UCLA and the University of Southern California, two of the best-known powers of school sports activities, will leave their century-old affiliation with the Pac-12 Conference in a seismic shift to the Big Ten, the colleges introduced Thursday.
The beautiful announcement signifies that by the fall of 2024, the Big Ten, headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois, can have member colleges as far west as Los Angeles and as far east as Piscataway, New Jersey, and College Park, Maryland.
USC and UCLA confirmed the transfer in separate statements Thursday, acknowledging their lengthy histories in the Pac-12, in addition to the alternatives the Big Ten presents student-athletes. And with each colleges shifting conferences, the crosstown rivalry will stay intact.
“Additionally, it means enhanced resources for all of our teams, from academic support to mental health and wellness,” UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Black and Athletics Director Martin Jarmond stated in a press release. “And although this move increases travel distances for teams, the resources offered by Big Ten membership may allow for more efficient transportation options.”
For followers, UCLA stated, the shift will translate to raised TV time slots for highway video games.
The Big Ten additionally presents extra visibility, publicity and sources, in addition to the “stability and strength of the conference,” USC Athletics Director Mike Bohn stated in a press release.
Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren stated that USC and UCLA submitted functions for membership and that the league’s Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously so as to add the colleges.
They will be a part of the convention at the begin of the 2024-25 season.
It’s the most jarring growth but in the radical realignment of main school sports activities, which has led to different geographically challenged affiliations, pushed by income from TV rights to soccer.
The Southeastern Conference, primarily based in Birmingham, Alabama, now goes as far north as Columbia, Missouri, and by 2025 it will likely be as far west as Austin, Texas.
The Big 12 Conference, headquartered in Irving, Texas, which has a protracted affiliation with the Great Plains, will stretch west to Provo, Utah, and as far south and east as Orlando, Florida, by 2023.
The USC and UCLA defections are a crushing blow to the San Francisco-based Pac-12, which was fashioned as the Pacific Coast Conference in late 1915 by the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University).
In a press release, the Pac-12 stated it was “extraordinarily stunned and disillusioned” by the decision.
“We’ve long been known as the Conference of Champions, and we’re unwavering in our commitment to extend that title,” the statement said. “We will continue to develop new and innovative programs that directly benefit our member institutions, and we look forward to partnering with current and potential members to pioneer the future of college athletics together.”
USC joined the league in 1922 and UCLA in 1928, and the Pac-12 now also includes Washington State, Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.
The Associated Press contributed.
