College football realignment rumors have now given us an idea of how much the Big Ten is willing to offer Oregon and Washington as the Pac-12 crumbles.
On Thursday night, Arizona triggered a wave of college football realignment rumors as the Wildcats reportedly moved closer to leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12.
Arizona's decision could make it a whole lot more viable for teams like Oregon and Washington to accept a move to the Big Ten.
But what would moving to the Big Ten actually entail financially? How much more money could the Ducks and Huskies make if they spurn the proposed Pac-12 streaming deal with Apple? Now we have an idea.
College football realignment rumors: Big Ten could offer Oregon, Washington $40-35 million annually.
According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports, the Big Ten's offer "is expected to be $35-40 million annually per team."
However, there is some question about whether the two schools would accept that offer. It's significantly lower than the full shares offered to USC and UCLA, which start at $60 million annually and could increase to $100 million.
Still, $35 million is significantly more than the current offer on the table from the Pac-12. And realistically, they may not have much of a choice.
If Arizona State and Utah follow Arizona and Colorado to the Big 12, the Pac-12 won't exist much longer. And make no mistake, that's where this is heading. According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, the conservative approach that the Sun Devils and Utes had taken has "begun changing recently with the flurry of events in realignment."
Oregon and Washington will likely be backed into a corner and the Big Ten lifeline will feel less than optional, even if the money is far less than either school wants for the inconvenience of cross-country travel. Survival matters more.
