With the Pac-12 being reduced to the Pac-4 and very possibly arriving at the end of its existence, the University of California at Berkeley faces some big decisions.
It also faces the reality that it has little control over whether it is invited to the Big Ten.
As you might be aware, Cal-Berkeley is drowning in debt. UCLA will be subsidizing Cal with the television money the Bruins get from their Big Ten deal. The UC Board of Regents, which — at least theoretically, could have blocked UCLA’s move to the Big Ten — will make sure that happens as a condition of UCLA’s Big Ten membership. Getting some of UCLA’s money is good, but that can only go so far. Cal athletics is in dire shape. Football and men’s basketball have been abysmally bad in recent years and have drawn few fans. The athletic department is in disarray. Leadership has been lacking.
The condition of Cal athletics is so poor that Cal — if it gets an invite to the Big Ten — will be invited only because of three aspects: the Bay Area media market, Cal’s academic profile and Stanford.
If UCLA is in the Big Ten primarily because it’s a travel partner for USC, Cal would make the Big Ten primarily because it would be a travel partner and geographical addition to complement Stanford.
Let’s consider the reaction to the death of the Pac-12 and how Friday’s events — creating a Pac-4 — reshape reality for the Golden Bears: