College football is changing. The days of regional pride and grouping conferences geographically have been long gone. With the death of the Pac-12, it’s only gotten worse. The Big Ten hasn’t held 10 teams since 1990 before Penn State joined in on the fun. Then, it expanded to 12 when Nebraska was added in 2011. Rutgers and Maryland defected from the ACC and the conference ballooned to 14 teams in 2014. Now, Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA have been added to bring the Big Ten to 18 teams.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 had a storied history with one another over the course of history. The two sent their conference champions to the Rose Bowl to face off almost yearly since 1947. To date, USC leads the way with 34 appearances all-time with a 25-9 record. The Big Five/Big Six/Pacific Coast Conference/Pac-8/Pac-10/Pac-12 dies with a 52-46-3 record in the Granddaddy of them all and a narrow 36-33 record against the Big Ten. Given, since the beginning of the College Football Playoff, the Rose Bowl has featured four non-traditional matchups as it was a semifinal game.
The four West Coast teams have decades of championship pedigree. They bring with them 2,983 all-time wins, 85 conference titles, 14 National Championships, and 10 Heisman Trophy Winners.
All wins, titles, and Heisman numbers via Winsipedia
Welcome to the New Big Ten USC, Washington, Oregon, and UCLA
USC Trojans
All-time record: 875-368-54
National Championships: 11
Heisman Trophy Winners: 8
Historically, USC has been one of the true bluebloods of the game. When it comes to win percentage, the Trojans slot in as ninth-best. USC is one of only four programs to take home at least 11 national titles.
The Trojans have been around since 1888 and have been home to some of the greatest players to grace the gridiron. 530 NFL Draft picks have come from USC, the second-most all-time, and the 14 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees are tied for the most of any college.
USC started off as the Methodists and did not go by Trojans until 1912. The Trojans had moderate success but were not a nationally known team until the 1920s and 1930s when the program captured four national titles in 1928, 1931, 1932, and 1939. Through the ’40s and ’50s, USC experienced some success but it wasn’t until the ’60s that a juggernaut was born. In those two decades, the Trojans produced four Heisman Trophy winners and brought home another four titles.
Perhaps the most interesting bit was in 1970. USC was scheduled by Bear Bryant to come to Tuscaloosa and face Alabama. The Trojans, an already integrated team, trounced the all-white Crimson Tide, 42-21. Bryant took that beating to the university and persuaded the school to allow him to recruit and play Black players.
In the 1980s and 1990s, USC was still solid but did not win any titles and experienced significant droughts against its rivals UCLA and Notre Dame. Then, the 2000s came and Pete Carroll brought USC back. Carroll won seven straight Pac-12 titles and back-to-back BCS National Titles in 2003 and 2004. Since 2010, however, USC has won just one conference title (2017).
USC Record vs. New Big Ten
Northwestern: 5-0
Indiana: 4-0
Nebraska: 4-0-1
Wisconsin: 6-1
Illinois: 11-2
Minnesota: 6-1-1
Purdue: 3-1
Iowa: 7-3
Penn State: 6-4
Michigan: 6-4
Ohio State: 13-10-1
Michigan State: 4-4
Oregon: 38-23-2
Washington: 51-31-4
UCLA: 50-34-7
Washington Huskies
All-time record: 774-465-50
National Championships: 2
Heisman Trophy Winners: 0
The Washington Huskies have been playing football since 1889 and own the 22nd-best win percentage in history. Of the four West Coast Big Ten programs, only Washington has made the College Football Playoff more than once with an appearance in the National Championship game this past season.
Throughout the history of the Pac-12 and its previous iterations, only two programs were there from beginning to end: Cal and Washington. The Huskies started off playing a small handful of games per year to get their feet wet. Then, from 1908 through 1916, the Huskies posted a 58-0-3 mark as part of their FBS-record 64-game non-losing streak.
Then, from 1920 through 1958, Washington only won two conference titles and posted a 0-3-1 record in the Rose Bowl. Jim Owens took over in 1956 and showed the program the most success it’s had in decades. He won back-to-back conference titles and was awarded the 1960 National Championship after beating top-ranked Minnesota in the Rose Bowl. He took the Huskies to three Rose Bowls, winning two.
A New Era at Washington
Then, Don James took over and Washington rose to another level. In his 18 years, the Huskies won six conference titles and the 1991 National Championship after being Michigan in the Rose Bowl. In total, James’ squads made six Rose Bowls and won four. He began a run of 27 consecutive non-losing seasons, a Pac-12 record. After James’ sudden resignation, the Huskies managed just two conference titles through the 2000 season.
Chris Peterson came in and brought the Huskies back to national prominence with three straight Pac-12 North titles, two conference titles, and a CFP appearance. Then, after two years of Jimmy Lake, Kalen DeBoer won 25 games in two years. After falling in the CFP National Championship Game, he left for Alabama and the Jedd Fisch era begins in the Big Ten this year.
