USC and UCLA make a B1G move: What does it mean for the SEC?
USC and UCLA managed to usurp the SEC on ‘crap we never saw coming’, when the Trojans and Bruins leaked the news – and then confirmed it – that they were both moving to the B1G in the 2024-25 season.
Although the geography’s a joke, it means that there will be two more college sports superpowers arriving to the Big Ten.
For USC, it’s no argument that they are a college football superpower. They’ve been as much of a running joke as Texas has in recent years, but the Trojans won back-to-back Nattys in 2004 and 2005, and should were a Vince Young whisker from winning one in 2006. Oh, and overall they’ve won – or been voted as – Natty winners 11 times (in those days there were 483400 polls, so their wins are almost as contentious as Alabama’s were back in the day).
For UCLA, it’s really basketball – the team has underperformed so much on the football field. There are only so many ‘Pac-12 South’ banners that you can hang on the wall (one, 2012), and the last time they had a two-loss season was 2005. Sure, they won a Natty in 1954, but that’s 1954 (That’s 14 years after Texas A&M’s Natty, so there’s that).
And both teams bring an academic prestigiousness to the B1G that’s already pretty damned academically prestigious (apart from Nebraska, who was booted for not being intelligent enough for the American Association of Universities).
Oh, and there’s lots of money in the B1G that both schools can make there, too.
SUPERCONFERENCES
The question on everybody’s lips is: ‘What will that mean for College Football?”
- Some people think it will two mega-conferences
The B1G and SEC, both buoyed by a sensational amount of FOX and Disney money have been slated as the two conferences who will suck up all the teams around them, creating mega-conferences. It will be great for TV, but terrible for traveling fans, and do away with important rivalries, because money is the thing that universities are whoring themselves to.
Our view: It’ll be three.
Here’s our thought. The Pac-12 and Big 12 will merge into one mega-conference.
The football brands medium-to-good, while the basketball brands will be out-of-this-world. We don’t know what will happen to Stanford and Cal, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they jump ship, too.
2. The ACC probably won’t collapse
The ACC are tied into a TV deal with ESPN to 2036, so it’ll be a long time before that’s over, because ESPN ain’t gonna buy Charlotte out, and vice-versa.
Of course, we could see Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Duke, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech (UNC-Duke are attached to the hip, and we all know it) try and vie for a way out in an effort to not pay the Conference back for the TV money, but if we’re honest, they are all making steady money – which is fantastic in a conference that is seen by many as being fun-to-watch, but not top tier.
So in 2032 – when I will be in my mid-50s – we can probably expect changes to happen. But not anytime soon unless they all find a ton of capital.
3. But if the ACC does collapse, here’s what we think will happen:
A) Clemson, Miami, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, UNC, NC State, and Duke will all go to the SEC. Despite the crappiness of Georgia Tech and Duke football, they both bring academic prowess, elite basketball (OK, at least Duke does), and Georgia Tech – Georgia will at least be an all-SEC battle. Florida-Florida State- Miami would be a joy, and UNC and NC State are tied in due to the State of North Carolina.
B) Virginia Tech and Virginia would go to the Big 12/Pac-12 with Pittsburgh, Boston College and Syrcause reigniting fun Big East battles. God only knows what happens to the rest of ’em. Wake Forest will probably go the Big 12, because hell, if BYU can become a Big 12 school, so can they.
4. What about Notre Dame?
Notre Dame has a monster NBC deal, and NBC are going to re-up it. After all, NBC doesn’t get a lot of college football, but it’s worth $15m annually. The B1G, SEC, and Big 12/Pac-12 would kill to have Notre Dame as part of their family, and if the ACC is disbanded, you can see the Irish courting conferences. While B1G games bring geography, the SEC will bring God knows how much money. The Big 12/Pac-12 might be drooling at the thought of leprachauns swilling overpriced Bud Light in their bars and restaurants, but it ain’t happening.
5. Could we see a SEC/B1G Rose Bowl?
Nope. Right now it’s B1G v Pac-12. Even if the Pac-12 merged, it would still be B1G v Pac-12. So we only get to win the Rose Bowl when we win Nattys.
6. What does this do for recruiting?
Great for the SEC. Maybe USC and UCLA’s recruiting picks up a bit because of the competition, but Hell, how is Lincoln Riley or Brian Kelly going to sell Wisconsin the winter to possible recruits as a ‘fun away game’ compared to Arizona State? Also, players get to see their families at away games. How many families will have the money to trek 22 hours, go on a five-hour flight (Read: 10 hours with Spirit Airlines) to Nebraska, the closest game on the B1G schedule?
The SEC can sell – and always has – proximity. Oh, and NFL draft picks. The SEC had 65 of them in 2022, and 12 first-round picks.
The outcome for USC/UCLA: NO-ONE’S GONNA BE HAPPY, BUT OUR SCHOOL CAN MAKE A TON OF MONEY!
The final point: We wonder what Lincoln Riley and for a lesser point Chip Kelly are thinking about this. Recruiting people to play in front of their friends and family all the time was probably a selling point when he was in the Big 12 and now in the Pac-12. How many defections is he going to have because of this Big 12 move?
All of this is pie-in-the-sky thinking, but hey, it’s been fun to write.