UCLA, USC to leave Pac-12 for the Big Ten conference

Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer reports on how two of the biggest colleges, UCLA and USC, are opting to join the Big Ten.

Video transcript

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- Well, it's California, so it's really an earthquake-- a seismic shift in college sports. The Big Ten could be getting even bigger-- Josh Schafer here, with the details-- one conference growing, one conference could be toast, Josh.

JOSH SCHAFER: Yeah, Dave, so it really seems like the Big Ten is growing. And as you said, what that means for the Pac-12 is probably a little scary. So let's get into it.

It looks like USC and UCLA are going to be moving to the Big Ten. That might happen as early as 2024 per the reports that we're seeing. Really what this move is going to be for the Big Ten-- it's a streaming play. It's a media rights play. They want to make this thing bigger, right?

And so when we take a look at a graph that we have here made, you can see the projected revenue of the different conferences. And you can see the SEC and the Big Ten are at the top there. That's way above the Pac-12, the ACC, and the Big 12.

So when you sit down in a board room and you're USC, you're UCLA, and you take a look at those numbers, it's a tough argument to stay in the Pac-12. And then I think it's a tough argument for-- do those three conferences on the bottom eventually survive when we're talking 10 or 15 years down the line? What happens with NCAA football? This is going to be a big moment, Dave, once this happens.

- Right. Those are the two, arguably, biggest schools, biggest earners, in the conference, in the Pac-12. And what's left? Arizona, my Alma mater, Colorado, Oregon-- a few, but you lose a lot of your star power and your central market, which is Los Angeles.