USC, UCLA ‘community’ not supportive of move to Big Ten, Pac12 commish alleges

The upcoming move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten conference for both UCLA and USC does not have much support, according to Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff.

At Pac-12 basketball media day, Kliavkoff said that he has spoken to more than 100 people associated with the two schools, and none of them were in favor of the move to the Big Ten. 

“I have yet to talk to anyone in the UCLA and USC community who’s in favor of the move,” Kliavkoff said Wednesday, according to the LA Times. “I will say that I probably hear from folks who are not in favor, not surprisingly.”

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The move for both schools is scheduled for 2024, though UCLA’s departure from the Pac-12 is cloudier than USC’s. 

While USC is a private school and can come and go as they please, UCLA is a public institution and part of the University of California system. Due to this fact, the University of California regents are able to scrutinize UCLA’s move to the Big Ten and its impact on the other California school in the Pac-12 – UC Berkeley.

In September, Kliavkoff sent a letter to University of California system regents alleging that the move would impact UCLA financially. 

He reiterated his feelings on the topic on Wednesday. 

“We believe between the travel and the coaches’ salaries and some of the other expenses you incur when you join the Big Ten,” Kliavkoff said, “the small delta in the media rights deal [between the Pac-12 and the Big Ten] will be more than offset. We stand by those numbers.”

In August, the Los Angeles Times reported that there may be a way for the UC regents to block UCLA’s departure from the Pac-12. 

“All options are on the table,” regent John Perez said after an August regents’ meeting, according to the LA Times. 

“All options are on the table,” Perez repeated, “up to and including that. … We’re going to look at what all the different options look like and then the board will assert itself in terms of what its desired outcome is.”