Going B1G Time

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early 2,500 years ago, ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus famously stated, “The only thing constant is change.” We hear quotes like that oftentimes, especially when any sort of change happens, whether it’s expected or not.

One change that we can be reasonably sure almost all Bruins (and Trojans across town, for that matter) didn’t expect was the seismic announcement back on June 30, 2022, that UCLA (and USC) would be leaving the Pac-12 Conference and joining the Big Ten Conference on Aug. 2, 2024, once the current Pac-12 television contract expires.

At the very moment when this news broke (thanks to longtime San Jose Mercury News columnist Jon Wilner) that fateful day, I was wrapping up a meeting at the USC Tower in Downtown Los Angeles, marking the end of another fiscal year in my former role as chief alumni relations officer at USC (yes, this Bruin proudly wore cardinal and gold for a couple of decades!).

By the time I got back to my former office on USC’s University Park campus 15 minutes later, the news was everywhere, the Twitterverse (as it was formerly known!) was on fire with every conceivable opinion and my iPhone was blowing up with text messages. And I was not alone, of course…whether a Bruin, Trojan, or anyone connected to any Pac-12 or Big Ten institution, or any casual sports fan for that matter, you couldn’t escape this bombshell news and have some sort of reaction.

To be candid, having been on staff at USC since 2000 (including eight years in USC Athletics before heading over to the USC Alumni Association), I wasn’t entirely surprised that the Trojans were heading to the Big Ten. After all, there had been a “wandering eye” mystique and whispers for decades among the Trojan Family that, as a private institution with a spirited rivalry against Notre Dame – the “golden (dome)” standard of intercollegiate athletics independence – USC should also consider independence, at least in the venerated world of college football, especially as the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference (SEC) continued to pull markedly ahead of the Pac-12 and other “major leagues” (e.g. Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference) in terms of media rights and exposure.

And to be even more candid, as a degree holder from both institutions (and a former member of the UCLA Spirit Squad in the late ʼ80s and early ʼ90s), I felt that I was more excited than practically anyone I spoke to that day or thereafter, Bruin or Trojan! After all, two of my three alma maters (the other being Tennessee, safely tucked away in the Smoky Mountains as a proud member of the SEC), were suddenly making national news and a bold statement that they were giving college sports yet another shot in the arm by joining what is considered the nation’s most prestigious athletic and academic conference (I’ll break that down later in this piece).

Yet, who could imagine UCLA and USC, the Pac-12’s flagship brands for men’s basketball and football (and yes, Arizona could easily lay claim to being the men’s basketball standard the last couple decades), not being part of the West Coast’s preeminent athletic conference? Not many, I posit…but it wasn’t the Los Angeles schools acting in a vacuum.

In fact, the winds of change had been blowing for quite some time, and many will point to the previous summer, when Texas and Oklahoma shook everything up with the news that they were bolting from the Big 12 to the SEC in 2025 (and since then, with so much else in turmoil, that timeline was accelerated to 2024). This development in 2021 put the wheels in motion for more upheaval, and regardless of any of the backroom dealings and conversations to which very, very few were privy (even top-ranking administrators and fiduciary board members, as it turns out), USC and UCLA were in the proverbial catbird seat with illustrious athletic and academic heritage, and key positioning in the nation’s second largest media market.

And while the rich (e.g. Big Ten and SEC) were getting seemingly richer with each passing year with more lucrative media rights deals, the gaps between those “Power 2” and the rest of the Power 5 (Pac-12, Big 12, ACC) were becoming more profound and putting the latter three at an increasing competitive disadvantage. While we can only continue to speculate as to what conversations could have been happening (other than some of the public speculation and jockeying for a potential Pac-12/Big 12 merger after the summer 2021, news of Texas and Oklahoma heading to the SEC), what we do know is that for the reasons announced on June 30, 2022, UCLA and USC were heading to the Big Ten beginning in the 2024-25 academic year to solidify their respective positions as top-tier athletic and academic juggernauts being a part of the most academically renowned Power 5 conference.    

Of the Big Ten’s current 14 members, 13 of them are members of the elite American Association of Universities, a consortium of 71 of the most academically prestigious colleges and universities in North America. The current Pac-12, including UCLA and USC, boasts 9 AAU members, and once UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington join the Big Ten on Aug. 2, the Big Ten will have 17 of its 18 members as part of AAU, while Nebraska – whose AAU status was revoked in 2014 – is believed to be seeking reinstatement in the AAU at some point in the future.

Remember, UCLA has been deemed the nation’s no. 1 public research university for seven consecutive years, so why shouldn’t UCLA, with its illustrious athletics heritage, be a part of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious athletic conference?

