Beyond men’s soccer and basketball, UCLA and USC are forces in so-called Olympic sports. USC, for example, has won national beach volleyball, track and field outdoor championships for women and men’s tennis in the last decade. For its part, UCLA has won recent titles in baseball, beach volleyball, women’s gymnastics, women’s soccer, softball and women’s tennis. Both schools have also won titles in water polo, which is not a Pac-12-sponsored sport for men or women.
Eclipsed by the unexpected economic potential, there is an increase in the burden on athletes, whether football players or distance runners, who will travel regularly for round trips from Los Angeles to distant campuses at State College. , Pennsylvania; New Brunswick, NJ; and College Park, Md., for the competition.
The deal could cast a shadow over the tenure of Kevin Warren, the commissioner of the Big Ten since 2019, who received criticism in 2020 when his league initially decided not to play the fall football season due to the pandemic. Although the conference eventually reversed his decision and organized some of the games he had planned, the episode has followed Warren ever since. (The Pac-12, under the direction of Larry Scott, also canceled and revived its 2020 football season.)
At the same time, the departures from USC and UCLA are a tough test for George Kliavkoff, who became the Pac-12 commissioner a year ago. Last August, following decisions by Oklahoma and Texas, the league said it had no plans to expand “at this time,” in part because of the current competitive strength and cohesion of our 12 universities. “.
For now, at least conference members include California, Oregon, Stanford, Utah and Washington.
Kevin Draper contributed to the report.