By Marc Lawrence, PlaybookSports.com — In 1990, the Big Ten universities voted to expand the conference from 10 to 11 teams and extended an invitation to Atlantic 10 member and football independent Penn State, which accepted it.
When the Nittany Lions joined in 1990, it was decided the conference would continue to be called the Big Ten.
Roll the clock forward to 2022 to the West Coast expansion when UCLA and USC announced they would be joining the conference in 2024.
Somehow we feel it won’t stop there with the brand of “Super Conference” being bandied about.
What we do know is that since 1946, the Big Ten champion has had a tie-in with the Rose Bowl game. It was not until the 1975 season that the Big Ten allowed teams to play in bowl games other than the Rose Bowl. With expansion running wild, the future of Big Ten/Rose Bowl tie-ins is up in the air.
And thanks to the 2022 Playbook Big Ten Football Betting Preview we also know that the Michigan Wolverines are 3-17 SU in their final two games of the season since 2012, while Penn State head coach James Franklin is 4-18 SU and 5-15-2 ATS away versus greater than .666 opponents