Well, now UCLA (along USC, Oregon and Washington) is heading to the behemoth Big Ten, and along with USC will receive full shares of a new Big Ten media rights deal that’s expected to yield at least $60 million per year for each school (while Oregon and Washington – who opted last summer to join the defection to the Big Ten – will receive 50% shares for the next six years), markedly higher than the $25 - $30 million that a 10-member Pac-12 (sans UCLA and USC) was expected to secure. 

What is paramount now, as the Big Ten era quickly approaches, is for the entire UCLA community – alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents, friends, donors and fans – to show up, and show up “B1G!”

Even if the Los Angeles schools stayed in the Pac-12, the most optimistic estimates from industry experts only put the Pac-12’s media value at $500 million per year, or $42 million per institution under the Pac-12’s equal shares distribution model. This underwhelming valuation, along with the continued Pac-12 Networks distribution shortcomings – which for more than a decade caused much consternation and headaches for fans since the Network’s launch back in 2012 – was enough reason to strongly consider a new world order for UCLA and USC, especially as the Big Ten Networks were not only generating significantly more cash for their institutions, but also being more accessible to Pac-12 audiences than their own Networks in their own media backyards! 

And now, with these four Pac-12 powerhouses joining the Big Ten (or B1G as it’s commonly referred), it will boast the nation’s top four media markets:

NYC metro area – Rutgers

Los Angeles

Chicago – Northwestern and Illinois

Philadelphia – Penn State

Five of the top 10 with the addition of:

D.C. metro area – Maryland

And eight of the top 15 with the addition of:

Detroit – Michigan

Seattle – Washington  

Twin Cities – Minnesota

The other Power 2 conference, the SEC, can only claim four of the top 15 media markets.

Of course, the arguments for staying in the Pac-12 were certainly formidable (though not the point of this article), given that concerns were raised about student-athlete welfare considering more extensive travel distances and potential for missed classes, the shirking of decades-long traditions such as annual Bay Area football trips and rivalries such as UCLA-Arizona Men’s Basketball, and UCLA’s intra-system relationship with UC Berkeley (I believe that with their recent rebranding they want to be Berkeley again, even though we’ll refer to them as “Cal” for the purposes of this piece). 

And, of course, once the additional wave of defections was announced last summer with Oregon and Washington joining UCLA and USC in the Big Ten, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah heading to the Big 12, and Cal and Stanford heading to the ACC, more doubts arose from Bruins concerned that our move to the Big Ten started the domino effect leading to the Pac-12’s eventual dissolution (even though Oregon State and Washington State are remaining part of the league as it looks to reconstitute or realign itself in the next two years).  Whether UCLA alumni – who care so deeply for our alma mater whether we are sports fans or not – agree or disagree with the impending move to the Big Ten (and the unfortunate demise of the Pac-12), the reality is that it is happening, and it’s approaching quickly!  

While so much remains to be seen, we can be sure of this much: UCLA’s leadership, thanks to outgoing Chancellor Gene Block and Athletic Director Martin Jarmond, did their homework to assure that being a part of the Big Ten was in the overall best interest of UCLA, the Bruin athletics program and our student-athletes. UCLA Athletics has done extensive research and work to assure that the impact of Big Ten travel, considering a myriad of scheduling models and creative travel matrices, would be more than feasible with enhanced resources (thanks to the Big Ten financial largesse) such as chartered travel and increases in nutritional, physical and mental well-being resources. Let’s also not forget UCLA’s obligation to make $10 million “Calimony” payments each year for the next three years to assist Cal, which will be less resourced in its new ACC home.

What is paramount now, as the Big Ten era quickly approaches, is for the entire UCLA community – alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents, friends, donors and fans – to show up, and show up “B1G!” Whether sports fans or not, hopefully Bruins will come together during this unique time, fill the Rose Bowl for UCLA’s historic Big Ten home opener vs. Indiana on Sept. 14 and renew our sense of pride and optimism for this exciting new era of our University. UCLA will have an amplified presence in more regions across the U.S., and will continue to actively program and engage with alumni in former Pac-12 regions such as the Bay Area, Phoenix and Denver, which will continue to be home to tens of thousands of Bruins.

And if you choose to stay on the sidelines for now, hopefully you’ll eventually join the ranks and come out and support UCLA wherever you are, whether that means attending a sporting event, becoming active in the Alumni Association, mentoring our students, volunteering your time, and/or financially supporting UCLA scholarships and other institutional priorities. 

But if you want to wait and see, don’t worry…the next media negotiation cycle is scheduled for 2029-30, and as stated at the beginning of this article, the only thing constant is change.

Go Bruins!

For more information and cool facts about UCLA joining the Big Ten, please visit http://uclaxbigten.com.

Save the date for the Alumni Town Hall on Aug. 2, featuring Athletic Director Martin Jarmond.

Patrick E. Auerbach ’92, Ed.D., is a higher education and nonprofit strategy consultant based in Los Angeles. He can be contacted at patrick.e.auerbach@gmail.com.

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