# USC and UCLA in the Big 10? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-nfl\ **Created:** [June 30, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197 "2022-06-30T18:08:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/61 "2022-07-02T22:21:37Z")
Thought of another possible effect. Many Big 10 schools are located in fairly remote areas. Is stadium attendance going to suffer because you won’t get many fans from California willing to fly to Bloomington, Indiana for a weekend game? It’s fairly easy to drive around the original Big 10 schools with Minnesota a bit of an outlier. But flying from the West Coast is probably going to mean a connection. Of course, that could also be a reason for more neutral site games. Have Indiana play UCLA in Indianapolis, an easy flight from anywhere in the USA. Have USC play Illinois in Chicagox etc. It’s going to be interesting, there’s times I just want the old college football world back that I loved. But, it’s gone. At least I can see almost any game I want to now. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/62 "2022-07-02T22:53:52Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Many Big 10 schools are located in fairly remote areas. Is stadium attendance going to suffer because you won’t get many fans from California willing to fly to Bloomington, Indiana for a weekend game? I’ve been to about 10 ND/USC games in South Bend. Judging by the number of private planes that fly in, I’m guessing they’ll just fly directly into Bloomington Regional. Now, that’s a traditional rivalry with a lot of history - I’m sure attendance at the IU game will still be above-average (meaning, more than a few thousand will show up), because it’s a big name coming to play. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/63 "2022-07-02T23:11:24Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Sure, but what about luxury boxes and bottle service? You can’t expect monied alumni and LA scenesters to just mingle with the cheese-curd-covered hoi polloi at a UCLA-Ohio State game. You think that LA scensters go to college football games? lol. Anyway, that’s exactly what they do now and I haven’t heard that there are plans to change that. I doubt that the pro teams want the turf fucked up every week before their games. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/64 "2022-07-02T23:36:58Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > doubt that the pro teams want the turf fucked up every week before their games. Oh, I don’t think they’d move every game to the pro stadium. Just the very biggest matchups and they could use the stadium Labor Day weekend, college football kicks off then often with big matchups and the NFL doesn’t begin until Thursday after Labor Day. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/65 "2022-07-03T00:58:16Z")
They’d want to fill every seat possible for the biggest match ups and not give up 8.5 to 20.9 thousand bodies in seats. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/66 "2022-07-03T01:22:08Z")
You’d want to maximize revenue. Fewer people but more $$ spent per person would probably be the goal. Selling a nosebleed ticket and then setting up a pop up beer tent won’t make as much as a luxury box in a modern stadium. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/67 "2022-07-03T04:25:41Z")
You want to maximize profit, not revenue. I’m sure that someone has run the numbers and there’s no indication at this time that anyone is moving game locations. There may also be contractual problems and it might not be worth it to the SoFi people. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/68 "2022-07-04T15:26:55Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > The end goal is the the SEC and BIG 10 split away and form their own college football league with games broadcast on ESPN and Fox respectively. The winner of each conference will meet to play in a national championship game. I don’t know if this was the goal, but it’s definitely going to be what we get. There are 2 super conferences, and everybody else quarreling for scraps – including the remainder of the Pac-12, and my beloved Cal Bears. 100 years of tradition and history in the dumper, as we patch together a conference of the Mountain West and Pac-x leftovers. This totally sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/69 "2022-07-04T15:42:35Z")
For regular season games, aside from a few exceptions, home game attendance is always overwhelmingly made up of fans of the home team. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/70 "2022-07-05T00:08:59Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > …There are 2 super conferences, and everybody else quarreling for scraps – including the remainder of the Pac-12, and my beloved Cal Bears… Is this just sports resembling the rest of society - the rich get richer…? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/71 "2022-07-06T17:22:23Z")
Here is a pretty interesting article that explains in UCLA’s case how much more money they’ll be getting and how necessary it was. TLDR; UCLA’s athletics was in very serious debt and in the brink of default. When the Big10 gets their new media deal, they will be in the black and very healthy in a couple of years. > **[UCLA Olympic sports faced uncertain future until the Bruins jumped to the Big...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/debt-laden-ucla-grim-trajectory-214735687.html)** > > UCLA, saddled with $102.8 million in athletic debt, wasn't sure it could keep fielding all sports before the moving from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/72 "2022-07-13T21:16:09Z")
It will be interesting to see how well Wisconsin and Minnesota do at beach volleyball and how well USC and UCLA do at ice hockey. While the Big Ten is at it, maybe they should invite Sweden and Finland. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/73 "2022-07-13T21:53:11Z")
I doubt that UCLA will field an ice hockey team. They aren’t required to do every sport. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/74 "2022-07-13T21:55:57Z")
> I doubt that UCLA will field an ice hockey team. They aren’t required to do every sport. Of course not. Only about half the Big Ten plays ice hockey. Other schools do not field teams in sports played in the conference. Wisconsin, for example, does not have a baseball team. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/75 "2022-07-16T17:19:16Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Other schools do not field teams in sports played in the conference. Wisconsin, for example, does not have a baseball team. Exactly so. The Badgers did have a baseball team, up until the early '90s. My recollection (as an alumnus) is that they discontinued it, in part due to the difficulty of fielding a team during late winter in Wisconsin (they typically had to play most of the first half of the season on the road, though that obviously doesn’t keep schools like Minnesota and Michigan from doing so), but mostly due to budgetary issues in the athletic department. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/76 "2022-07-19T19:18:19Z")
Arizona State has a hockey team and I believe they will join the Big Ten as a hockey-only addition as Notre Dame has already done and as Johns Hopkins has done in lacrosse. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/77 "2023-08-04T18:31:14Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > UCLA and USC are both fine academically, but still, they’re thousands of miles away from the Big 10. Not anymore: > **[Oregon, Washington officially join Big Ten](https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/38134021/big-ten-set-send-invites-oregon-washington-sources-say)** > > Oregon and Washington officially joined the Big Ten Conference on Friday, expanding the conference to 18 members beginning in 2024. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/78 "2023-08-06T00:03:52Z")
Thus spelling doom for the PAC-12 conference. There are now just 4 teams left (Oregon State, Washington State, Cal and Stanford). They’ll be scrambling to find a way forward…probably merging with the Mountain West, relegating those 4 to G5 status. As an alum and very long time fan of one of those 4: this absolutely sucks. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/79 "2023-08-06T00:36:15Z")
Someone has created a site for the remaining Pac schools: > **[Pac-4: Conference of Champions](https://pac-4.com/)** > > The Pac-4 is the premier tri-state West Coast college football conference. I know there was some talk that the Big… 18 now was also kicking the tires on Cal and Stanford. It’s nuts to think that a few years back when Texas and Oklahoma went to the SEC, the remaining big Big12 schools were practically begging the PAC to take them in. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197/80 "2023-08-06T00:48:00Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Thus spelling doom for the PAC-12 conference. There are now just 4 teams left (Oregon State, Washington State, Cal and Stanford). They’ll be scrambling to find a way forward…probably merging with the Mountain West, relegating those 4 to G5 status. > > As an alum and very long time fan of one of those 4: this absolutely sucks. What seems worse for fans is their team joining a mega-conference full of heavy hitters, dramatically lessening their chances of winning the conference/making the CFP. For teams lacking a lot of historic success, joining a more competitive conference seems preferable to getting your brains beat out on a regular basis. Of course, school officials mostly care about making $$$ through big TV contracts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-and-ucla-in-the-big-10/967197.md?page=5)