EVAN BLAND Omaha World-Herald
USC and UCLA are officially set to join the Big Ten Conference beginning with the 2024-25 season, marking perhaps the most seismic and historic shift yet among the ever-changing landscape of college athletics.
The shocking news broke publicly within about seven hours Thursday, when the Pac-12 Conference’s two top schools went from reported interest in switching leagues to each school and league officially acknowledging their future destinations by the end of the West’s opening hours. shore.
UCLA running back Zach Charbonnet (24) runs the ball in for a touchdown as Southern California defensive end Jacob Lichtenstein (97) tries to stop him during the second half of the team’s 2021 game.
Associated Press file photo
The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously to accept the membership application from each school Thursday night. And while the news sent shockwaves through college sports, national reports indicate — and the Big Ten confirmed — the move has been brewing behind the scenes for weeks.
One source told The Athletic that each school was asked two weeks ago to conduct a feasibility study on adding USC and UCLA.
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The Big Ten now joins the SEC as a 16-team league with only a true national footprint from the Jersey Shore to Malibu Beach. The Los Angeles-based schools will bring with them all the sports the Big Ten operates when they become full members on Aug. 2, 2024.
“Ultimately, the Big Ten is the best home for USC and Trojan athletics as we move into the new world of college sports,” USC athletic director Mike Bohn said in a release. “We are thrilled that our values are aligned with the league’s member institutions.”
USC and UCLA have reportedly approached the Big Ten with a desire to join and become the first new schools to the league since Rutgers and Maryland were added in 2014 and Nebraska in 2011 during the early stages of realignment at the conference. The move is also seen as a response to the SEC pulling Texas and Oklahoma out of the Big 12 conference last summer and another step closer to the SEC and Big Ten separating financially and as a full membership from everyone else, including their other Power Five peers.
The additions are likely also why the Big Ten has yet to announce its plan to keep or eliminate football divisions, while other leagues, including the Pac-12 and ACC, have already dropped them.
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Meanwhile, the conference remains in the midst of negotiating its television rights deal with Fox and others, with previous estimates that it will earn about $1 billion in the next round of contracts. This figure is sure to grow even more with the addition of another major media market in Los Angeles and two renowned universities. According to a report by Sports Business Journal, Apple has already reached out asking to start negotiations again.
Such financial stability will be a boon for newcomers. The LA Times reported in January that UCLA’s athletic department took a $62.5 million loss for the 2021 fiscal year.
“While this move increases travel distances for teams, the resources offered by Big Ten membership can allow for more efficient transportation options,” UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and Athletic Director Martin Jarmond said in a statement.
In theory, the transition could be relatively smooth for USC and UCLA, as their grant of rights is tied to the Pac-12’s current television deal, which expires after the 2023-24 school year.
Multiple reports also indicate that Big Ten expansion may not be over. Would fellow Pac-12 members like Washington and Oregon also have the option to switch leagues? What about other holdovers from this conference like Stanford?
Notre Dame — a longtime Big Ten underdog — could once again be in the running to join a football conference. The Irish and their contract with NBC runs through at least 2025 in a deal reportedly worth $15 million a year. If NBC is part of the Big Ten’s new media rights deal moving forward, it could potentially help bridge the longstanding rift between the league and the school.
“It’s really unsustainable to be independent now,” a source told ESPN.
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The Pac-12’s two additions are themselves watershed moments in the 126-year history of the Big Ten, originally known as the Western Intercollegiate Conference, and are sending ripple effects throughout the league.
For Nebraska, the decision moves it from the western edge of the conference to the geographic center. Husker administrators released a statement Thursday night welcoming the Bruins and Trojans.
“This is an exciting and historic day for the Big Ten Conference and the University of Nebraska,” Chancellor Ronnie Green and Athletic Director Trev Alberts said in a joint statement. “Adding UCLA and USC to the Big Ten is a bold, ambitious step during a historic shift in the collegiate athletic landscape. These institutions will add two world-class athletic departments and brands to the Big Ten and expand the Conference’s footprint from coast to coast.”
The statement also cited NU’s large base of California alumni who can watch games and the state’s history of recruiting success.
“There are many positives for the University of Nebraska associated with this expansion,” the statement said. “UNL has a large alumni base in California that will have a great opportunity to watch our teams compete at historic Southern California athletic venues on a regular basis. Nebraska has a history of success in recruiting athletes from California, and this will only enhance Nebraska’s profile in fertile recruiting ground. We welcome UCLA and USC to the Big Ten Conference and look forward to competing with them in the future.”
The next move for the Pac-12 remains unclear. It could try to add current or future members of the Big 12, including BYU, or try to stay. The conference has been part of the so-called “Alliance” with the Big Ten and the ACC for the past year.
This partnership, for all intents and purposes, has now ceased to exist.
The Pac-12 said, “While we are extremely surprised and disappointed by the news coming from UCLA and USC today, we have a long and storied history in athletics, academics and leadership in supporting student-athletes that we are confident will continue to flourish and grow in the future.”
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Northwest Wildcats
When: 11:30 am, August 27
Where: Dublin, Ireland
2021 record: 3-9, 1-8 Big Ten
Nebraska record vs.: 9-6
Last meeting: Nebraska won 56-7 (Oct. 2, 2021)
North Dakota Fighting Hawks
When: 2:30 p.m., September 3
Where: Lincoln, Nebraska
2021 Record: 5-6, 3-5 Missouri Valley
Nebraska record vs: 1-0
Last Meeting: Nebraska won 33-0 (September 23, 1961)
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