Big Ten votes to add USC, UCLA as members starting in 2024

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The decision by the Los Angeles schools — two of the NCAA’s most decorated athletic programs — comes almost a year after Oklahoma and Texas formally accepted invitations to join the SEC in July 2025.

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Have read through the thoughts on the "Badger" thread, but am posting my thoughts here to keep it more on topic to the thread. Don't really have much new to add.

USC and UCLA were a solid, masterful move by the Big-10 to secure the next best options after Texas and Okla went to the SEC. Huge TV markets and solid programs. USC, assuming Lincoln Riley continues to coach and recruit as he has to this point, could very well be one of those national powerhouses similar to OSU. If they continue with an East/West alignment for now, adding USC to the west would certainly balance things out more than they have been.

Agree with Mark in his last post on the other thread and others that Notre Dame is likely the next domino to fall. The landscape is changing quickly and even Notre Dame is not immune to what's happening. The Big-10 will make a strong push for them and give them opportunities the ACC just can't.

If Notre Dame is added, I wonder if Stanford is a school the Big-10 looks at. Really hasn't been discussed much, but it's a solid overall football program that's competitive in many other sports. The university presidents would love them from an academic standpoint. Then there's the money part of it, which includes bringing some of that huge San Fran/Oakland market with them.

If they are bound and determined to continue to expand west, then Colorado, Arizona, Washington, Cal and Oregon all make sense. Not sure where they want to stop, from a conference size perspective. The first 4 of those all bring large markets with them and while Portland isn't a huge market, Oregon is a solid program, and in terms of markets you do hit a diminishing return at some point.

Out east, I don't know where you turn. The northeast doesn't exactly have a ton of great programs. Boston College is probably the best out there followed by "ho-hum" programs like Syracuse and UConn. Temple and Pitt would add some market share from a bigger state, but they're not exactly high profile programs. Further south, Va and VaTech would be decent gets in populated areas but neither of them seems a priority. NC and Duke would be great adds from a B-ball perspective as they are in a growing market and have national following, but football rules and while NC has been decent lately, neither really brings a ton to the table.

They might as well forget about the deep south and Texas. GaTech would be a nice get if the ACC starts to fall apart, but UGA is the 800lb gorilla in that state so not a priority. Similarly with Texas. Houston would be sort of intriguing, but Texas and A&M sort of rule that state and the rest of the schools including TCU and Baylor just don't seem to be priorities to me. They are more the sort of teams you "pick-off" as the whole thing starts to unravel in terms of conferences falling apart other than the SEC and Big-10.

Bottom line for me is that Notre Dame should be the next priority followed by the various schools out west that I mentioned above. They bring large markets with them in each case. I'd forget about the east unless they can get Boston College, or they think that Va/VaTech makes sense in terms of adding a solid hold on the Va/Md/DC area.
 
57packer said:
Have read through the thoughts on the "Badger" thread, but am posting my thoughts here to keep it more on topic to the thread. Don't really have much new to add.

USC and UCLA were a solid, masterful move by the Big-10 to secure the next best options after Texas and Okla went to the SEC. Huge TV markets and solid programs. USC, assuming Lincoln Riley continues to coach and recruit as he has to this point, could very well be one of those national powerhouses similar to OSU. If they continue with an East/West alignment for now, adding USC to the west would certainly balance things out more than they have been.

Agree with Mark in his last post on the other thread and others that Notre Dame is likely the next domino to fall. The landscape is changing quickly and even Notre Dame is not immune to what's happening. The Big-10 will make a strong push for them and give them opportunities the ACC just can't.

If Notre Dame is added, I wonder if Stanford is a school the Big-10 looks at. Really hasn't been discussed much, but it's a solid overall football program that's competitive in many other sports. The university presidents would love them from an academic standpoint. Then there's the money part of it, which includes bringing some of that huge San Fran/Oakland market with them.

If they are bound and determined to continue to expand west, then Colorado, Arizona, Washington, Cal and Oregon all make sense. Not sure where they want to stop, from a conference size perspective. The first 4 of those all bring large markets with them and while Portland isn't a huge market, Oregon is a solid program, and in terms of markets you do hit a diminishing return at some point.

Out east, I don't know where you turn. The northeast doesn't exactly have a ton of great programs. Boston College is probably the best out there followed by "ho-hum" programs like Syracuse and UConn. Temple and Pitt would add some market share from a bigger state, but they're not exactly high profile programs. Further south, Va and VaTech would be decent gets in populated areas but neither of them seems a priority. NC and Duke would be great adds from a B-ball perspective as they are in a growing market and have national following, but football rules and while NC has been decent lately, neither really brings a ton to the table.

They might as well forget about the deep south and Texas. GaTech would be a nice get if the ACC starts to fall apart, but UGA is the 800lb gorilla in that state so not a priority. Similarly with Texas. Houston would be sort of intriguing, but Texas and A&M sort of rule that state and the rest of the schools including TCU and Baylor just don't seem to be priorities to me. They are more the sort of teams you "pick-off" as the whole thing starts to unravel in terms of conferences falling apart other than the SEC and Big-10.