Washington Record vs. New Big Ten
Wisconsin: 4-0
Rutgers: 2-0
Northwestern: 3-0
Maryland: 1-0
Michigan State: 4-1
Purdue: 7-2-1
Illinois: 7-4
Iowa: 3-3-
Nebraska: 4-5-1
Minnesota: 7-10
Michigan: 5-9
Indiana: 1-2
Ohio State: 3-9
Penn State:0-3
Oregon: 63-48-5
UCLA: 33-41-2
USC: 31-52-4
Oregon Ducks
All-time Record: 704-511-46
National Championships: 0
Heisman Trophy Winners: 1
Easily the program with the most wins and best win percentage without a title are the Oregon Ducks. Kicking off play in 1894, Oregon was actually commonly known as the Webfoots until the mid-1960s. Despite having no titles to their name, the Ducks have 14 conference titles to their name, a BCS National Championship appearance (2010), and a CFP National Championship (2014) appearance.
Early on, Oregon managed to win just one conference title (in 1895, the Oregon Intercollegiate Football Association) until 1919. The program’s first Rose Bowl win came during an undefeated 1916 campaign and the program’s first Pacific Coast Conference (later, Pac-12) title came a few years later in 1919. Over the next couple of decades, Oregon was a middle-of-the-road program with its next conference title not coming until 1933.
In 1943 and 1944, Oregon did not field a team due to World War II. They were not the only ones, however. In 1943, the SEC only had four programs play as the other eight suspended play to serve in the war. When the program returned, Oregon won the PCC once more in 1948 and it marked the first time the program finished the season ranked by the AP. Then, Oregon only managed one more conference title (1957) until the Bill Clinton administration.
Oregon Returns to National Prominence
Then, after two Pac-10 titles over the course of 14 Mike Bellotti-led seasons, Chip Kelly took over and Oregon blew up. In his four seasons (2009-2012), Kelly led the Ducks to three conference titles, four North Division titles, and a BCS National Championship appearance. Over those four seasons, Oregon made a BCS bowl each year. After Kelly jumped to the NFL, Mark Helfrich took over and continued the trend. He made the inaugural College Football Playoff and fell in the National Championship. They couldn’t get back to that level, fired Helrich, stumbled through one Willie Taggart season, and landed with Mario Cristobal.
Cristobal led the program to two New Year’s Six Bowls including a Rose Bowl where the program finished ranked fifth. After Cristobal bolted for Miami (FL), Dan Lanning took over. In his two years, Oregon has gone 22-5, was back-to-back division champions, and only lost to Washington last year.
If recruiting and portal acquisitions are any indication, Oregon is heading to the Big Ten red-hot and ready to compete immediately.
Oregon Record vs. New Big Ten
Purdue: 2-1
Iowa: 2-1
Indiana: 2-1
Illinois: 2-1
Michigan State: 4-3
Wisconsin: 3-3
Michigan: 2-3
Penn State: 1-3
Nebraska: 2-6
Minnesota: 1-3
Ohio State: 1-9
Northwestern: 0-1
UCLA: 32-40
Washington: 48-63-5
USC: 23-39-2
UCLA Bruins
All-time Record: 630-453-37
National Championships: 1
Heisman Trophy Winners: 1
The Bruins are a massive reason why the Pac-12 was considered the “Conference of Champions” because of their 124 team national titles, 11 of which were on the men’s basketball court (seven in a row from 1967 through 1973). On the gridiron, it’s been a tad different since its first season in 1919.
Out of the gate, it took UCLA a while to get going. The Bruins won the program’s first conference title in 1935 as a member of the PCC. Ewin Horrell took over for William H. Spaulding in 1939 and led the Bruins to two conference titles in his six years, including his first season at the helm. After that, Bert LaBrucherie only won one conference title in his four seasons but led the Bruins to their highest final AP poll position in 1946 (fourth).
The 1950s were kinder to UCLA with three straight PCC titles from 1953 through 1955. 1954 was when the Bruins took home the only title in program history. Oddly enough, UCLA did not play in the Rose Bowl that season due to the old “no-repeat” rule. The 9-0 Bruins shellacked USC, 34-0, and the Trojans went to the Rose Bowl but UCLA was still voted as National Champions.
Since the Last Title
Then, something insane happened to the program. Henry (Red) Sanders suddenly passed away five weeks before the season kicked off. Then, George Dickerson took over. But after two hospitalizations for nervous exhaustion, he stepped down for William F. Barnes to take over. Barnes coached the Bruins for seven years with two conference titles. From 1965 through 1981, UCLA only captured two conference titles with 10 second-place finishes.
The 1980s were all UCLA. The Bruins won the Pac-10 four times with two other second-place finishes. Then, from 1990 to 2010, UCLA only won the Pac-10 three times with a top-five finish in 1997. That 1998 Pac-10 title was the last time UCLA took home the trophy. The program made back-to-back Pac-10/Pac-12 title games but fell both times. Then, the Chip Kelly era came and went without so much as a better-than-third-place finish in a non-COVID season.
DeShaun Foster takes over in 2024 and has his work cut out for him in the new-look Big Ten.
UCLA Record vs. New Big Ten
Purdue: 3-0-2
Penn State: 4-2
Iowa: 6-3
Wisconsin: 7-4
Ohio State: 4-4-1
Northwestern: 3-3
Michigan State: 3-3
Maryland: 1-1
Illinois: 6-6
Nebraska: 6-7
Minnesota: 1-2
Michigan: 3-8
Washington: 41-33-2
Oregon: 39-33
USC: 34-52-7
