Friday marked a monumental day for the Big Ten, with USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon officially joining the conference.
And as Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti had previously hinted at, the conference’s popular “Maps” ad is here to stay — it’s just adding some additional stops.
With the Big Ten Network spending Friday airing programming focused on its four new West Coast schools, the conference took the opportunity to unveil its new commercial. Despite the previous ad beginning its trek at the Rose Bowl — as you may have heard, USC and UCLA are located in Los Angeles — the new commercial starts in the Pacific Northwest with Washington and Oregon, before making the trek down to Southern California, through the Midwest and eventually, the East Coast with final stops at Maryland and Rutgers.
And yes, Guards’ catchy indie pop rock anthem, “Silver Lining,” is still the soundtrack for the ad.
We know you’ve been waiting for this one…
“Maps” is here and it’s beautiful. #B1GWelcome pic.twitter.com/vPfVeEdonn
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) August 2, 2024
The release of the conference’s new “Maps” ad comes just weeks after Petitti made it clear that the commercial, which first debuted with the additions of Maryland and Rutgers in 2014, isn’t going anywhere.
“I learned very quickly in this job that there’s a lot of passion around the Big Ten ‘Map’ commercial,” he told the Big Ten Network’s Dave Revsine at the conference’s media days last month. “So I would say to fans that we understand and we get that. So more to come… I’ve learned a lot about the ‘Maps’ spot over the last 12 months… this one gets a lot of love.”
Like Bob Dylan once sang, the times, they are a changin’ in not just the Big Ten, but all of college sports. But while it remains to be seen how the conference will adjust to its new nationwide presence, the return of the updated “Maps” commercial shows that there is still a place for tradition — both new and old — in the world of college athletics.
[Big Ten]
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.