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USC and UCLA in negotiations to join Big Ten in 2024
coinkat
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I came out of retirement to just write that this is so wrong. This is the wake up call that should just end all the NCAA conference expansion nonsense... and let me be blunt... I am being polite. This illustrates that it is all about money even though I suspect there are some that would argue the Big Ten Western Division needs help...
USC and UCLA are truly great schools but their traditions need to stay within the framework of the old PAC 8 Conference.
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That is completely stupid!
$$$ talks.
USC/UCLA to the Big10 (16 teams)
Texas/ Oklahoma to the SEC (16 teams)
So that leaves a few schools scrambling. I think it ends up with two super conferences of 20 teams each (4-10 team pods).
These teams better move fast....(8 teams)
Clemson
Miami
FSU
North Carolina
Notre Dame
Oregon
Washington
Utah
Past history, regional affiliations and identifying with longstanding college athletic conferences is simply not enough to thrive and prosper in today's society.
Money rules. It always has, it does and it always will.
The best (however you define best) college athletic programs will seek to position themselves at whatever table (or feeding trough) gives them the best chance to:
make money;
win championships; and
attract 5 star talent year after year after year (so year after year the team is at top and stays at the top).
So there will eventually be two or three athletic conferences that will be nationwide in geography, whose members are the cream of the crop. They will get all of the attention, money, talent and accolades they desire.
If you are not fortunate to be a member of this exclusive club, well tough luck for you. You can struggle to survive with all of the other also rans for table scraps.
$C & uclol will get crushed by the big boys in the Big14. And each away game will add at least one day RT travel. Snow flurries in Sept? Good luck guys. Horrible for the athletes involved from California who chose not to go to school in the Midwest.
I heard this sordid affair has been orchestrated by FOX.
......... and let me be blunt........it is all about money..........
Ya think so?.....💵
Pac-10 just got screwed, but it is their own fault, they did nothing to change the landscape over the last 5 years with shifting teams, they did nothing to expand their markets. Now the 2 big boys from the biggest market are no more, my alma mater Oregon State, will end up in the Mountain West, where my other alma mater, Oregon, probably the Big 12 with Udub, possibly Stanford and Cal. Where does that leave UA, ASU, CU, WSU, Utah? But again, they have no one to blame but themselves...............
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Thank you Larry Smith.
The PAC will dissolve. Oregon and Udub and other schools will go east.
Stanford and Cal might become independents because I doubt either school wants to travel 3,000 miles regularly to play a game. Although Cal had home and home arrangements with Texas, Old Miss, North Carolina in the last 6 years and won all six games.
Stanford and Cal weren't chartered to be farm teams.
When you think about it, on the average about 2-3 players from each team in D1 get drafted. That means 20-25 don't and with the new look college players are low level pro athletes. 20-25 won't get enough of an education to work in a car wash. Your not going to be traveling and get into grad school for a professional career. With Few exceptions, it's the NFL, NBA or the scrap heap with a bad knee.
Ma'am, would you like fries with that?
The tradition of the Big Ten Champ and Pac 12 Champ playing in the Rose Bowl is a thing of the past.
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Ralph
Geography aside, UCLA and USC are a good fit for the Big Ten. They're the kind of school that fits that conference's profile. But...the travel will suck. Especially for the lesser sports that struggle with revenues, like swimming and the like. And, let's be real, neither UCLA or USC is competing for a B1G football title anytime soon.
Why are SC and UCLA a good fit? You just named 4 reasons why they are not
Geography
Travel
Minor sports
Competitiveness for championship in FB.
Inquiring minds?
The ONLY REASON is money and a TV contract. I can't think of another reason offhand.
Smart move by the BIG TEN. Get those west coast standouts in football and basketball(UCLA).
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
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I think the Big 10 takes some small amount of pride in academics as the Pac 12 does. More so than other big conferences who will remain unnamed. At the end of the day it's all about money for ALL OF THEM but I think the Big and the Pac like to think they have better academics. I acknowledge that's up for debate.
The lesser sports will have to form a regional conference. Makes no sense for the UCLA volleyball team to be flying to play Rutgers or Maryland for example.
I know the Big "10" wants Notre Dame. I wonder if BYU can break out of it's Big "12" deal. I think ND and BYU would be a dynamite pairing to bring to a conference. Brings the Chicago + Catholic market and the Rocky Mountain + LDS market. Those religious teams have FOLLOWER$.
I am not sure if "stupid" is the right word. I think it just proves what we all knew... these are minor league sports professionals and it's ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!
Seems ND had an opportunity to join the Big Ten years ago and basically squandered that opportunity.
I am just not accepting that this is a good long term fit. Sort of begs the question what would "Red" Sanders and Duffy Daugherty think...?
I mention Red mainly because he was the Iconic UCLA football coach and too many seem to just think of UCLA as a basketball school which is simply misguided. Daugherty is referenced mainly as the coach at MSU that battled Sanders' Bruins in the Rose Bowl in two separate classic match ups- this was well before the UCLA 1966 upset... Tommy Prothero was the UCLA coach for that match up.
