Two Schools Are Reportedly Considering Leaving The Big Ten
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Two big schools have reportedly considered leaving the Big Ten Conference.
The Big Ten Conference has gone through a number of changes over the past decade or so. The conference added the University of Nebraska in 2011. A couple of years later, Maryland and Rutgers joined. The league expanded west a couple of years ago, adding four Pac-12 schools in Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA.
The league is reportedly considering investment from private equity. The Big Ten Conference would essentially be selling off part of the new corporate enterprise to an outside investor. According to reports, the deal would be a 20-year, $2.4 billion investment from the California Pension Fund.
But two schools are very much opposed to it.
Two major schools are reportedly opposed to the plan: Michigan and USC.
According to reports, the Wolverines and Trojans are so opposed to the private equity deal, that they are considering a nuclear option of leaving the conference.
Yahoo! Sports reported this week that Michigan and USC have received an ultimatum from the conference.
"In messages sent to Michigan and USC, the Big Ten has signaled that it is moving forward with the deal, even delivering to each program a proposed deadline for their decision. If they don’t agree to the deal, the schools may lose the additional capital as part of the landmark proposal and risk their future within the conference beyond 2036, the current end of the existing grant-of-rights agreement. League officials are socializing a specific date — Nov. 21 — for a vote on the capital investment proposal," the story reads.
Why Michigan, USC are opposed to the deal
According to reports, Michigan believes that the deal is essentially an unnecessary "payday loan" that would bail certain schools out for poorly managing their finances.
Meanwhile, USC, as a new member to the conference, would receive less upfront than schools like Ohio State and Penn State.
Michigan and USC could ultimately choose to leave the Big Ten and be independent, like Notre Dame. Or, maybe, they could shock the college football world and join the SEC. Oklahoma and Texas just did it, after all.
Michigan and USC moving to independence would be hilarious, especially given it’s those fanbases that are most often yelling at Notre Dame to join a conference pic.twitter.com/081XwX0mwW
— Mason (@MasonPlummer_) November 12, 2025
It's unlikely that this would happen, of course, but nothing is a given in today's world of college athletics.
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Nov 13, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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