USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins Reportedly Considering Move to Big Ten
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In an absolutely shocking development to the college sports universe, USC and UCLA are deep in discussions to leave the Pac-12 in favor of the Big Ten conference as soon as 2024, according to Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News.
USC and UCLA have been members of the Pac-12 for nearly a century, but that seems likely to change soon in a move that would surely have a massive domino effect on the rest of the Pac-12 members and potentially other conferences.
Make no mistake, this is a move for increased revenues and money for the two LA institutions as the Big Ten and SEC have blown away the other conferences in terms of revenue the past decade and the gap is likely only to get bigger in the future.
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The Pac-12 will assuredly not go down without a fight here, as most notably the University of California system will not be happy about UCLA’s plans to leave behind fellow member school Cal-Berkley. USC being a private institution has more leverage to do what they want, however it might not be in its best interest to leave without a partner.
From Oregon’s point of view, I’m sure athletic director Rob Mullens and university president Michael Schill are working the phones hard today to figure out the full scope of the situation and find the best routes to keep Oregon athletics competitive.
If USC and UCLA do end up leaving, the soon to be Pac-10 would not be a viable conference in terms of revenue to stay competitive with the Big Ten and SEC. Oregon could consider teaming up with their heated rivals in Washington to see if the Big Ten would be interested in taking the two pacific northwest brands into their league as well.
Though once again, the state governments in Oregon and Washington would not like splitting Oregon and Oregon State and Washington and Washington State. Another option could be seeing a merger with the Pac-12 and Big 12, creating one huge conference that might at least stay competitive with the big boys.
Anyway you slice it this is a 10.0 Richter scale shake up for the Pac-12 Conference and every member in it. We are on day one in what is sure to be another crazy summer of rumors and realignment. But for now it seems a conference that was founded over a century ago, dubbed “The Conference of Champions”, could be on the verge of collapse.
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