UCLA AD Martin Jarmond reveals what the Big Ten offers that the Pac-12 couldn't

With the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins on their way to the Big Ten by 2024, many have wondered why two of the largest West Coast schools are joining a Midwest/ East Coast conference. During a recent interview on ESPN, the Bruins athletic director Martin Jarmond revealed why his school jumped from the PAC 12 to the Big Ten.

“Well, one, national exposure. Now you’re going to be in three different time zones, multiple time zones,” said the UCLA AD. “Here on the West Coast, when you think about some of the game times, you’re not always in the national spotlight. Now our student-athletes will get to showcase their talent and skills as far from the Pacific to the Atlantic, all through the East Coast. So, in a name image likeness (NIL) era and student-athletes are finding their voice and their brand and what’s important to them; this gives them a national platform that they can be seen in ways that we haven’t been able to.”

The new age of college sports played appears to have played a role and UCLA’s decision to jump conferences. However, that does not appear to be the only reason. As Jarmond continued with the interview, it seemed like the Bruins and Trojans did not see eye to eye with others in the PAC 12 on well-being issues.

“The other thing it does too is it opens up possibilities for partnership with other like-minded institutions academically. And when you talk about mental health, well-being, nutrition health, and wellness, some of the things that are very important to our student-athletes, you wanna be a part of like-minded institutions that look and view things the same way you do. And so, the resources obviously; to be able to support 25 teams 700 plus student-athletes it’s a big deal. There’s a lot more investments now in college athletics with our students and we wanna make sure we’re the forefront leading that talk about that.”

Some have pointed to the money being why the two schools bolted to the Big Ten. But given Jarmond’s thoughts on the matter, there was a lot more at play than just finances. Time will tell whether or not this was the right move for the Bruins. But for now, let’s just hope that this move benefits the student-athletes as much as it will benefit the school.