A veritable bomb went off on the college football landscape on Thursday. USC and UCLA formally exited the PAC-12 conference and will join the Big Ten for the 2024 football season. Both Los Angeles-based universities announced the move on their social media platforms.
The move is a stunning blow to the power structure of the top conferences, which was already in flux with the recent departures of Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 to the SEC. It makes for some fuzzy math in the conference naming brands as well; the PAC-12 is down to 10 teams while the Big Ten will have 16.
The national footprint for the Big Ten now stretches from New Jersey to Los Angeles, though still focused primarily in the Great Lakes region. For the PAC-12, losing two bedrock member schools puts the future of the West Coast-based conference in serious flux. More expansion and/or realignment could happen as a result.
From a Lions perspective, it makes it easier for more Midwestern fans to know more about prospects like Amon-Ra St. Brown (USC) and even get to see them play in person on road games.