USC & UCLA to B1G by 2024; conferences react; TV contracts thread

doctornick

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Not a huge fan of UCLA, but USC is really the only blue blood program that is attainable for the Big Ten and is absolutely the right move if the conference feels it needs to expand. UCLA might be the cost of admission to get USC.

I'd be really leery of getting other teams from the Pac-12 though. Maybe 2 more if USC insists to have more "local" teams. If so, I would grab Washington and Oregon. They bring the most to the table of any of the remaining teams. Most of the Pac-12 teams are great school, even good athletically (in some things) but not good for revenue and would only lessen the payout per school for the Big Ten.

Grabbing four total also probably works best for football schedules as it would give all of them 3 opponents to be permanent and then rotation through the rest of teams.
 

doctornick

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Also, it's interesting that this is going down right around when the Big Ten is negotiating their new TV deal (and the Pac-12 is next which this would torpedo in terms of value).
 

PSUFTG

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Now let’s kick out Rutgers and Maryland. 😁🤣 make room for two more Pac12 teams.
That would be nice - wrt Rutgers (won't happen, of course). As for "more"? If they can't do better than 2 rag-tags from the PAC12 (and even Oregon or Washington would be financial rag-tags), then no.
 

WestSideLion

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That would be nice - wrt Rutgers (won't happen, of course). As for "more"? If they can't do better than 2 rag-tags from the PAC12 (and even Oregon or Washington would be financial rag-tags), then no.
IMO, look Southeast for the next expansion targets. Perhaps midwest if Notre Dame finally gets its head on straight. Its future as an independent is DOA.
 

LealandLoyal

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So let's talk pros & cons:
PROS are academics line up, athletic commitments to Olympic sports line up and there would definitely be a huge revenue increase from TV rights.
Positive for recruiting
Positive for B1G baseball & softball as they can play early Spring schedule in SoCal with more favorable weather.
Basketball & Olympic sports like soccer, swimming/diving, volleyball, track, etc can lump multiple games on a east, west or midwest swing for a week @ a time.

CONS are scheduling, predominantly for football would be very challenging with constantly going across these major time zones during the season.
Other Con: I don't think USC & UCLA have ice hockey and wrestling teams.

Additional comments welcome.

WE ARE...PENN STATE!!!
More than twice as many high school wrestlers in California than in any other state. Just sayin".
 
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NittPicker

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Would be awesome if true. USC without UCLA wouldn't make much sense. Having that city rivalry in the conference would be a great addition. As for Notre Dame, USC in the Big Ten would make the conference the only logical landing spot for the Irish. They've played USC 92 times in a series dating back to 1926. The only more played opponent is Navy. Third most?? Purdue at 84.
 

Liontown

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CONS are scheduling, predominantly for football would be very challenging with constantly going across these major time zones during the season.

Scheduling is a CON for USC and UCLA, not for current Big Ten teams.

And why predominantly for football? It's the same distance teams have to travel regardless of the sport. Plus football is almost always played on Saturday and one day of classes are missed. Other sports have games throughout the week which could mean multiple days missed.
 
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doctornick

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Scheduling is a CON for USC and UCLA, not for current Big Ten teams.

And why predominantly for football? It's the same distance teams have to travel regardless of the sport. Plus football is almost always played on Saturday and one day of classes are missed. Other sports have games throughout the week which could mean multiple days missed.

Yeah, football scheduling is no big deal even for USC/UCLA. But other sports like midweek basketball games.... that's going to be awful for those student athletes.

From a TV prospective it is great for the California schools - there's an ongoing school of thought that the Pac-12 suffers from a lack of media attention since there games are late and don't have highlights all day or even final scores on Saturday for their "after dark" games. USC and UCLA playing almost half their games (away games) in the eastern or central time zone helps them considerably with that.
 

doctornick

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BTW, there's definitely rumors about Notre Dame being in the running. I'm skeptical at this point, might just be people throwing crap on the wall to see what sticks, but this move would at least start to force their hand. If the Irish are truly in play, Stanford/Notre Dame seems like the likely option I would think.
 

