Big Ten/Pac-12 Agreement: Michigan May Host Southern Cal in Big House by 2017

Thanks to Wednesday's scheduling agreement between the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences, Michigan fans may finally get the matchup they've been anticipating for years.

Michigan and Southern Cal could meet in the Big House for the first time since 1958.  

Several Pac-12 teams—including Stanford, UCLA, Oregon and Washington—have played in Ann Arbor, but it's been 54 years since the Trojans made the trip.

That matchup could occur by 2017 when the football portion of the scheduling agreement begins.

Like Big Ten-ACC Challenge

Modeled after the the Big Ten-ACC Basketball Challenge,  Big Ten and Pac-12 teams will be matched each season on a yet-to-be-determined rotating basis. 

“As other conferences continue to grow through expansion, we believe there is great merit in deepening the historic relationship between the Big Ten and Pac-12,” noted Big Ten commissioner James E. Delaney  “We believe that both conferences can preserve that sense of collegiality and still grow nationally by leveraging our commonalities in a way that benefits student-athletes, fans and alumni."

The agreement branches out into other sports, as well. Inter-conference matchups may begin as soon as the 2012-13 academic year.

Should Help Scheduling

It's no secret that non-leaguer scheduling has becoming increasingly difficult.  More and more MAC and other mid-major schools appear on Michigan's football schedule, including teams like Delaware State, Massachusetts and Akron.

Michigan is still obligated to play Connecticut at tiny Rentschler Field in 2013, while Appalachian State will make a return visit to Ann Arbor in 2014.

The agreement "will add a tough, high-quality opponent," Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott told USA Today. "Certainly, it creates a tougher path (to the national championship game). But the benefits, we think, outweigh the fact it's far more challenging."

The relationship between the two conferences dates back to the first Rose Bowl Game in 1902 and continued annually from 1946 through 2001. The current BCS agreement call for the conference champions to meet in the "The Granddaddy of Them All" unless one or both are selected for the "national championship" game.

Merger in the making?

While the remainder of the nation's conferences are struggling of expansion and contraction,  this scheduling agreement just might be a precursor to the forming of the first super-conference.

If the leagues do get together, how about the Big East and Big 12 merging next. Then, the ACC could absorb the Mountain West and Conference USA, while the SEC could adopt the WAC, MAC and Sun Belt.

Predicting how the final landscape will eventually look is probably impossible, but it now appears that the Big Ten and Pac-12 have the upper hand.