STATE COLLEGE — Oregon and Washington leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big Ten seemed to happen in a blink of an eye, surprising some fans. But James Franklin wasn’t caught off guard when the news became official on Friday.

Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi and athletic director Pat Kraft kept Franklin up-to-date and involved as those talks were ongoing. Two days after it became clear Oregon and Washington were moving, Franklin thanked Bendapudi and Kraft for that.

He also shared his thoughts on the landscape-shifting move on Sunday at Beaver Stadium during his media day press conference.

“I do think obviously with what you see that’s going on in college football right now, it’s not shocking that these things are happening,” Franklin said. “It’s somewhat sad in some ways. Not that these people are being added to our conference, because I think obviously there’s a lot of strategy that goes into that.

“But you know, I do think there’s some challenges that come along with it. It’s very different for most of the people in this room. It’s very different than the college football that we all grew up with, and not really college football, but college athletics, where it was pretty regional. I do think it’s a huge win for USC and UCLA from a travel perspective. I think it’s a huge win for them.”

Oregon and Washington are set to become the 17th and 18th members of the Big Ten after the schools and conference announced the news on Friday night.

Washington and Oregon’s move is effective Aug. 2, 2024 — joining UCLA and USC in time for the start of the 2024 football season.

The dizzying news came a day after the Big Ten presidents and chancellors gave commissioner Tony Petitti the green light to pursue expansion. It came a week after Colorado left the Pac-12 for the Big 12 — and hours before Utah, Arizona and Arizona State did the same, leaving the Pac-12 with four schools.

Oregon’s and Washington’s announcements also come 13 months after USC and UCLA confirmed their eventual exits from the Pac-12. In reaction to that landscape-shifting news, Franklin said the following in a statement:

“This is another big step in the ever-changing college football landscape and we embrace the change. USC and UCLA are two institutions with a long-standing tradition of academic and athletic success. They will only strengthen our already very strong Big Ten conference.”

On Sunday, Franklin didn’t address the 2024 schedule. But it will have to be changed in some capacity with Washington and Oregon joining. In June, the Big Ten announced 2024 and 2025 home-and-away opponents for every team.

In 2024, Penn State is scheduled to host USC, Ohio State, Michigan State, Nebraska and Northwestern and travel to Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue and Rutgers.

In 2025, the Nittany Lions are slated to host UCLA, Minnesota, Rutgers and Illinois and visit USC, Michigan, Iowa, Michigan State and Maryland.

Maybe the Nittany Lions have a trip to Eugene or Seattle in their near future.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)