UCLA and USC are planning to move to the Big Ten conference in 2024. Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News was the first to report it, while Pete Thamel of ESPN confirmed that their application had been accepted. The respective schools also officially announced that they’ll be moving to the Big Ten for the start of the 2024 season.

The departure from the Pac-12 comes in the wake of USC’s hiring of former Oklahoma head football coach Lincoln Riley. The hope for the Trojans is that the change of coach and a move to a more competitive conference will earn them a bid to the college football playoff and eventually a national championship. 

The move comes as the Big Ten and SEC continue to out-earn the rest of the Power Five conferences, largely due to private contracts with media networks ESPN and Fox Sports. 

Navigate Entertainment and Sports Research projects that in 2022 the Big Ten is projected to make 57.2 million dollars, the SEC 54.3 million dollars and the Big 12 40.6 million dollars with the Pac-12 ranking second to last, making 34.4 million dollars.

The departure of the LA schools from the Pac-12 is likely the first of other shifts that will occur in the college sports conference landscape. 

The reshaping of conferences as schools jockey for more competitive schedules to garner college football playoff bids and recruiting clout suggest a future formation of a two-conference system as the two major broadcasters of college sports and their affiliate networks work with the Power Five conferences to reach agreements.

Already, many project Oregon to look for more competitive and lucrative options for conferences to play in with the Big Ten and Big 12 projected to land the Ducks.