NittanyBuff

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History, tradition etc.. out the window, all about the almighty $ at this point.
 

PSU Mike

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Texas & Oklahoma would make most sense, no? Or two Florida schools?
 
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CDM2PSU

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I would think 5 total from pac12. 3 from Oregon. Washington. Utah. Colorado. Stanford. then the next best team. ND? The conference would be 4 pods of 5 teams. That would keep travel down and the west coast teams happy(er).
 
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LafayetteBear

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Also, wondering if UCLA has the autonomy to do what it wants since it’s part of the Cal system. Would think the state government folks there might have concerns.
THIS ^^^^ is also what I’m wondering. I find it hard to believe that the U.C. board of Regents would allow the Bruins to go. But we all know money talks.
Not sure having two super conferences and “everybody else” is good for college sports.
 
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A2nit

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Also, it's interesting that this is going down right around when the Big Ten is negotiating their new TV deal (and the Pac-12 is next which this would torpedo in terms of value).
Fox Sports sits in LA, any coincidence?
 
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Moogy

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So let's talk pros & cons:
PROS are academics line up, athletic commitments to Olympic sports line up and there would definitely be a huge revenue increase from TV rights.
Positive for recruiting
Positive for B1G baseball & softball as they can play early Spring schedule in SoCal with more favorable weather.
Basketball & Olympic sports like soccer, swimming/diving, volleyball, track, etc can lump multiple games on a east, west or midwest swing for a week @ a time.

CONS are scheduling, predominantly for football would be very challenging with constantly going across these major time zones during the season.
Other Con: I don't think USC & UCLA have ice hockey and wrestling teams.

Additional comments welcome.

WE ARE...PENN STATE!!!

Northern baseball teams already make trips down south to play a few teams while it's cold up here. This won't help at all. It's only two CA squads .. it'll be an out of the way destination, and they can't play everyone.
 

Midnighter

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<consults google translator>

LOL. Supposed to be frose (frozen rose wine) and omelette’s to order. I’ll throw in fresh guacamole, chips, and Azul tequila shooters.
 

Midnighter

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Not a huge fan of UCLA, but USC is really the only blue blood program that is attainable for the Big Ten and is absolutely the right move if the conference feels it needs to expand. UCLA might be the cost of admission to get USC.

I'd be really leery of getting other teams from the Pac-12 though. Maybe 2 more if USC insists to have more "local" teams. If so, I would grab Washington and Oregon. They bring the most to the table of any of the remaining teams. Most of the Pac-12 teams are great school, even good athletically (in some things) but not good for revenue and would only lessen the payout per school for the Big Ten.

Grabbing four total also probably works best for football schedules as it would give all of them 3 opponents to be permanent and then rotation through the rest of teams.

UCLA has 118 national championships. USC has 107. For comparison, Penn State has 51 (most in the Big Ten). Michigan is next with 35. Both are home run additions.
 

Midnighter

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Curious as to how much of this Lincoln Riley knew about; part of his issue with Oklahoma was he didn’t want anything to do with the SEC. He can certainly get a better roster at SC, but OSU is the Bama of the B1G. So much for an easy PAC 12 championship bid.
 

SurgeOne

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PSU has a fairly sizable alumni base in SoCal. Have to think that some other schools would want to make a jump also. If they could get Colorado/Utah, Arizona/Arizona State in the mix, then you could drive from the East Coast to the West Coast and be entirely in Big Ten Country.
All I know is that the USC fans at the Rose Bowl were really **** people. All my willpower not to kick the crap outta a handful of them.
 

SurgeOne

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UCLA has 118 national championships. USC has 107. For comparison, Penn State has 51 (most in the Big Ten). Michigan is next with 35. Both are home run additions.
Everyone I know from UCLA is smart, classy, cool. Every person I know from USC is a loudmouth ****, putz. I know quite a lot of people from both. I wish UCLA would go back to those powdery, light blues from days gone by. Those were waaay cool vs the darker blue today