USC and UCLA to the Big Ten by 2024?

[adoraz]

Source: USC and UCLA are planning to leave for the Big Ten as early as 2024. Move *has not been finalized* at the highest levels of power.

https://twitter.com/wilnerhotline/statu ... CDShQ&s=19

Time to bring back the Gonzaga rumors?

[Husky_U]

Time to bring back the Gonzaga rumors?

And Kansas (after the PAC raids the Big 12 and the Jayhawks are stuck in the AAC 2.0).

[kayako]

Time to bring back the Gonzaga rumors?

And Kansas (after the PAC raids the Big 12 and the Jayhawks are stuck in the AAC 2.0).

Yeah, if anything this may halt Gonzaga conversations.

[billyjack]

Wow, crazy. Shouldn't the B1G just also grab Cal and Stanford, going to 18. And maybe Oregon and Washington for 20 ?

Pac-12 can't survive having no teams in L.A., can they?

[Jet915]

Just crazy, obviously the SEC and B1G are gonna be the 2 mega conferences. minus well add Gonzaga, Dayton and SLU now....lol. Maybe see who gets poached from the BigXII.

[billyjack]

Back in late 2012, the C7+3 had one scenario where we'd become a nationwide conference by heading to the west coast, right?

[ArmyVet]

What an I missing in this? Why does this make sense now?

[ArmyVet]

What an I missing in this? Why does this make sense now?

Answer to my own question:

The reason this move would be less disruptive than potential moves in the ACC is that USC and UCLA have a grant of rights tied to the current Pac-12 television contract, which expires after the 2023 football season and 2023-24 school year. That's why the expectation is that both schools can go to the league for the 2024-25 season and not suffer any financial penalty.

Pac-12 officials had been nudging both Los Angeles schools for years to extend the grant of rights. The fact that they didn't hinted that they had greater ambition.

"We just got Sooner'd and Horn'd," a high-ranking university official at one of the Pac-12 schools told ESPN, referring to the decision made last year by Texas and Oklahoma to leave the Big 12 conference for the SEC.

[GoldenWarrior11]

I am utterly shocked (even more so than by last summer's Texas/Oklahoma news to the SEC). I have long thought that a BIG-PAC raid was inevitable, but I always thought that it would come after an ACC raid; alas, to quote Bob Dylan, "The Times They Are A-Changin'". The B1G (and the SEC) are not done. More consolidation will occur, and the Mega 2 will continue to increase television revenues and exclusivity. The Big Ten is certainly on the phone right now with Oregon, Washington, Stanford and California as well, with Arizona and Colorado on Line-2. They will look to create a Western Division, with an endgame of probably ~24 schools broken into a few divisions/pods. Heck, the B1G Championship might inevitably become the Rose Bowl Game itself, whose champion could face off against the Sugar Bowl Champion in the new Division 1 Championship Game (host to be determined/bid-on). If you don't think Notre Dame will want to join this exclusive national high academic/athletic conference, under a similar ACC-type arrangement, guess again.

The SEC will patiently wait to gobble-up the left-overs from the ACC, also moving to ~24 teams as well. I'd imagine they'll seek North Carolina, Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, NC State, Virginia Tech.

As to the Big East, now more than ever, I am incredibly confident that we will get a Kansas, a Syracuse, etc. to complete the league for the next decade. The Northeastern ACC schools (Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Boston College) are living on borrowed time and will soon be in the same position as the schools they left in: all alone during a thunderstorm with no shelter in sight. It will be fascinating to see how the Big East schools treat or engage those programs, if/when they come looking for a home.

[Husky_U]

John Canzano
@johncanzanobft

Big Ten isn't close to done. Keep an eye on Washington, Oregon, Stanford and Cal. (Maybe Utah/Colorado.)

I mentioned those for a reason.

Also, source says this is all FOX driven: "They made this happen. No way UCLA or USC reached out first."

4:27 PM · Jun 30, 2022

Hmmmmmmm