Chancellor statement on Big Ten Conference expansion

Interim Chancellor John Karl Scholz released the following statement on Thursday, June 30.

“The University of Wisconsin–Madison is pleased to support the planned expansion of the Big Ten Conference with the inclusion of the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA).

“This expansion helps solidify the Big Ten Conference as the one, true national powerhouse conference, with member universities, teams and fans stretching from coast to coast.

“UW-Madison has deep historical ties to California from both our fans and alumni base. The addition of USC and UCLA will give our West Coast alumni even more opportunities to see their beloved Badgers when they travel to Los Angeles for games.

“As importantly, it adds two outstanding academic institutions to the Big Ten, the premier Power Five academic conference in the country.

“As nationally and internationally respected higher education leaders, the opportunities created to deepen research partnerships and other collaborations with UW–Madison and other Big Ten schools make USC and UCLA terrific new members.”

Read the full Big Ten Conference announcement.