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.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Transfer portal is so out of control even the schools are moving.
I would imagine the Pac 12 would either fold and it would become P4 conferences with the rest of the schools dispersing between the Big 12/10
Or they would have Gonzaga and Boise St join which would still be pretty detrimental but one could argue that Boise St was a better football program than both in the past decade and they'd probably be right.
Cannot wait for the Maryland/USC rivalry to begin in football.
I can picture UCLA and USC telling Stanford and Cal to come with them.
I was thinking Oregon/Washington but I could see Stanford.
Feels like Cal is getting left behind in sports. I don't know what those markets are like but Oregon/Wash would give the Big 10 the northeast, the midwest, the PNW and LA.
It official. The Big Ten is also having discussions with other PAC 12 schools. The talks are not as far along
Done deal. USC and UCLA are now part of the Big 10. Looks like Oregon and Washington are next. Hope those western teams pack their hats and mittens! Games in the midwest are still COLD in April!
This will be fun to watch play out. Theres a chance we are left with 3 or 4 super conferences by the end of it all.
I would imagine the other conferences are going to fight for Oregon/Washington. Pac 12 is on life support, if those two leave it's dead.
ACC might be the conference in the most trouble. Their TV deal runs thru 2036 and is the lowest paying of all. It would not surprise me to see schools like Clemson/FSU to leave for the Big 10/SEC, especially if Notre Dame doesn't become a football member.
Prediction: Wash/Oregon join the Big 10. Big 12 picks up Colorado, Utah, Arizona, AzSt. The others (Cal, WashSt, Oregon St) lose power conference status. Stanford gets choice of where they end up. I imagine the ACC renegotiates TV deal. If they don't they lose FSU and Clemson and it becomes a basketball conf.
So weird…
Rumor: Big 12 is pursuing Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.
After some time to think hers how I believe the dust will settle. Keep in mind this is all about football and basketball. This is about money and tv revenue. The PAC12 Network has not been a major success. Think about what happens revenue wise when UCLA and USC bolt. The PAC12 is toast. …
The Big 10 pursues Stanford, Oregon and Washington. Stanford tells the Big Ten they want Cal in as a rival. Cal becomes another Northwestern. This could eventually evolve into a Big Ten West division.
Arizona, ASU, Utah and Colorado go to the Big 12.
Oregon State and Washington State get left out. They join the Big West or Mountain West.
Oregon State is only consistently competitive in baseball. Joining a west coast conference isn’t a bad deal for them. They still have competent competition. They don’t have all the travel of the others leaving the PAC12.
Eventually there’s gonna be just 2 or 3 major conferences. The rest of the schools won’t even be considered “real” D1’s
Remember this is all about football and basketball. Baseball is just along for the ride!
Update: As soon as the news broke Oregon and Washington contacted the Big 10 asking in. They were told the Big 10 is waiting on Notre Dame. Then there will be room for three more teams. I’m thinking Stanford.
TPM;
It will have a major impact on the College World Series qualifying teams. I visualize the use of Minor League Stadiums and wood bats to establish a less than 3 hour time for 9 inning games. It will also "save" the pitcher's arms.
Bob
From another article: Rumblings have begun that Oregon and Washington as well as perhaps Standford and Cal may be next to join the Big Ten.
Wouldn't want to be the Wazzu or OSU athletic director right now.
What do y'all think will happen with the intra-state rivalries in Oregon, Wash., and at least for now Nor Cal? The teams may not be the best but those rivalries are all big deals regionally.
One thing to look at is the Big Ten requires it’s members to be (AAU) Association of American Universities members. The SEC does not require membership. The AAU is a “by invitation only” organization that agrees to uphold certain academic standards. They also have to be research universities.
@smokeminside posted:Wouldn't want to be the Wazzu or OSU athletic director right now.
What do y'all think will happen with the intra-state rivalries in Oregon, Wash., and at least for now Nor Cal? The teams may not be the best but those rivalries are all big deals regionally.
Huge money is on the table. Schools will be willing to walk away from rivalries. Oregon and Washington could start a new rivalry and call it a border war.
Oregon and Washington are AAU members. Oregon State and Washington State are not.
I'm hoping they just break football off and leave other sports intact. Hate this development
Now that is a good idea. All those other sports in the B10 will have to spend time flying all over the country, too, as a result of this move, that's a lot of time and money. They should have one set of conferences for football, and one set for everything else.
@anotherparent posted:Now that is a good idea. All those other sports in the B10 will have to spend time flying all over the country, too, as a result of this move, that's a lot of time and money. They should have one set of conferences for football, and one set for everything else.
This isn’t just about football. There’s also big money in basketball.
Some CUSA members are leaving to join the AAC. This was done to play in a better football/basketball conference and realign its members geographically. They will split into East and West divisions just like SEC, ACC. This is a great move for other sports. The B10 will do the same.
I do believe the B10 is the richest power conference. Money no object.
In all conferences, chartered flights are used for longer distances and I believe that costs are split between school and the conference. Football and basketball get to fly charter most of the time. The other sports, not so much. When flying a team commercially, an equipment bus is sent the day before.
Everything is worked out to be cost and time effective. It's better for the athletes to fly to a farther destination than 15+ hours on a bus.
I’ll miss the rivalries and being tuned into the conference. I won’t miss so many football games starting at 10:30pm Eastern. Chances are with so many Eastern and Central time opponents the west coast games will start by 7pm Eastern. The basketball games will probably start by 9pm.
@RJM posted:Oregon State and Washington State get left out. They join the Big West or Mountain West.
