When Texas and Oklahoma made the decision to leave the Big 12 for the SEC in July 2021, the decision sent shockwaves through the college football landscape.
Like the Big 12’s two flagship programs, USC and UCLA — two Blueblood Pac-12 programs — made the decision to leave the West Coast league to join the Big Ten in June. However, before the launch of the two Los Angeles-based programs, USC President Carol Folt was part of the committee that met last summer to consider whether the Pac-12 should expand and add Big 12 schools. .
According to the Los Angeles Times, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff set up a meeting with three presidents, including Folt and three athletic directors, to determine the fate of the league’s expansion efforts. Nearly 15 minutes into a Zoom call to discuss an hour-long presentation, Folt explicitly said she was surprised the league was talking about expansion and didn’t know why the league wanted to expand. , and she would have “closed” the talks.
After the special committee made the decision not to expand to August 2021, the Bruins and Trojans left the conference instead.
As the Pac-12 struggles to keep its remaining members together, more changes could potentially come for the expansion. Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger reported yesterday that Big 12 presidents just this week sent messages to Pac-12 presidents trying to lure them to their conference.
At the center of teams potentially leaving the Pac-12 is league revenue, which ranks last among Power 5 programs. However, Kliavkoff told reporters during league media days on Friday that the conference plans to fill the income gap while rejuvenating the prestige of the league.
“We still won more championships than anywhere else,” Kliavkoff said.
However, Folt and USC are firmly pursuing their move to the Big Ten.
“We are not going to respond to anonymous comments or hearsay,” Folt said in a statement, according to the Times.
As first-year Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley prepares for the upcoming season, he told The Times he had “conversations” and was warned the program could potentially leaving the Pac-12 for other opportunities.
“…We knew we were going to have to watch the landscape of what’s going on,” Riley told The Times. “You have to be at the forefront, and so I’m glad that our people have been progressive enough to seize what I think is going to be a great opportunity. I certainly understand the reasons behind it and I fully support.
Meanwhile, when Kliavkoff was asked if USC misled him on Friday, he chose not to talk about it.
“We’re going to take the high road and not talk about what happened in the past,” Kliavkoff said.
