Is the success of USC and UCLA bad for the Pac-12's future?

The Pac-12 was absolutely blindsided a few months ago by a decision that had reportedly been in the works for a while.

USC and UCLA had been conniving behind the scenes to leave the conference for a move to the Big Ten, with reports even saying that USC's president shut down the idea for the Pac-12 to expand. That's right, the Pac-12 had a prime opportunity to do what both the Big Ten and SEC have done, which is add more teams. There were a handful of Big 12 teams reaching out with interest in leaving what appeared to be a sinking ship of the Big 12, but USC's Carol Folt shut down the talks in what now looks like a premeditated move to help fast track the death of the Pac-12.

Not only did the Pac-12 miss out on adding some reputable brands, they lost their two biggest ones. Now, the conference is in the middle of negotiating a new media rights deal with 10 schools, and their best chance at expansion are Group of Five schools that don't compare in the value that they have lost. Any leverage the conference once had is out the window, and they are now in survival mode.

To make matters worse, going based off the current state of how the season is going, it appears that when USC and UCLA depart for the 2024 season, they will do so at or at least near the top. As it stands right now, the Pac-12 runs through Los Angeles with No. 6 USC and No. 11 UCLA being the top two teams. Similar to the situation that the Big 12 is in with Texas and Oklahoma departing for the SEC, while the conferences won't ever publicly admit it, the last thing they want or can have happen is one of these schools dominate the conference prior to their departure.

This hurts the Pac-12 especially because like I previously mentioned, they are on the quest for a new media rights deal, which surely a major part of their pitch was even without the two Los Angeles schools they have value. It's not to say that the remaining Pac-12 schools don't offer value or appeal, but not a single program in the conference possesses the appeal of USC when they are dominant. USC is in that group of Texas, Miami, and Nebraska of programs that when they are good, they can run college football.

Now a lot of the blame for the departure and current state of the conference should be placed on former Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott, but the conference is stuck having to deal with the remains of his time in power. What the Pac-12 really needs is for a program like Oregon, Utah, Washington State, or Washington to not only knock of one of these teams, but win the conference.

If USC or UCLA win the conference within these next couple years, or even worse make the College Football Playoff, it would signify the final and ultimate sign of a "Gotcha" to the Pac-12.