Written by Connor Zahler:
As you’ve probably heard, the Big 10 will welcome the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Southern California to the league in 2024. Students everywhere have questions. Don’t we already have more than 10 schools? Isn’t California, like, super far away? What does this mean for my bracket? What exactly is a bruin? To help students understand this major transition, we’ve rounded up some important facts and figures.
16 and 10: The Big 10, contrary to its name, will boast 16 members by 2024 with the addition of USC and UCLA (there are currently no proposals to move to a more accurate name). The last schools to be added were Rutgers and the University of Maryland in 2014. On a similarly inaccurate note, the Pac-12 will have only 10 (if that many) schools. Their most recent acquisitions were the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Utah. However, before those two schools joined they were known for years as the Pac10.
10 and 6: According to reports, as many as 10 additional schools have reached out—informally—about joining the Big 10. Similarly, the Big 12 are rumored to be looking to poach 4-6 of the 10 Pac-12 schools. This news does not bode well for the Pac-12, especially as they’re in the midst of negotiating a new TV deal. Along with the SEC’s acquisitions of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at Austin, it seems that the number of conferences is set to shrink.
10: Approximately 10 months ago, the Big 10 and Pac-12 announced an “alliance,” along with the ACC, intended to bring their programs closer together and form a bulwark against the ascendent SEC. There was even a so-called “gentlemen’s agreement” not to poach each other’s schools. Perhaps the Big 10 thought they stood a better chance against the SEC as a larger conference than as a group of three.
15.6: The Big 10 offered its schools, on average, $15.6 million more than the Pac-12 did from 2019 to 2020. This amount of money is a big deal, especially considering that it represents 46.4% of the Pac-12’s distributions and 31.7% of the Big 10’s. That money is more (and better) recruits, upgrades to stadiums and facilities, and other general improvements. UCLA’s athletic program has been accumulating a huge budget deficit over the past years, so the money they are set to gain from the Big10 is clearly a good incentive.
12 and 6: With their expansion westward, the Big 10 will cover 12 states and stretch from the East Coast to the West (meaning that “Champions of the West” will become accurate in another way). The Pac-12, meanwhile, will cover 6 states, capturing the West Coast and plunging slightly inward.
5: A little under 5% of Michigan’s undergraduate population hails from the state of California. Despite the travel time and major differences in climate, California is home to more Michigan students than almost any other state. We can expect a lot of friendly reunions (and bitter arguments) whenever Michigan plays either of the new additions.