Oregon State is only consistently competitive in baseball. Joining a west coast conference isn’t a bad deal for them. They still have competent competition. They don’t have all the travel of the others leaving the PAC12.
That will be crippling for the universities. Going from $30 million in tv revenue to maybe 5 million is crushing. It also changes everything from top down. Random high school senior who wants to be able to go to fun football/basketball games and tailgates against brand name schools has just lost a ton of interest in both schools. It's hard to get excited about San Jose St coming to town.
The only shot for those two is to get ahead of the chaos and jump ship to the Big 12 - if they'll take them. Or get a prayer group together and hope Oregon/Wash don't leave and they add Boise St, Gonzaga, SDSU. Oregon and Washington have very little to gain from that. Third option is Pac 12 splits with half going to Big 10 West and half going to Big 12 and they get a life raft thrown their way.
A move to a lesser conference will entail massive layoffs and basically restructuring how the school looks at sports. I wonder how it would impact baseball at OSU.
https://duckswire.usatoday.com...per-conference-next/
It's all about football.
Stanford should join the Ivy ;-)
@nycdad posted:Stanford should join the Ivy ;-)
they could open an East Coast campus for athletics...
Yeah, in fact, why even call these sports factories "collleges" at all?
@TPM posted:Remember this is all about football and basketball. Baseball is just along for the ride!
Yep. Baseball is along for the ride as well as many other college sports based on this money grab model. There is no stopping that P5 train that is headed toward P3 or even P2.
But what about the other D1s and other levels? What about the other collegiate sports...baseball, lacrosse, track, tennis, golf, volleyball, etc.... This is where my concern lies. The student athlete model as we know it is going to change dramatically. I just hope it is done right, and opportunities are available for true student athletes to pursue their college sport.
@fenwaysouth posted:Yep. Baseball is along for the ride as well as many other college sports based on this money grab model. There is no stopping that P5 train that is headed toward P3 or even P2.
But what about the other D1s and other levels? What about the other collegiate sports...baseball, lacrosse, track, tennis, golf, volleyball, etc.... This is where my concern lies. The student athlete model as we know it is going to change dramatically. I just hope it is done right, and opportunities are available for true student athletes to pursue their college sport.
I agree with the baseball and everything else along for the ride but i don't have a major issue with it. Football and basketball pay all the bills and create the profits for everyone else. None of the other sports matter in terms of finances and if they want to exist in any type of current model they are literally just that, along for the ride.
What amazes me is that these future P2, P3 schools haven't already formed a FB and BB league and created a regional league for all the other sports! Why waste the money to send the Field hockey team, LAX or water polo teams of either sex all over the country? It actually defies logic unless you are attempting to portray it as equally important...it is all smoke and mirrors but at the end of the day you follow the money it will have all the answers.
I have a very good friend at Villanova, i asked point blank about how the basketball program gets treated vs the rest of the school. His response was quick and honest. Hoops pay all the bills and make everyone life better, they get whatever they need. This is a guy who is involved with a nonrevenue sport and academic faculty member.
@anotherparent posted:Yeah, in fact, why even call these sports factories "collleges" at all?
UCLA is hardly a sports factory. It’s the #20 ranked university in the country even though it was “First to 100.” The other school is #27.
@fenwaysouth posted:Yep. Baseball is along for the ride as well as many other college sports based on this money grab model. There is no stopping that P5 train that is headed toward P3 or even P2.
But what about the other D1s and other levels? What about the other collegiate sports...baseball, lacrosse, track, tennis, golf, volleyball, etc.... This is where my concern lies. The student athlete model as we know it is going to change dramatically. I just hope it is done right, and opportunities are available for true student athletes to pursue their college sport.
Ther used to be a lot of “we can’t do that due to academics.” It’s out the window. I’ve seen articles about teams staying on the other coast from one weekend to the next to cut travel wear and tear. What about academic wear and tear?
This is a horrific but entirely predictable development. The end of a golden era of college athletics.
@OskiSD posted:This is a horrific but entirely predictable development. The end of a golden era of college athletics.
Is it the end of the golden era or is it the start? Golden era ended 10-15 years ago in my opinion. #16 vs #19 was a fun game to watch in 2006. In 2022 it's a nothing game that nobody except the fanbases of said teams really cares about.
I would much rather see more top matchups than watch nothing games. I think we'll get that with the conference realignments.
USC is going to be playing Michigan, Ohio St, Penn St, Iowa. Any one of those matchups would have done better numbers than their current schedule. Now you're going to get all of them.
The top 4-6 teams are basically untouchable. With 1,2,3 having significant distance from 4,5,6. I'd prefer to see more meaningful games where there is actual competition. You're more likely to see a playoff team with a loss or multiple close games now than you were last year. Teams going 13-0 with two close games all season long is a snooze fest.
Will California Law Allow UCLA To Play In Big Ten?
Interesting take by Sally Jenkins:
https://www.washingtonpost.com...ignment-big-ten-sec/
Her thesis is that this move is the culmination of decades of rudderless NCAA leadership and greedy administrations letting football spend, spend, spend....
The information she provides about UCLA's athletic finances is pretty eye-opening.
She doesn't say anything about the costs (financial and academic) of shipping all of the CA schools' teams to the midwest for their competitions. Presumably the t.v. revenues outweigh those costs. I don't see travelling to the freezing midwest in April as a great thing for the baseball teams.
There is a good read in Saturday Down South (saturdaydownsouth.com) but it won't let me copy the link.
It's about Greg Sankey, SEC commissioner being the one to save college football SEC by stepping up to end the madness about more conference expansions.
It's not behind a pay wall.
Thanks. I must have a block, link copies but I some won't paste here.