When I heard the news of the impending 2024 jump of the University of Southern California and the University of California-Los Angeles to The Big Ten, I was turning my head sideways.

USC and UCLA in The Big Ten?  Ummmm…aren’t those the guys we hoped to play AGAINST in The Rose Bowl one day?  At first, I didn’t like it.  My ancient Big Ten running roots felt a twinge.  Then suddenly I thought about Rutgers and Maryland.  Uh, last I checked these teams were in The Big Ten too.  USC and UCLA!  Welcome aboard!  I don’t give a rat’s bladder (my apologies to Frank Furillio) if you are in California or not!  Glad to have you!

Look, I have been attending Big Ten football games all my life.  Unfortunately, though I love the place and always will as my season tickets indicate, my allegiance has been to the Indiana Hoosiers Football (I have seen more than 70 FBS schools in person and have yet to see a college basketball game).  Being born in Columbus, Indiana some thirty-six miles to the East of Bloomington via Indiana Highway 46, I ‘m not sure I have had a grand choice.  Some things we are just born into.

I was born into a love of college football when I pushed my way into the world in 1968.  My Dad was a high school coach for a very long time.  That meant when we weren’t going to see The Hoosiers play, we watched college football on televison.  That meant I knew of USC greats Anthony Davis. Ricky Bell, Charles White, Marcus Allen, Anthony Munoz, Lynn Swann, Pat Haden, John Robinson, and so many more.  That meant I knew of UCLA greats Freeman McNeil, Randy Cross, Jerry Robinson, Kenny Easley, Dick Vermeil, Troy Aikman, Ken Norton, Jr, and Carnell Lake.

If asked of my ten all time favorite college football traditions, I would tell you Notre Dame vs. USC and the cross-town rivalry USC vs. UCLA.  If I don’t see both of these games on televison, my football season is not complete.  So, with that said, USC and UCLA can’t make it to the Big Ten fast enough for me.  That is so easy for me to say.  The logistical nightmare that is college football scheduling probably made more than one athletic director throw up their hands.  But guess what? They, like you and I, know that there are probably more to be invited to the Big Ten party eventually.  Why not?

When USC and UCLA do get here in Big Ten country in 2024, I will be able to say I knew you when.

My dear wife, Carrie, and I saw UCLA beat USC 34-27 the last time there was a crowd for this game at The Rose Bowl.  What a game it was.

A couple days before these two kicked off that Saturday, Carrie and I were on the field.

Who knew we were scoping out Big Ten country so long ago?

I can tell you the goal posts in The Rose Bowl are true!

I was 2 for 2 at age 50.  I knew when to quit.

In 2016, I took my Dad to see USC-UCLA at The Rose Bowl.  I think this may be my favorite picture of them all.  Sitting on a floor of carpet in the home of my childhood in Brownstown, Indiana or the family room of the same house where my parents’ reside to this day in Ramsey, Indiana, watching games in this stadium were so important to us.  To see my Dad walk toward to the light of this field was, well, special.  Dreams don’t usually come true.

I still have this game on my DVR.  Sam Darnell was too much for the Bruins.

I suppose I had some affection to the Iowa Hawkeyes that has led me to referring to them as my second favorite team in the Big Ten over the years.  After all, the Hoosiers win over Iowa in 1988 when Chuck Hartlieb completed 44 passes for 558 yards for the losing Hawkeyes is still my favorite Memorial Stadium memory;  Austin Starr hitting that field goal against Purdue to send them bowling in 2007 is in the neighborhood.

I would be remiss if I did not mention Anthony Thompson’s 168 yards rushing on 47 carries in that Iowa game in 1988.  I caught up with AT thirty years later before a game at IU.  The Hoosiers were playing Ohio State.  I asked him if he had any eligibility left.  He told me he didn’t want any.  Smart man, as always.

I took this picture on a new turf that was still being painted (you don’t see any hashmarks).  That this will one day be the BIG 10 logo is something I am still processing.  But it sure is fun.

When the Bruins come calling to Bloomington for the first time or the Trojans come calling for the first time since 1981 when they defeated IU 21-3, I will be able to say, “Welcome.  I knew you when.”

And the Bruins, not the Hawkeyes, will be my second favorite Big Ten team.

Danny Johnson