The Michigan Wolverines have flown under the radar this season. The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Indiana Hoosiers, as Big Ten rivals, have dominated the headlines with their flawless seasons so far. Despite the Wolverines’ muted news coverage, coach Sherrone Moore’s team has a 7-2 record. It sits at No. 19 in the latest PFSN College Football Playoff ranking.
Away from the gridiron, the Big Ten has been exploring various funding options. It emerged that a $2.4 billion, 20-year deal with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), also known as the California Pension Fund, was on the table, including a 10-year extension to 2046 of its Grant of Rights deal. Except for two big schools, the Wolverines and the USC Trojans, are against the agreement.
Analyst Breaks Down Michigan’s $190 Million Gamble
During Wednesday’s segment of the “Chat Sports” show, analyst James Yoder broke down the proposed deal between the conference and the pension fund, further revealing that the Wolverines were entitled to a Tier 1 payment of $190 million, alongside the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions.
“This is not to buy the Big Ten in perpetuity, it’s for the Big Ten enterprises,” Yoder said. “Which is a media deal. This pension fund would inject $2.4 billion today and extend the grant of rights.
“That expires in 2036, so all Big Ten schools could depart and do their own thing. It would extend to 2046. Michigan would be the most favored in this capital infusion. Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State would actually get a much bigger chunk of change than these other schools ($190 million each).”
According to the funding proposal, the Trojans would fall in Tier 2 alongside the Oregon Ducks. They would be entitled to between $140 and $150 million of the capital injection from the California Pension Fund.
Yoder further revealed that the Wolverines’ Board of Regents was pushing back against the deal, which could lock them into the agreement for the foreseeable future in a fast-changing college sports landscape plagued by conference expansion and realignment. The conference’s grant of rights still binds Michigan until 2036, leaving the program little room for maneuver in the matter.
According to a report by “Yahoo Sports” reporter Ross Dellenger, the Big Ten has signaled that a vote will be taken in two weeks to adopt the pension fund capital injection into the conference, despite the resistance by the Wolverines and Trojans. Accordingly, should the two holdouts reject the deal, they might miss out on the capital infusion and even jeopardize their continued membership in the conference.
