The college sports world was put into complete shock on Thursday, when both USC and UCLA announced they would be leaving the Pac 12 for the Big Ten, starting in the 2024 season. This move comes just about a year after Texas and Oklahoma announced that they would be leaving the Big XII for the SEC. The USC Trojans have been playing in the Pac 12 Conference since 1959, playing against some of their conference rivals for even longer. Despite it being clear a long time ago, that college sports is currently a minor league for the pros, these rivalries based on geographic location are a big part of why so many people are invented in the sport. There are many Missouri fans who have not enjoyed the team’s move to the SEC in 2013, despite the fact that their athletic department gained more money in the process. Missouri joined the SEC because the conference wanted to expand their “footprint” into a new media market and from Missouri’s perspective, the SEC TV Contract was too appealing to turn down. With that being said, Mizzou fans got to engage in daily conversation with Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State fans spread out throughout the area. The new teams that Missouri plays every year just don’t have any historical significance or connection to the program’s past which doesn’t necessarily make their games appealing, especially when they aren’t performing.

The announcement by UCLA and USC also made the term “Super Conference” in college sports a reality. It has been clear for a while now, that everyone is chasing the SEC in College Football, as it has felt like the equivalent of “NFL-Lite.” The Southeastern conference has won 11 of the last 17 National Championships, including each of the last three. The additions of Oklahoma and Texas are only going to make the conference better, while increasing the value of the TV contract. A lot of people have determined that with these moves, it won’t be too long until the Big Ten and SEC are similar to the AFC and NFC in the NFL, and college sports will look much different going forward. Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the SEC was one thing, considering they are not too far from the SEC geographically and we have seen somewhat similar moves made. The LA schools however, were unprecedented and one that no one saw coming. This move signals that geography and the historic premise of a lot of these classic rivalries just simply aren’t valued anymore and the Pac 12 is going to have to do whatever it takes to keep relevance after losing their top 2 brands.  For a conference like the Big Ten who is trying to catch up, adding two brands like UCLA and USC, while expanding into the Los Angeles market is a no brainer.

Many people were surprised that UCLA and USC were the ones that approached the Big Ten about joining and not the opposite, considering how long the two LA schools have been competing in the Pac 12. Part of the biggest reason why this decision was made, is due to the fact that the Pac 12 has really fallen behind in years past. The conference has only made the College Football Playoff twice since its inception in 2014, and haven’t had a team quality for the playoff since Washington in 2016. The somewhat ironic thing about this, is that UCLA and USC have both disappointed in football during that span, but considering the market and brand of the LA schools, it doesn’t feel like it was that hard of a decision. From just being a member of the Big Ten and not doing much else on the field, programs like Rutgers and Northwestern we’re bringing in more revenue as members of the Big Ten, than the Los Angeles schools we’re in the Pac 12. That is because the Big Ten’s television contract was just valued more thanks to Fox, and that number is only going to increase in 2024.

Part of what makes the USC and UCLA move to the Big 10 so complicated, is the reality that all decisions in College sports are made for the best interest of football because that is the sport that brings in the most revenue. With the likely reality of “Super Conferences” coming, what does that mean for the future of the NCAA Tournament? Part of what makes that event so great, was exactly what we saw this past season with Saint Peters and their miraculous run all the way to the Elite 8 as a #15 seed. Part of what makes College Basketball so great, is that no matter what conference you’re in or how big or small your school is, there is always a direct path for you to the NCAA Tournament. In College Football, a team can go undefeated like UCF or Cincinnati in years past, but never get a realistic path at a National Title, which is all these teams want. College Basketball is understandably a much more wide open sport than College Football in terms of the number of teams good enough to win it all and cause havoc, which is why the sports need to be governed knowing what is best for each individually, but that hasn’t been the case.

Starting in 2020, when College sports lost out on a ton of their normal revenue share with empty stadiums, I have always been curious to see how they would respond to try to make some of that money back. Conferences going after some of the biggest brands in the sport during realignment is the first domino to fall, with surely a bunch more coming. The Big XII did a solid job after losing Oklahoma and Texas, bringing in schools like UCF, BYU, Houston and Cincinnati who have been pretty successful at their previous stops. Houston just made the Final 4 in basketball, with UCF, Cincinnati and BYU all seeing recent success on the gridiron. As of now, the Pac 12 has kept Oregon and Washington, which were rumored to be the other schools that the Big Ten had some interest in going after and provide some valuable name brand and revenue. Notre Dame is going to be the other school that the Big Ten could go after, and the time might not be better for them to make the move. The Irish are the only program in College sports with their own television contract with NBC, which only nets them about 15 million dollars per year.

With realignment not officially setting in until a few years, we will have some time for it to officially set in, with the future of College Football focused on the best of the best. Not that it hasn’t been for a few years now, but there is a realistic scenario that there will not be any relevant College Football being played in the Bay Area, with academic powerhouses Cal and Stanford likely to be left behind. Despite all of the money and revenue being made elsewhere, is that really the best thing for College Football?

We are currently seeing an unprecedented change that is going to change College Sports and what we have known them to be forever. There can be some benefits, but College Football was never designed to be the “lite” version of the NFL. Part of what makes College sports so great is the pageantry and rivalry you have with other schools that are based in a similar geographical location. In a lot of cases that is going to be gone, which makes the overall consumption of the sport less enjoyable. Change is something that happens and sometimes people are afraid, when in reality it is the best thing to happen. While that ultimately might be the case here, moving away from some of the things that have made college sports so great for a long time. 

Zachary Krull
Zachary Krull

Zac Krull has covered College Basketball for the last 2 years while working with Aaron Torres of Aaron Torres Media and recording his own Zac Krull Sports Podcast. Currently, Zac is writing as a contributor for Aaron Torres online with weekly articles and working as a producer for the BETQL Network. Zac graduated from SUNY Cortland in 2021 with a degree in Sports Studies.

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