The Big Ten made a huge splash in the college football world today by announcing the additions of USC and UCLA. And now we know exactly when the soon-to-be-former Pac-12 schools will make the move.
According to the Big Ten’s Twitter page, the Trojans and Bruins are set to join their conference in 2024.
The Big Ten announced today that the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles will become conference members effective August 2, 2024, with competition to begin in all sports the 2024-25 academic year. https://t.co/DnwNMJSEe7
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) July 1, 2022
It has also been reported that the two schools actually pursued the Big Ten. And while they weren’t looking to expand, it was too tough for the Power Five conference to turn down the prospects of adding two monster programs like USC and UCLA.
But now that they are making additions, word has it that they may not be done just yet.
According to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, the Big Ten could look to add other Pac 12 schools, but their main focus is (and always has been) Notre Dame.
Lot of talk about additional Pac-12 schools possibly being on Big Ten’s radar. Not ruling that out, but the one school they want — the one they’ve always wanted — is Notre Dame. That’s where the energy likely will be placed.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) June 30, 2022
The SEC is still the cream of the crop when it comes to college football conferences across America. But landing the Fighting Irish in the same summer as two programs like the Trojans and Bruins could very well tilt the balance of power in the Big Ten’s favor.
From the sound of it, this whole thing is far from over. Stay tuned.