Not sure what happens to the so-called PAC 12 now-
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
My belief at this point is that Oregon, Cal, Udub and O go in a similar direction. With SC it's all about the money first and foremost. They hated sharing equal TV revenue and other revenue with schools they consider 'lessor'.
I can tell you one thing, Stanford and Cal weren't chartered to be farm teams for the pros.
USC football and UCLA basketball are the big ticket items. But the academics are top notch and fits nicely within the Big10. Former socal resident here, the weather will be a factor for the outdoor sports and also travel. At the end of the day, this is a revenue driven decision.
USC and UCLA fans showing up for Big 10 road games in November.
High prestige schools with good academic pedigrees.
You could also be a snark and say that they underperform expectations in football
Everything is about money. The transfer portal is ruining college sports bg tomr. I still love College sports (especially football) but this makes no CENTS.
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The Big 10 (and their network) want the high population school markets. The same reason they took in Maryland (DC) and Rutgers (NYC).
Which is why I think ASU/UA are desirable by conferences. Phoenix is about the 5th biggest city I believe. I'll be interested to see where they land.
Fans? Who the Hell cares about the fans as long as they are buying food and beer......................
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Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
B10 and SEC schools must be pretty confident they are going to expand the College Football Playoffs. These lesser conferences (Pac-10, ACC, Big 12) are going to have an easier time producing undefeated conference champions.
Robb
You're not hearing anything from the PAC right now because they're in the middle of a 30 day window of negotiating an offer from ESPN. That offer, if it is forthcoming, will probably determine if the PAC stays together or disbands.
There are a couple of schools in the PAC that have very little to offer in the way of TV viewership and that has always been a problem for the TV contract. One of the reasons why SC left the conference.
I have to hand it to the L.A. schools, they really blindsided the conference. UCLA has at least a $25 million athletic Dept deficit each year and picked up by Cal taxpayers. The increased revenue might pay for that and get the back rent paid on the Rose Bowl. Otherwise State of Cal will make the Rose Bowl unavailable to sucla. UCLA would have to beg SC to be able to use the Coliseum. That would be interesting because SC would demand payment and UCLA has no money.
I know UCLA has a huge deficit in their athletic department but I imagine the football team is carrying it's weight, no!? It's certainly not the tennis or water polo team... though they do win a lot!
As for the Coliseum it does bring back memories of childhood as we had UCLA season tickets in the 70's and they played their home games at the Coliseum back then. They need to figure out a stadium on the westside but I suppose that's not earthly possible!
Larry
To the best of my understanding, and I want to preface this by saying I'm more familiar with Cal and SC,
UCLA's football revenue does not cover the AD deficit. The MBB does quite well. Football is not why UCLA is going to the BIG. For UCLA, it's basketball. UCLA hands out free FB tickets and there are photos on the web of the Rose Bowl having 10,000 in the stands 15 minutes before kick off.
From my understanding, shortly we will know if the PAC disbands. The Regents(14) of the univ of california are not a happy bunch right now. They may go for blood. I think UCLA is going to be on the short end of some nasty litigation. Financially there is a lot of emotion right now and people want compensation for the negatives that UCLA has set in motion by their very quiet and well thought out move.
They cannot even pay rent on their home field, the Rose Bowl. Centennial Field or the Coli are the alternatives. They will pay rent now or hit the road. All that extra money gone down the drain .
We refer to UCLA as Fly Wasserman Airways because that particular alum pays chip Kelley's salary. Among other things ha pays for.
I never liked the bums.
Interesting. I really don't pay close attention these days but don't disagree with what you are saying. I'll be interested about the litigation potential. Not sure what obligation/agreements there are between UCLA and the Pac but will be interested to see.
As for Cal, and I mean this with respect toward their academic focus, but I wonder if they use this as an excuse to step down their financial obligations on the athletics side and basically step down a level in competition. Dominate the Mountain West for example. Just thinking out loud but it seems like Cal is a true academic institution (and at least before letting Russell White in) has had academic integrity. They might be able to keep that focus and still put decent teams on the field.
Stanford has too much money so doesn't really matter I imagine!?
Think about Washington, Oregon, the Bay Area, Colorado and AZ...Maybe the conference stays intact and they look for replacements. Obviously a huge tradition left which is wrong and unfortunate but maybe Boise State and San Diego State join or maybe they look elsewhere.... I dunno
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
I doubt Cal will be deemphasizing FB. FB at Cal is responsible for covering about a billion$ in obligations such as the $400 million stadium renovation and Cal's 30 non revenue Olympic sports.
Ought to be interesting in the next two weeks
BTW, Larry....Cal's NFL current payroll is 3x that of UCLA and 2x that of SC. 5th in the nation at almost $800 million per year. Only bama, LSU, tosu, and Georgia are more.
and they still can't win (or even get to) a Rose Bowl, they rarely have a good football team (or hoops for that matter), and their athletic department has been losing money for years. Butte College is ahead of many D1 schools too since they can also take credit for Aaron Rogers' contract! Eventually Butte College will have two alum in the NFL HOF and two in the all-time NFL top 100 - Aaron Rogers and Larry Allen. So Butte College is really the pride of NorCal collegiate athletics it seems to me!?
Whatever.