USC, UCLA Reportedly Planning to Leave (and totally neuter) the Pac-12 for the media rights-rich Big Ten by 2024
B/R — The next big domino in college football realignment might be about to fall.
Jon Wilner of the Mercury News reported Thursday that USC and UCLA are planning to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten as early as 2024.
Key point — the schools have yet to finalize their departures. It’s a negotiation.
The Big Ten has not expanded since Rutgers and Maryland joined in 2014.
This from SI’s Ross Dellenger — “A stunning but not all that surprising move: Teams are jockeying to get into the top two leagues of FBS – the SEC and B1G…”
Stunning but not all that surprising? That’s an interesting linguistic oxymoron.
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Twenty years ago, SC would have left the PAC and gone independent—given the back of the hand treatment our university got from the rest of the conference. In current times going to a major sport appreciating conference like the BIG10 is a better move for the Trojans. I just saw on a crawler on ESPN that perhaps ND will join a conference full-time….
Question, will UCLA become Indiana West in the new Big XX? No football, all basketball!
To the traditionalists out there, and I love tradition as much as anyone, times change you have to change with the times. ND and USC no longer spend weeks on a train getting to their game and back. College athletes are free agents and can have agents. College athletes have the potential to make millions before the Pros, all legal. The bowls are about the 2 semis and the NCG, all the others are side shows. Hopefully an expanded play offs makes more bowl games relevant. In a couple years we may have the NFL, a College Super League (NFL… Read more »
Adapt or die. USC adapted and in flying colors.
Sad for some discarded traditions and yearly match-ups, but I’m very proud of what USC has done today. We claimed our rightful spot among the elite of CFB, and this move assures USC’s powerful future in CFB.
I wonder what ND thinks of this? Their independent status and ACC connections look a little dimmer now IMO.
The last teams to leave the conference were Idaho and Montana.
My suggestion to the Rose Bowl……….About 2-3 years from now make a contract where every year you have a TOP Team from SEC play a TOP Team from the Big -10 .
You know UCLA will love the huge cash infusion the alliance will bring to it’s cash strapped athletic department. Feel bad, also for the Grandaddy Rose Bowl , and the traditional Bg 10/ PAC 12 alliance.
They can still squeeze a bowl game out of it. A division playoff or something should happen out here. I’m just wondering if I need a long sleeve Trojans shirt added to my wardrobe. This will interesting to see it develop. I’ve been all for USC going independent for years because of the lousy start times and stupid Friday nights in L. A. schedule.
Always have a USC sweatshirt in the closet ready to go.
Amazing loss for the Rose Bowl, unless I’m missing something big here. ⛑
It will still be a New Years 6 bowl and a CFP semi final site, just different conference affiliation. No big loss, just different.
Interesting thought on the Rose Bowl, I wonder if anyone spoke to them in advance or did anyone care about the future of the Rose Bowl.
Frankly, I don’t think anyone involved in this massively impactful, CFB-changing move to the Big Ten gave much thought about Rose Bowl implications.
USC had much bigger fish to fry. Besides, that’s the home field of the little gutties. The Bruins should be happy. Maybe they’ll finally start getting some bigger home game crowds (better games, midwesterners love games out here), and they never play in the actual Rose Bowl game anyways.
Hey you Football Players born-and-raised in California…….I live in NY Metro area and the Big-10 gets a fair amount of something that we get where I live >>>>>> SNOW !……I EXPECT that to NOT affect our win-loss record ……FIGHT ON !!!!!
I love the fact that USC, the big dog in all-important football, led the way here. So much better to be proactive than reactive.
Jon Wilner on Petros and Money now, talking about this
The Big 10 is lucky to have class and prestige added to their conference.I feel a little bad for the new commish. I wonder when he first knew it was a real possibility? Im sure he wouldn’t have taken the job if he knew this ahead of time. If he had been around years ago, instead of Larry Scott, he might have been able to avoid this happening
This is just me ……… But I want/demand that UCLA be in the same division as us !!!!!!
My brain loves this because it is the right thing to do !!!!!………..But the traditionalist in me is experiencing some sadness …… But as ALWAYS Fight On !!!!!
Well said. I feel bad for some Pac-12 schools which will be left behind. How could you not? Lightning has struck, and some schools got burned.
When you are a program that can play ( hopefully ) at a level where you are ranked in AP Top-10 ……..Yes this is a decision that (due to tradition) might of had a degree of difficulty but if you want to make your program better (and get back to the top 10 level) then growing the program should be the priority ……….Fight On !!!!!
Ya, baby!
It is official. Bohn announced it today.
https://usctrojans.com/news/2022/6/30/statement-from-director-of-athletics-mike-bohn-on-uscs-move-to-big-ten-conference.aspx
And I just got my Carol Folt Email fan out to alumni making it official
If this is true, then why the 3-conference alliance? Unless the schools involved here feel the PAC-12 has no real future benefit and want out?
