ATHENS — USC and UCLA are planning to leave for the Big Ten as early as 2024, per multiple reports.
The move was initiated by the Los Angeles area schools and would more than double their revenue, but it has not yet been finalized, Pac-12 reporter Jon Wilner reports.
It’s a deal that has been in the works for months, per Si.com’s Ross Dellenger, with talks more recently heating up.
The Pac-12 powerhouses’ proposed move suggests more seismic changes ahead as collegiate sports look for modified, sustainable revenue models on the heels of NIL and one-time transfer legislation passed last July.
It has been widely speculated for months that major Power 5 programs could break away with super conferences, with a 130-member Division I model not as practical as it once was.
The pending moves of Big 12 powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC — no later than 2025 — were leaked just less than a year ago in July during the SEC Media Days.
• 2026 USC vs. Ole Miss, in Oxford, Miss., Sept. 19
• 2026 UCLA vs. Georgia, in Athens, Ga., Sept. 5
The ACC recently announced that it will be eliminating divisional play, providing it with a more flexible schedule model and competitive league championship game.
Adding USC and UCLA would seem the Big Ten’s answer to keeping up — or catching or passing the SEC, depending on your perspective — by adding a 15th and 16th team from one of the largest markets in the nation.
The Trojans and Bruins would add incredible value to the Big Ten’s television package by virtue of adding the Los Angeles market to the league.
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The Big Ten added 33 percent to its television market footprint in 2014 by adding Rutgers and Maryland, a successful move that some didn’t fully appreciate or understand at the time.
The SEC’s addition of Texas and Oklahoma effectively added the interest of many in the No. 5 television market to the league.
The news of USC and UCLA potentially moving to the Big Ten could escalate more teams changing conferences as well as provide evidence that nothing is sacred amid these changing times.
The Trojans and Bruins joined their current conference in 1921 and 1928, respectively, when it was known as the Pacific Coast Conference.
Here’s a look at the top 15 television markets and nearby Big Ten and SEC schools associated with them:
No. 1 New York (Big Ten)
No. 2 Los Angeles (Pac-12/Big Ten pending)
No. 3 Chicago (Big Ten)
No. 4. Philadelphia
No. 5 Dallas Ft. Worth (Big 12/SEC pending)
No. 6 San Francisco-Oakland (Pac-12)
No. 7 Boston
No. 8 Atlanta (SEC)
No. 9 Washington D.C. (Big Ten)
No. 10 Houston (SEC)
No. 11 Detroit (Big Ten)
No. 12 Phoenix (Pac-12)
No. 13 Tampa-St. Petersburg (SEC)
No. 14 Seattle-Tacoma (Pac-12)
No. 15 Minneapolis St. Paul (Big Ten)
Other SEC and Big Ten flavored TV markets:
No. 19 Orlando-Daytona Beach (SEC)
No. 21 St. Louis (SEC)
No. 25 Indianapolis (Big Ten)
No. 26 Baltimore (Big Ten)
No. 29 Nashville (SEC)
No. 32 Columbus (Big Ten)
No. 36 Greeneville-Spartanburg (SEC)
No. 39 Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo (Big Ten)
No. 40 Birmingham (SEC)
No. 45 Oklahoma City (Big 12/SEC pending)
No. 47 Jacksonville (SEC)
No. 49 Austin (Big 12/SEC pending)
No. 53 New Orleans (SEC)
No. 56 Little Rock-Pine Bluff (SEC)
No. 59 Knoxville (SEC)
No. 60 Mobile-Pensacola (SEC)
No. 61 Tulsa (Big 12/SEC pending)
No. 63 Lexington (SEC)
No. 64 Dayton (Big Ten)
No. 66 Flint-Saginaw-Bay City (Big Ten)
No. 71 Des Moines-Ames (Big Ten)
No. 74 Springfield, Mo. (SEC)
No. 76 Omaha (Big Ten)
No. 79 Columbia, SC (SEC)
No. 82 Huntsville-Decatur (SEC)
No. 83 Champaign (Big Ten)
No. 84 Shreveport (SEC)
No. 85 Madison (Big Ten)
No. 86 Chattanooga, (SEC)
No. 88 Cedar Rapids (Big Ten)
No. 90 Jackson, Miss. (SEC)
No. 95 Baton Rouge (SEC)
No. 96 Savannah (SEC)
No. 99 Charleston (SEC)
No. 100 Fayettevile, Ark. (SEC)
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