Report: UCLA and USC Looking to Join Big 10
The Bruins find themselves in the middle of a cataclysmic shift in college sports.
Good afternoon from Big Ten country!
As first reported by Jon Wilner, UCLA and USC are looking to leave the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten conference as early as 2024. Other national sportswriters quickly confirmed the accuracy, including Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated and Nicole Auerbach of the Athletic. Putting together some information:
Auerbach reported that Big Ten officials had a meeting last night and were not talkative afterward. Reportedly, that’s when they were informed of the intentions of both LA schools.
Pete Thamel of ESPN reported two things. First, obviously, finances were the biggest factor, as the gulf between projected revenues between the two conferences is massive. Second is that UCLA was the biggest obstacle, as a move would be a conscious decoupling from the UC system (specifically UC Berkeley), but the Bruins were able to get over that.
Bruce Feldman reported that this was UCLA and USC reaching out to the Big Ten. Interesting to note both schools are working together here.
Stewart Mandel pointed out that Fox would be a big driving factor behind the move. Fox is already in bed with the Big Ten, and is based out of LA.
This is a seismic shift in the college sports landscape, to be sure. Let’s start with one point that this deal is not official yet by any means. The leak of this news could be part of negotiations between the two LA schools and the Pac-12 Conference to try and increase the amount of money that those two schools receive (as a reminder: all schools share revenue equally in the Pac-12, which has been a sticking point for the LA schools which primarily drive that revenue).
That said…
Thamel reporting this is essentially a done deal is a pretty good sign that both UCLA and USC looked at the Pac-12 and decided that they needed to leave in order to secure the future of their sports, which makes sense. Anyone paying attention to the college sports landscape in recent years would recognize that this was a smart, bold move to position UCLA to not only survive, but thrive in this new landscape, as they would now have the money to not only compete at the highest level, but to theoretically comply with any potential new future moves to, for example, pay players officially.
There are questions that need to be answered still. Reports are that all sports will be moving to the Big Ten, and the new increase in revenue means those sports will be funded, but it does lead to logistical questions regarding travel. That should not be a huge deal, though it has led to a lot of national media to speculate that two more schools will join in on the move, either the two Bay Area schools or Washington and Oregon.
But will come with time. Right now, I have to credit athletic director Martin Jarmond and Chancellor Gene Block for recognizing how things are trending and being bold enough to make a move.
Go Bruins!
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I hate the Big 10…that said why not just have one league where all the big players get to go, call it the National College Football League. Because that’s really what College Football has become, an NFL farm league right? Talk about revenue…
The number 1 casualty of this? We no longer get to hear Walton rave about the Conference of Champions during UCLA games.