USC and UCLA to the Big Ten! I am assuming this means Oregon and at least one other to the Big Ten also.
There's a pretty good thread over on the men's forum about conference realignment if anyone is interested.
What a complete joke…college sports is out of control. Don’t tell me any of these schools are academic institutions and that they have the best interest of the student-athlete in mind. By the way, pretty soon there will be only 2 relevant P5 conferences. No one including the ACC can compete with the Big 10 and SEC for money.
Completely agree. Students from USC and UCLA having to deal with the jet lag of going East every week is so unfair to them. How are any of these students supposed to be focusing on their school work if they’re taking 3-5 plane rides once or twice a week? There’s no balance there, none. This is big execs caring more about their wallets than the players filling them.
I completely agree. I think there will be 2 super conferences at some point in the near future. I’m thinking Clemson, Florida State and Miami are all fair game for the SEC. If that happens the ACC will fall.
Also, this may eliminate games like (I’m from the Midwest) u of m vs a MAC school which is a huge financial gain for the MAC schools!
I can't wait to see USC and UCLA outdoor sports playing in the snow and cold for several league games. Also, think about how many games basketball players play. Those athletes will have crazy travel schedules. I am surprised that the UC System is allowing UCLA to leave UC Berkeley in a bad spot. I have lost interest in college sports (other than womens soccer) because of this realignment crap.
Agree that this is crazy. They need to get in a room and get it worked out like they should have years ago. Make 4/5/6 geographic regions with all the P5ish schools and divide it up evenly. This won't happen now because the few who want to get richer, have learned how to get richer, and remain richer than the others and they are going to ruin college sports. BUT - where did you get your plane flight math?? The 2 west coast schools would be travel partners and have half their games at home. So 3 long away weekends to play twice each and you've got 12 games covered. This is already happening on a smaller scale. Arizona to UW, BC to Miami, Rutgers to Minn, WVU to Texas The real crazy is travel for hoops and sports like baseball/softball that try to play 50 games. And of course that you'll be flying a handful of CC runners and tennis players all over the country just to make more money with a football TV deal.
What a load of crap. We aren’t a midwest school. We have established rivalries with our pacific schools. Students won’t be able to drive to any away games. Players will be back east all the time, I am so mad.
It won’t stay this way. The big 10 will add west coast teams to make a west division. Then add cross over to get the matchups they want for football. The ucla ad was hired to save football. That’s his whole job. (He hadn’t even met some of the Olympic sport coaches for months after he was hired). He has one priority in his decision making. But he’s honest about it. Bummer because the pac 12 was a legit and fun conference. Great rivalries. Relatively Close games for parents and fans (at least three games were closeish for every school). I think arizonas and Colorado and Utah to big 12. big 10 will get Washington and Oregon and Stanford and cal. Who would want Oregon st and wazzu? Maybe they go to big 10 So west big 10 is Ucla Usc Cal Stan Washington Wazzu Oregon Oregon st Then a cross over game with the east or whatever. Maybe add SDSU and UNLV or Boise to get to 10 west schools. but also I think the entire thing will completely blow up and who knows what things will end up like. College sports as we know it are over and will keep disintegrating.
Whoops, that original post was meant to say “3-5 hour plane rides once or twice a week”. Must’ve been typing fast. Even still, I’m assuming UCLA and USC aren’t going to be playing at home for all of their non-con. So long travel for 3 weeks for the conference, maybe one week for non con, another week for the conference tournament (if they aren’t the top seed in soccer, and they can’t both be. Of course that assumes on top of that that they’ll roll over PSU, Rutgers, Wisconsin etc. and I’m not sure if they will) and then the NCAA tournament, depending on their seed. That’s a possible 6 weeks/12-13 games or so out of a max 25 (and the vast majority only get to 20-22). That’s still a huge amount. I do agree though that the baseball, softball and basketball teams are the true losers here with 3 games per week. I can’t even imagine.
Just an FYI for those interested, the average number of games teams play is 18.7. That includes conference tournaments. For the Power 5 conferences, the numbers are ACC 18.4, Pac 12 19.3, SEC 19.4, Big 10 19.4, and Big 12 19.6. These numbers do not include NCAA Tournament games.
The bus rides for the non football/basketball teams will be epic How many drivers are needed to go LA to College Park?
The other irony is that Big 10 and PAC 12 were more often the problem in expanding and adjusting the college football playoffs. They had to protect the “tradition” of the Rose Bowl. The laughable hypocrisy we all knew was present in that statement is now laid bare. The Big 10 has now killed the PAC 12 and ended any interesting Rose Bowl matchup not in the playoff. It has and always will be about the money. Stop with the “tradition” crap and stop with “best interest of student athlete” lies. I have always been in favor of NIL, but against paying the players per se. I have been officially swayed. Let the barn doors open. If these fake educational institutions want to act this way, bleed them for all they are worth.
Spot on. One of the recruiting advantages USC and UCLA have is the weather and usually playing in optimum playing conditions. Although I suppose a November/early Dec game in Washington isn’t pleasant, it is nothing compared to MI, WI or Chicago.
Good take. No question these decisions are being made for 1 reason - can we get another 5/10/20 more Million per year from our athletic dept? Someone said earlier the UCLA AD was hired for exactly that. That's it. Maybe we can blame Under Armour?? I don't see the Big10 going beyond maybe adding another 2 PAC schools - Cal and Stanford are likely so there's 4 out there. But I did not predict this move so who the hell knows! Everyone is clearly trying to get into the lifeboat to save themselves. Maybe those remaining west coast schools decide to close ranks and stay a bit more true to their actual academic mission like the Big East did? Another summer at the lake or beach house ruined for these poor rich ADs. They are probably all on Zoom in the extra bedroom.
From anti-concentration/anti-monopoly writer, Matt Stoller: How ESPN's Monopoly Power Is Consolidating College Football https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/how-espns-monopoly-power-is-consolidating
If ACC can snag Notre Dame, Arizona and/or Arizona State, Cal & Stanford they'd do OK once their media rights deal comes up again which I think is something like 2036. Shoot ACC should just call remaining PAC 12 schools and invite them all.
From what I have been reading, a big reason the Big 10 grabbed these 2 LA schools is to entice LA based FOX to make a major bid when their football rights come up.
So as I sadly understand it, (as if it wasn't obvious before!) the big time college conference game is all about greed and power. It is sickening. What an example for the young generation!
So what does this mean for women's soccer? It's always been about football, and sadly that doesn't change. With Title IX and all, where do you see non P5 (soon to be SEC/Big10 only)? And when do you think this will all shuffle out?
I think there are far worse examples being set for the young generation out there than this. This? Just business and we all know it - heck, it's business down to ID camp invites in our own sport. Who cares? I'm actually shocked there is this much discussion about it. You want fairness to the student athletes and the best academic experience? Go D3. D1 is not a balanced lifestyle and there's all kinds of absurd pressures on the the SAs. Similar with D2/NAIA/Juco bc of the money (albeit less) money involved. You don't need to go to Stanford, Duke, Vandy, Notre Dame or an Ivy. Just as good educations can be had at MIT, Cal Tech, Middlebury, Williams, Emory, etc.