Draped across both 25-yard lines at Autzen Stadium is the Pac-12 emblem. Coming in 2024 and beyond, that won’t be the case. Oregon’s move to the Big Ten Conference will not only affect where the university plays its games, but will have massive implications on the student and fan atmosphere. As the Pac-12 — the conference where Oregon has built its brand — disbands, change is coming to the UO athletic experience.
For the most die-hard Duck fans, traveling to interconference away games will no longer mean an at most two hour flight on the West Coast. With universities moving to the Big Ten, fans traveling to away games will have to include connecting flights and long layovers, all to see their favorite teams play.
When the Ducks relocate in 2024, they will be scheduled to play teams such as Purdue, Indiana and Rutgers, all of which will include three or more hour flights.
Along with the fan sacrifice will come the inevitable student-athlete sacrifice that this conference realignment will entail. Athletes will be asked to fly across the country for games, matches and meets, all while managing a taxing academic schedule.
“What happened to the mental health of student-athletes being important?” Oregon softball pitcher Morgan Scotty tweeted. “The balance of practice, travel, school and having a social life is already hard enough. Why add even more stress?”
This travel will be especially taxing on sports like softball, where multi-stop road trips are common; balancing academics, athletics and recovery will become a far more significant challenge for Duck athletes. Under NCAA rules, student-athletes’ required athletic activities cannot exceed 20 hours per week. This mandate, however, excludes travel.
A proposed way to mitigate the cross-country travel these students would experience would be — for the sports that allow it — to organize tournaments. In this proposed idea, the various schools would travel to a neutral site and play a large portion of the interconference games within the course of a week. This proposed idea has flaws, however. If these large tournaments are necessary for these teams to compete, what cost does this realignment come with?
Along with Scotty, Ducks shortstop Paige Sinicki voiced her concerns with the school’s move to the Big Ten via Twitter.
“It’s unfortunate to hear that my senior year I’ll be playing as far as New Jersey-Rutgers as well as other East Coast schools,” Sinicki said. “Just hope that we student-athletes will be taken care of for all the travel, time changes and hours on the road we will experience weekly!”
It’s reasonable to assume that a sizable portion of the estimated $30 million annually coming to UO through the school’s realignment will be reinvested into the university student-athletes. However, it’s understandable to question the investment UO and other schools will continue to make in smaller sports.
For some Duck athletes, especially those who signed with Oregon in hopes of playing close to home, UO’s move will significantly alter their expectations from when they first signed with Oregon.
“The university’s move to the Big Ten will benefit UO students and faculty,” university president John Karl Scholz said in a statement released Aug. 4. “The connections we will make with some of the leading research institutions in the world will provide new opportunities for our students, staff, faculty and university stakeholders.”
In 2022, the Big Ten created a Big Ten student-athlete advisory and advocacy committee which UO student-athletes will have access to. The committee was created with “the goal of allowing student-athletes to address their concerns,” Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said.
The university hopes that joining the Big Ten will help spread UO’s athletic brand farther across the country. A common critique of the Pac-12 was the Pac-12 network, which was only accessible through select cable deals and subscriptions. With the Big Ten’s expansion, that number will increase to 45 games in 2024 on CBS, NBC and Fox.
However, the athletic schedule will change greatly for the Ducks, who will, in the future, be scheduled to play Mid-West athletic powerhouses Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State across all sports. Most of the school’s storied rivalries will remain. In Oregon’s Big Ten relocation announcement, it reiterated the school’s desire to continue its rivalry with Oregon State.
“In coming years, the UO will prioritize the long-held traditions, including competition across all sports with Oregon State University,” the university announced.
As UO’s athletic landscape changes, all eyes will be on the Ducks and their reinvestment in the student and fan experience.
