Dan Lanning highlights Oregon’s value of joining the Big Ten Conference

Oregon didn’t join the Big Ten Conference just for fun or because it was the popular thing to do.

Dan Lanning made it quite clear that joining the Big Ten was going to help out in recruiting, and exposure, and make it an easier time for players to play closer to home, especially for those not from the Pacific Northwest or even California. He said this is the future of Oregon football.

“Just having a clear vision of our future. Obviously, this is the premier league in college football, and getting to be a part of that — a part of some of those storied traditions — getting to play some of those teams that are in our future, I’m really excited about going to some venues that we haven’t experienced,” Lanning said at Big Ten Media Days on Thursday.

“It also gives us an opportunity. We’ve always been a team that’s recruited nationally, but it’s certainly made our footprint stronger here in the midwest, whether it’s states in this area that we haven’t tapped into as much, it’s given us the opportunity to recruit those states. Now having some of those games played in venues that are closer to players that we’re recruiting certainly helps.”

The Ducks will be visiting Purdue, Michigan and Wisconsin this season in conference play, smack dab in the middle of the Midwest where recruiting is becoming as strong as the South, California or Florida. Getting a football in that section of the country can only help the Ducks in the future.

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