Conference realignment in 2024, by the numbers

The GIST: Schools are shifting conferences to protect their bottom lines…but those aren’t the only metrics in play. Here’s how the newly realigned landscape will look this academic year, by the numbers.

18: How many institutions are now in the Big Ten. And no, they’re not planning on changing their name anytime soon — after all, they had 14 teams before this latest realignment wave.

• The ACC is now the second-largest Power conference with 17 schools, while the SEC and Big 12 are close behind with 16 apiece. The jury’s still out on a Big 12 name change…but it won’t be to the Big 16.

$7B: The value of the Big Ten’s seven-year media deal with Fox, CBS, and NBC — the one that ultimately triggered UCLA’s and USC’s jump to the (traditionally) Midwestern conference, setting off the Great Realignment of 2023.

$65M–$75M: How much UCLA and USC will each reportedly earn from that media deal in their first year with the Big Ten — about six times more than UCLA earned in 2022–23 Pac-12 distributions.

• That said, the jump isn’t free. Both schools must shell out for more and longer charter flights to conference games, which Boardroom reports could run about $5M per year. And that’s not counting the additional hotel and food costs, etc.

2,800: How many miles the Washington Huskies will travel for their September 27th conference football game against Rutgers in Newark, NJ. Better not forget the sheet masks.

$581: The current minimum price of a ticket to the first-ever all–SEC Texas vs. Texas A&M football game on November 30th (as of last night on StubHub). It’s giving the Eras Tour.