How do UCLA, USC fit into the Big Ten realignment picture?

Every year, the Big Ten claims to be one of the most consistent and competitive sports conferences in the country. However, within the new millennium, Big Ten teams have only won three combined championships in either college football or basketball. The Pac-12 conference UCLA and USC would be leaving has also faced continued backlash about not being competitive enough. This has caused teams to face postseason penalties for a weak strength of schedule. Will UCLA and USC moving to the Big Ten help solve these two anomalies?

The short answer is yes.

The historic nature of these football programs brings new competitive rivalries into the Big Ten. The added competition to the conference will help it reach high levels of respect, respect that will especially impact the College Football Playoff committee.

UCLA and USC will most likely join the Big Ten West Division. This makes the most sense geographically, but also competitively. Currently, the Big Ten West consists of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Northwestern and Purdue. Since splitting into the eastern and western divisions in 2014, Wisconsin has won the West Divison title four times. Iowa and Northwestern have both claimed it twice. The West Division has lost every single Big Ten Championship game since the split of the conference. This proves that the current alignment just isn’t quite fair or equal competitively.

Purdue would mostly likely be the team transferred to the East Division as two teams are added to the West. Purdue has not won a Big Ten West title in its seven years of existence. But, they have been known to play spoiler and steal big wins from teams in playoff contention over the last couple of years. They could be the perfect team to mix up the East Division.

Cons: Do they really fit in?

Besides the obvious geographical difference between UCLA, USC and the rest of the Big Ten conference, do these teams really fit into the historic nature of the Big Ten? While watching California fans freeze in the sub-zero temperatures known to the Big Ten conference could be entertaining, there are other objections that can be made to these additions.

It didn’t work in 2014…

Rutgers and Maryland were accepted into the Big Ten in 2014 to expand the conference’s reach to the east coast. This move had very similar attractions to that of admitting UCLA and USC. The main attraction to the east coast was revenue for the conference. The bigger the geographical reach the conference had into markets like New York and Washington D.C., the better for the conference as a whole.

However, this wasn’t the case, especially when it comes to college football. Rutgers and Maryland have seen nothing but losing seasons and extremely skewed scores since they joined the Big Ten. This has decreased the conference’s strength of schedule, increased travel costs and overall not made a huge difference in the competitive nature of Big Ten Football.

Adding UCLA and USC would extend the Big Ten market from coast to coast. But, with both teams’ lack of success within the Pac-12 Football conference over the last couple of years, would the risk of history repeating itself outweigh the reward of an extended market?

Piscataway to LA…

Speaking of geographical location and finances. Travel costs are at an all-time high right now and another con that fans have brought into the mix is why the addition makes sense when teams like Rutgers and Maryland are on the complete opposite side of the country. While the trip from L.A. to Madison, Ann Arbor or Columbus would still be far, Piscataway to L.A. just doesn’t make sense to most fans opposing the move.

Most other sports in the Big Ten are not divided by an East and West division. This means that an extended road trip will be added for all Big Ten teams. In addition, these trips will now come out of the conference budget instead of a non-conference schedule.

If the Big Ten conference sees this as an opportunity to maximize the conference’s network reach and make more money, how will its fans love having to travel even further for away events?

Rain, Sleet and Snow…

Climate seems to be the other big debate on whether UCLA and USC are good additions to the Big Ten. The argument is simply based on the difference in climate that California schools take advantage of. While the addition of Maryland and Rutgers extended the Big Ten out of the midwest in 2014, both schools still faced a lot of the four-season climate restrictions that the rest of the conference did as well.

UCLA and USC will be the first teams to enter the conference where outdoor athletics, like football, will be able to practice outside year-round. One could argue that more outdoor facilities and more game-like reps in game-like climates could prove advantageous to the southern schools. Making California schools adjust to inclement northern weather could, however, prove more beneficial to the original Big Ten. Either way, one side takes the climate advantage when it comes to conference play.

Up Next:

UCLA and USC are confirmed to start conference play within the Big Ten starting in 2024.