Is USC, UCLA move pushing college football toward pro model?

News that USC and UCLA are leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024 is simply the most recent growth in what has come to be an ever-changing college football panorama.

The official announcement, which broke Thursday, is a major blow for the Pac-12 Conference, which hasn’t despatched a crew to the College Football Playoff because the 2016 Washington Huskies and has battled for relevancy in a Power Five panorama dominated by the SEC and Big Ten. The move additionally comes nearly a yr after Big 12 powers Texas and Oklahoma formally accepted invites to affix the SEC in 2025. 

When it is all mentioned and completed, the Big Ten can have 5 football stadiums with capacities of 90,000 or more. 

On Friday’s “The Herd,” College Football Hall of Famer and FOX College Football Studio Analyst Matt Leinart, a former USC quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner, joined Joy Taylor to interrupt down the information.

“I used to be shocked on the preliminary announcement, [but] I can not say that I’m stunned that it occurred,” he mentioned. “I believe once you have a look at the present panorama of college football [and] the place it is going — Oklahoma and Texas actually being that first domino final yr to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to the SEC,’ for his or her apparent causes. USC being a large nationwide model nonetheless regardless of kinda the dearth of competitiveness on the sphere. It simply was a no brainer. … I’m not stunned that they made this move that can significantly profit them and UCLA.”

Matt Leinart on USC and UCLA leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten

Leinart discusses the information of USC and UCLA leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten.

Leinart went on to debate what the move means for college football normally and the way it will influence the league shifting ahead.

“I believe we’re going toward — it seems like — a pro mannequin with two mega-conferences,” he mentioned. “You have the SEC, which introduced in Oklahoma and Texas. Now you might have the Big Ten, which is bringing in USC and UCLA. The complete panorama is shifting. … The Big 12 was ready to usher in some new membership final yr to kinda survive, however the total panorama, that’s shifting.

“I believe NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) is one other factor, the switch portal. There [are] so many alternative points proper now. … It’s all going to cool down in some unspecified time in the future. It is the brand new [normal], and I believe now we have to get used to that — for higher or for worse. It’s form of such as you both must be part of the long run — you sink, otherwise you swim. Some groups are gonna sink and a few groups are gonna leap off and try to survive.”