Bottom line for me is that Notre Dame should be the next priority followed by the various schools out west that I mentioned above. They bring large markets with them in each case. I'd forget about the east unless they can get Boston College, or they think that Va/VaTech makes sense in terms of adding a solid hold on the Va/Md/DC area.
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Great post, FLPack has great insight from a marketing/TV perspective but my thoughts outside of ND is this:

1. Colorado, Denver TV market plus a ton of other areas. Not great but solid programs all around. Nice fit..easy yes.
2. PITT, gives you the PITT TV market and restores some natural rivalries with Penn State, Ohio State etc.
3. VA Tech, tv market isn't as great as others but I like the fit a lot. Probably not a priority school, add in UVA in this same category but unlike Tech they completely don't fit the Big Ten culture. Kind of a daisy school to be honest.
4. Stanford, on paper it kind of looks good but not sure they bring enough $$$ to the table. Like Tech is most likely not a priority but they are an AAU school.
5.UNC, Can't agree they would ever belong in the 10, Yes the TV $ might be there but UNC is dry, and the campus is dry. The worst fit of any school mentioned for Big Ten sports is UNC.... bible-thumping, and UW or Michigan fans won't mix...ever.
6. NC State, Pack disagrees here but I think like VA TECH they fit the culture but lack some other things, still Raleigh Durham is a top 25 TV market and getting the tech triangle n the Big Ten wouldn't be a bad thing.
7. Ga Tech, Just no. For a variety of reasons too numerous to mention.
8. Iowa State, I only mention this because they keep coming up in every discussion I pulled up the past 48 hours, long shot but never say never.

Outside shots, Washington, Arizona State, Kansas , maybe Kansas State and Boston College.
 
I think this is going to be a power grab. Watch for the Big 10 to expand it's reach. Boston College, Notre Dame, and out West, where they are going to try to blanket the entire nation outside of the SEC.

I think the Big 10 saw the handwriting on the wall, that the SEC was going to "dictate" how things were handled when it came to the football championships, and decided they weren't going to play their game.

They may even be willing to cut their profit levels a bit, just to blanket more territory, and shut the SEC out.
 
TW said:
I think this is going to be a power grab. Watch for the Big 10 to expand it's reach. Boston College, Notre Dame, and out West, where they are going to try to blanket the entire nation outside of the SEC.

I think the Big 10 saw the handwriting on the wall, that the SEC was going to "dictate" how things were handled when it came to the football championships, and decided they weren't going to play their game.

They may even be willing to cut their profit levels a bit, just to blanket more territory, and shut the SEC out.
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North vs the South Civil War in NCAA
 
So do we see in 10 years NCAA dead and the power 4-5 broke off formed their own league?
 
I think 20 is the number to get to if they add any more, if ND really did come in they could add Washington and Oregon and then one more east coast team and have 10/10 division split right along the central/east time zone line. It isn't talked about as much as schools like NC/UV but I think Miami makes a ton of sense for the 20th, it would make ND happy and Miami would benefit bringing all those well traveled Midwest fans to fill up their big stadium. TV market is an obvious huge plus for the BIG. It would really stick it to the now more regionally bound SEC too. tc(
 
If this is only a football consideration I can see ND and maybe 2-3 other West Coast teams. Seems Stanford and Berkeley would be considered for their bay area market interest. If other sports drive any decisions, then Stanford is a slam dunk recruit as they are strong in a whole host of non-big (basketball/football) sports. Stanford is # 1 and Cal is #10 in overall NCAA championships. If they aren't at least discussed as part of the process then it's entirely a football $ discussion.
 
I am fine with taking Stanford or Cal over Oregon but I think they stop at 4 PAC teams. USC/UCLA is a game changer as it means the Big Ten wants a national footprint to counter the SEC and I sort of think blue chips weigh heavier than markets right now. If you look at the remaining non SEC/B1G teams out there I would rank the football powers we should consider like this:

1. ND

2. Washington ( Seattle Market)

3a: Miami

3b: Clemson

5. Stanford

6. Colorado

7. Virginia Tech

8. Oregon

9. PITT

10. Florida State
 
www.cbssports.com

College football realignment news: Notre Dame on deck; Pac-12, Big 12 could merge; SEC vs. Big Ten playoff?

Realignment may cool off for the holiday, but it's about to pick up again any day now
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

To entice Notre Dame to jump to the Big Ten, one source suggested Stanford could be invited as sort of a "rivalry" partner. The two schools have met 24 times in the last 25 years with the series interrupted only by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In that scenario, Notre Dame would have at least five traditional rivals (Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Stanford, USC) as Big Ten conference partners. With an attractive conference schedule plus three annual nonconference games, the Irish could easily continue their "Shamrock Series" of one-off games around the country.
 
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