But not so fast…… this is only a rumor and no proof has been declared yet.
I could see Washington and Oregon going to the Big XX as well and the rest of the Pac going to BigYY or Mountain West, maybe rebrand the Mountain West.
I’ve seen a lot of statements from long-standing Big Ten schools about their emphasis on both the athletic as well as academic standing of USC and UCLA.
I’m not sure that ORE fills the academic bill that the Big Ten seeks from all of its members. I wouldn’t mind seeing ORE left behind. That would be fine with me, and also good for USC recruiting.
It’s just amazing what has happened in CFB since Dec. USC hires LR. NIL totally explodes. The Transfer Portal becomes a way of life, with USC living largest.
And now USC suddenly leads the way to the demolition of the Pac-12 (yes, it’s now OFFICIAL!), which was all behind trying to ruin USC football over the Reggie Bush affair. The problem was, without USC, the Pac-12 couldn’t compete nationally in football.
Bye Bye Pac-12. It didn’t have to be this way. Fight On! ✌
Another bonus for USC leaving the Pac-12: the officiating will be much better!
OH MY!!! That makes it worth it right there! No more ticky tacky. 🏈✌
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USC baseball players continue to leave the beleaguered Trojan program through the Portal while Mike Bohn continues to search for a new coach.
Maybe USC’s move to the Big Ten will expand Bohn’s horizons for the baseball program.
unless I am totally wrong, Mike Bohn deserves kudos for helping make the move to the BIG10 a reality. IMHO the move is a big win for football, the athletic department and the school. Football appears to be ascending , hopefully Bohn can resurrect the badeball program as well.
Mike Bohn has made some absolutely huge things happen at USC. Carol Folt, once viewed by some as an enemy of Trojan football, has proven to have hired a very capable AD who has also been delegated the power to get things done quickly.
I think USC after going through Mike Garrett, Pat Haden, and Lynn Swann is way overdue for a good AD. I personally never thought any of them were any good. Garrett got lucky with PC, and Bohn got lucky with LR. Now we will see how good Bohn is without Sosna.
She is still turning the university away from its entrepreneurial, private enterprise past and pushed it further down the woke path. I guess it was inevitable that the commie politics of California would eventually stain USC😩
Reports Zion Branch has injured himself in summer workouts and could possibly miss 2022 season.
LR tweeted out the injury confirmation this morning.
I’m just a little shocked that this is the first we’ve even heard of this possibility being serious. How is it that a Supreme Court draft gets leaked ahead of time and this isn’t? It was so far down the road before anybody got a sniff.
Something this huge must have been percolating for quite a while. Good point about the amazing secrecy that has been in place. OCR — “Perhaps the most painful part is for those still clinging to the college football of old, with regional rivalries and traditions. After the 2023 season, who knows when the next time USC plays its old rival Stanford? UCLA and Cal, both members of the UC system, are headed for a divorce. “New rivalries in the Big Ten will surely form. An annual series between UCLA and Indiana in men’s basketball is a blue-blood dream, as are… Read more »
This has been talked around for a few years in different circles but it always seemed like idle chit chat. Something to fill the dead air time. As it stands right now there isn’t enough air time to get it all talked about. ESPNU radio has been going nuts since about 10am this morning.
I’m just too much of a traditionalist and not as much a realist. I’ll go kicking and screaming like I always do, then accept and get on board. It’s just something I didn’t think I would ever see
It sure creates a lot of questions. Schedules, divisions, out of conference games, travel, tv schedules, upper tier/lower tier, how many commissioners, and who is in charge.
I thought we were supposed to wait until July 4 for these?
More bad news for CAL and STAN?
Bleacher Report — “A source told Brett McMurphy of the Action Network that the Big Ten may not settle at 16 teams after adding UCLA and USC.
“In addition, the Big 12 could add Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado alongside the quartet of recently announced members (BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF) to get to 16 teams as well, per McMurphy…”
What makes sense is to have both conferences merge into a super conference, minus the least attractive members and just have Two West / Midwest divisions and rename the conference. 16-20 teams.
This post indicates the way sports is heading.
Money is king and it is dog eat dog.
But the PAC12 laid USC out to hang with zero support in Bush case.
Now the Bush case for small rent is nothing compared to the MILLIONS
players now receive to sign.
Such is justice served.
C. Cowherd mentioned a few weeks ago that he knew of a bombshell that he could not elaborate on, but that would go public within the next few months. I wonder now if this is what he was referring to. I’m all for it. I have no fear that we can not only compete in the BIG10/12/14/16, but that we can in short order perennially be at the top. Although to stay the course and dominate the P12 is tempting, being in the BIGxx won’t hurt our inclusion in the playoffs once they expand it. As we know, when we… Read more »
Remember when the entire Pac-12 jealously celebrated USC getting dogged by the NCAA over Reggie Bush?
