![]() It really feels like they get to leave Oregon (the other real West Coast recruiting power) behind. Somehow it’s still shocking when it happens.”Īdded a Pac-12 coach: “This doesn’t just feel like USC leaving the Pac-12 behind for more money. “It happened exactly as everyone knew it would. One Pac-12 source said USC’s move felt “obvious” given how much change was forthcoming between 2023-25, when media contracts were being renegotiated, as was the College Football Playoff contract. Bruce Feldman What’s the word in the Pac-12 after the initial shockwaves? The financial resources that would come from joining the Big Ten, as well as competing against bigger brands, also figured to add to the atmosphere around UCLA sports - something the school got a taste of last year when LSU visited the Rose Bowl on a night that probably had more juice for a UCLA home game in years. It only made the football and ticket market that much more competitive. Two new NFL teams (the Chargers and Rams) settling in Los Angeles in recent years didn’t help, either. “The ground was shifting and we needed stability,” Jarmond told The Athletic. It was also no secret the gap between the Big Ten and SEC and the rest was about to widen further with the next round of TV deals. That huge financial hit in the wake of the pandemic perhaps made UCLA leadership more receptive to making such a big move given their sense of urgency. The biggest issue facing the former Ohio State and Michigan State assistant AD? Trying to keep the athletic department whole, and ensuring that none of its sports were eliminated or vulnerable. When Martin Jarmond took over as athletic director in 2020, the Bruins’ athletic department was already in a deep financial hole, and that was before COVID-19 caused an additional $62 million deficit. Why rush anything for schools you know don’t have better options on the table? - Nicole Auerbach Why did UCLA make the leap to the Big Ten? The Big Ten holds all the cards, and it knows that. (A source told Stewart Mandel that further consolidation into the top 24-32 programs breaking off was “inevitable now.”) If college sports is moving toward an era of superconferences, every prominent school will want to join either the Big Ten or the SEC. Of course this conference can afford to be patient. schools are locked in as Warren works through the final weeks (months?) of the Big Ten’s monster media rights negotiations. And this makes sense, especially now that the L.A. The conference got the two members it felt brought the most value - money, tradition, TV markets - and opted to stop there for the time being. If the Big Ten had wanted to add more than just USC and UCLA in this week’s round of expansion, it would have. We know now that the Big Ten has an expansion committee it used to evaluate USC and UCLA as potential members, so the league already has what it needs to in place to appraise whoever reaches out with interest in joining - and, according to sources, multiple schools have already done just that. This isn’t the time for a knee-jerk reaction, particularly when you are the conference that changed the landscape of college sports overnight. But Notre Dame stands alone, an obvious slam-dunk for any conference. Everyone else? Well, it’s worth crunching the numbers and digging into the pros and cons to make sure any potential addition brings enough value to the league.
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