In arguably the most historic day of conference realignment,

Get your favorite live sports, stories and originals with ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu. Upgrade to a Disney Bundle plan and start streaming something for everyone today!

The initial 2024 and 2025 schedules included 11 protected matchups. A 12th is now virtually guaranteed with Washington and Oregon, bitter rivals who have played many memorable games. But the Big Ten “capped” the number at 11, Kenny said, because, “The more protected matchups you’ve included in the model, the less flexibility you had to create a really balanced model for everybody.”

Oregon and Washington will be all-sports additions to the Big Ten next year, but football is the focus now because schedules are done in advance to allow for planning and logistics. — Adam Rittenberg

What is the USC/UCLA reaction to adding two Pacific Time zone schools?

Some combination of relief and begrudging acceptance. As Chip Kelly pointed out at UCLA practice Friday, as other teams scramble to figure out where they’ll play in the coming years, it’s nice to know where your home will be. Kelly joked that perhaps the Big Ten could put the former Pac-12 teams in a pod and the Big Ten teams in a pod and have the winners play each other at the end of the year, perhaps in the Rose Bowl. If it was up to him, though, he’d scrap the whole thing and start anew.

“I’d be for, we’re all in the same division. Put 60 of us in the same division,” Kelly said. “Do it like the NFL where there’s NFC West, NFC North, NFC South. I think we should all be in, there should be one conference in all college football and then just break it up like they do the professional game. Based on geography. That makes the most sense. There’s your travel question. There’s all those other questions, but no one asks me.”

Given the kind of chess move the jump to the Big Ten was for both L.A. schools and how it upended the sport, there was some expectation that USC and UCLA were going to benefit greatly, not just the influx of money as part of the conference’s new TV deal, but also from a resources and recruiting standpoint too.

Oregon has perhaps been the greatest threat to the Trojans in recent years in terms of adding talent, either through the transfer portal or high school ranks. A jump to one of the premier conferences in the sport, with a chance to play in high-profile games, was going to be a significant recruiting tool in USC’s and UCLA’s favor. Now, Oregon and Washington will be able to sell the same thing to recruits and transfers too.

From a logistical standpoint, I’m sure there are those who will be grateful both L.A. schools will have more than one West Coast conference game to play in every year. UCLA and USC don’t have some storied history playing against Oregon or Washington, but as the Pac-12 crumbles, carrying over some semblance of continuity isn’t the worst scenario either. — Paolo Uggetti

What happens to the Rose Bowl?

Conference realignment didn’t change the Rose Bowl’s storied partnership with the Big Ten and Pac-12 — the College Football Playoff did. Last year’s game between Penn State and Utah was the last, true historic matchup between those leagues. Moving forward, the Rose Bowl has fully integrated with the CFP and will host a semifinal this season, followed by quarterfinals in each of the first two seasons of the 12-team playoff.

The teams in those games will be slotted based on the selection committee’s rankings. While it’s possible there could be a Big Ten team involved by chance, the guaranteed matchup between the two leagues ended when the Nittany Lions beat the Utes. — Dinich

Is the Big Ten done expanding?

Since June 2010, the Big Ten has expanded four times: Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland, UCLA and UCLA and now Oregon and Washington. The superconference/consolidation era is clearly here, and it would be surprising if the Big Ten remained at 18 members for very long. The Big Ten could again look to the West Coast for Stanford and Cal, but neither has been overly appealing to the league or its media partners in these last two expansion rounds. What would change going forward?

The likelier scenario has commissioner Tony Petitti looking to the East and the ACC, if the league starts to splinter in the wake of Florida State’s exit strategy comments this week. North Carolina and Virginia would be primary targets, sources told ESPN. Both are premier public schools and would excite a group of Big Ten presidents and chancellors that still places a premium on “cultural fit.” Florida State would be more of a stretch, and league sources cautioned against an immediate push. But FSU would give the Big Ten a presence in the Southeast, which former Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany mentioned would be valuable way back in 2010.

The Big Ten’s ultimate expansion prize remains Notre Dame, and efforts will continue to lure the school into the league. Could longtime ND rival Stanford be dangled as an enticement? Perhaps. The Big Ten will need some patience as Notre Dame doesn’t want to relinquish its independence in football. Perhaps things change when Notre Dame has more administrative changes. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick will step down in 2024, and university president the Rev. John Jenkins turns 70 in December. — Rittenberg

What does this mean for the College Football Playoff?

In the 12-team format, the six highest-ranked conference champions will receive a bid, along with the next six highest-ranked teams.

If there’s no Pac-12 champion because there’s no Pac-12, that’s something that will have to be revisited. What’s awkward about it is Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff is one of the 10 FBS commissioners who makes those decisions, along with Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick.

It was too early following the news for any concrete answers as to if and how the model might change, and how it could impact conference champions. “I certainly understand why people need to ask the question,” CFP executive director Bill Hancock told ESPN. “The fact is that it’s too soon to say. The CFP management committee and board of managers will discuss the future if and when it becomes appropriate. Of course, none of this will affect the four-team playoff this year.” — Dinich