Now, the Pac-12 teeters on utter oblivion, in part because the Pac-12 could never regain its football footing once USC was brutally hamstrung with unfair sanctions.
What goes around comes around.
Yep, and they all can eat cake and watch themselves fade into obscurity while USC ascends back to being a national power.
I’ll also add to my comments above about the move helping recruiting, I’ll double down on that opinion in that this should really lock up all those kids from the west coast who want to play in the eastern “big boy” conferences to get the competition and exposure, but really would prefer staying on the west coast, and this is especially true if OR and WA do not get invited to the BIGxx. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if some their recent commits back-pedal out of their commitments, or hit the portal as soon as they can. Really, other… Read more »
Can’t wait to see what the two Divisions of the new Big Ten will look like. Will USC and UCLA be in the same one?
it sounds like Big 10 is trying to grab Oregon and Washington. Also in the scramble the Arizona schools, Utah, and Colorado are being courted by big 12.
well pac 12, you had a good run.
If the PAC-12 dissolves, so be it. It never cared to support & promote football like the other power five conferences.
Agreed. The “Conference of Champions” forgot how to play football and thumbed their noses at those who urged them (and that imbecile Larry Scott) to get with the program. Now the Pac-12 looks a lot more like the Wac-8, if that. Amazing.
I can’t help but wonder what the ORE Ducks and super benefactor Phil Knight are thinking. I don’t think Knight can buy his way out of this dilemma.
Ha!
LAT — “USC and UCLA are leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten Conference, multiple sources confirmed to the Los Angeles Times on Thursday morning. “The schools are aiming to leave as early as 2024 and the migration is expected to include all sports except beach volleyball, men’s volleyball and men’s and women’s water polo, sources told The Times. The sources were not authorized to speak publicly about the deal. “USC’s struggles to find stability in the aftermath of Pete Carroll’s departure and NCAA sanctions have hurt the conference’s competitiveness nationally. But now the Trojans appear to be taking a step out on… Read more »
More from Jon Wilner on this huge development first reported today: On3.com — “To me, it is clear — and this is just my own opinion — it is clear that Fox is behind this move,” Wilner said. “I think it is reasonable to presume this is Fox’s counterweight to ESPN getting the SEC with Texas and Oklahoma. Now, you’ve got two 16-team leagues and the two conferences have both scooped up the four universities that were really going to bring value, right? USC and UCLA bring value because of LA and USC’s tradition and UCLA basketball. Texas and Oklahoma,… Read more »
So Fox and ESPN get to decide the fate of the landscape of College athletics? Over a hundred years of history and tradition and this is the only way to succeed? How many prime time TV spots and exposure to go around? And if your worth diminishes overtime due to factors that may or may not be part of a school’s control, do you get demoted like soccer and are never to be seen on TV or promoted until you prove yourself media-wise? Basically the West Coast isn’t going to be relevant Major College sports-wise. I understand change can be… Read more »
This is great for competition, money, and recruiting. Why not come play for USC in the sunshine and play the Big10 schedule. I have always hated tOSU and Michigan, so this just makes it even better. We may not be up to their standard this season, but we have till 2024 to be in play. I can see now where LR can recruit the big guys now with the promise of national exposure to the top competition. Sad to see some old traditions fall by the wayside.
Given the lackluster performance of the PAC 10 Channel, who could blame them? Throw in the fact that division play is out the window for the PAC 12 championship and national exposure is necessary in the NIL era and looks like a smart move. Imagine having the best record in the division but losing in the rain at South Bend by a field goal and having a team with a better record (that you didn’t play) going to the championship because they beat PCC, Oxidental and Mt. Sac. Facebook and Scott Wolf are also reporting this so it has to… Read more »
Pete Thamel @PeteThamel
“Spoke to a few sources who called USC and UCLA’s move to the Big Ten a formality, with a press conference expected in the next 24 hours. Perhaps as soon as tonight. This is essentially done.”
If true, I’m looking forward to it. We may get crushed a bit for a while, but I still like it for us. The competition will be great. #FTFO
Welcome aboard! ’69 was a great year. I’ll always remember it for the absolutely wild 14-12 win over UCLA which I was lucky enough to see in person. I was seated low and in the end zone corner right in front of the winning TD catch, with a couple of high school friends. It seemed very dark. No way could I tell if Dickerson was really in bounds when he caught Jimmy Jones’ 32-yd strike. But I sure liked the ref’s call!
My guess is this is just another domino falling on the way to a super league made up of the top 40 to 50 teams
I wonder who else from the Pac-12 will be in the Super League? I’d hate to see some of USC’s longtime rivals left behind. We’re talking scramble city here. What a sudden earthquake for the Pac-12 to wake up to. Fortunately for USC, it’ll never be left behind.
Cal has a fault line running down the middle of Memorial Stadium.
🐻