The Big Ten will officially expand to 18 teams on Friday, August 2, when the Oregon Ducks, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans, and Washington Huskies officially join the conference.
Of course, the schools have already been around, with each appearing at Big Ten Media Days last week in Indianapolis.
When the schools officially join on Friday, the Big Ten Network will spend the day showing original programming centered around the four new teams. The network released the news Wednesday while providing a schedule of events, which will begin with four hours of classic soccer and volleyball games from the schools.
At noon ET, there will be a special edition of B1G Today, where Dave Revsine, Rick Pizzo, and Jake Butt will take a deep dive into all four schools.
From there, the schools will get specific blocks featuring an episode of B1G Welcome. Fans will be introduced to each school before showing specific clips and moments from the schools’ athletic histories. UCLA’s, for example, will feature Tyus Edney’s famed buzzer-beater to take down the Missouri Tigers in the 1995 NCAA Tournament. Oregon’s will look at the dominance of its 2017 women’s track team. USC’s will feature Erik Affholter’s game-winning touchdown catch against UCLA in 1987. Washington’s will focus on Isaiah Thomas’ buzzer-beater to capture the 2011 Pac-12 Tournament championship over Arizona.
Each school will also get a new addition in the B1G Trailblazer series. UCLA’s will feature Ann Meyers Drysdale, Oregon’s will feature Tinker Hatfield, USC’s will feature golfer Lizette Salas and Washington’s will feature two-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Detlef Schrempf.
Jenny Dell and Troy Johnson will also present an episode of Campus Eats. A Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives-style show where they focus on restaurants in each of the four new cities.
The day’s coverage will conclude with classic football games from each school’s history.
Additionally, each school will be featured on Football Training Camp leading up to college football season. Revsine, Ashley Adamson, Gerry DiNardo, Howard Griffith, and Yogi Roth will preview each school’s football outlook live on campus.
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