state, but it’s something that’s a little bit out of our control now. It’s something we have to see where the chips fall.
The Oregon State quote is interesting. Many Oregon State fans do not want to keep the series going, as they feel like Oregon abandoned them when they joined the Big Ten. And, the resource gap between the two schools is going to significantly widen, as well, given the money that
Oregon opens the season against mighty Portland State on September 2nd.