OSU AD: Big Ten expansion not about SEC
Smith says opportunity ‘was too good to pass up’
When the Big Ten’s presidents and chancellors voted to admit Southern California and UCLA as members this week, it positioned itself as the second megaconference in college football.
Last summer, the Southeastern Conference poached Oklahoma and Texas from the Big 12 to become the first Power Five league with 16 teams.
But Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said the addition of the Los Angeles-based schools was not a counteraction.
“We weren’t doing it in response to the SEC,” Smith said. “We were doing it for our needs.”
In a joint news conference held with university president Kristina M.
Johnson on Friday morning, the school leaders confirmed negotiations between the Big Ten and USC and UCLA did not begin with their league.
Johnson said the Pac-12’s flagship programs approached the Big Ten about membership before submitting formal applications on Thursday.
Financial issues related to the Pac-12 Network had long plagued the conference and left USC and UCLA with depressed media rights payouts despite being situated in the second-largest television market in the U.S.
Their applications were essentially fast-tracked. Commissioner Kevin Warren called for a teleconference of member schools to consider their bids and review the league’s admission criteria. A vote was held hours later. It was unanimous.
“With two institutions that culturally fit us,” Smith said, “it was too good to pass up.”
The Trojans and Bruins are among the nation’s winningest athletic programs, especially in the top-two revenue-generating sports. USC is considered a traditional blue-blood in football, while UCLA has won a record 11 NCAA championships in men’s basketball.
Johnson also pointed out that they are among the 65 research schools within the Association of American Universities, a status that has often been a priority for the Big Ten when considering expansion candidates.
All Big Ten schools belong to the AAU with the exception of Nebraska, which lost its membership in 2011 after being admitted to the conference months earlier.
“I don’t think everybody realizes sometimes that the Big Ten, in addition to a great athletic conference, is a great academic conference,” said Johnson, who felt the new schools added to Ohio State’s research peers.
The annexation of USC and UCLA comes at a critical juncture for the Big Ten, which is in negotiations for a new television agreement after its current deal expires next year.
The media rights payouts for schools such as Ohio State will increase substantially, part of a deal that is expected to rival the SEC’S existing deal with ESPN.
Some have surmised Pac-12 schools such as Oregon, Stanford and Washington might be potential additions since they’d give USC and UCLA other partners on the West Coast to help with travel logistics.
“I don’t know,” Smith said. “I really don’t. Obviously the landscape will continue to change.”
Would Notre Dame be a possibility? “I’ve always thought they should be in a conference,” said Smith, a former defensive lineman for the Fighting Irish. “I hope that they’re considering that. I don’t know what a next step would be, but I hope they consider the opportunity and I hope it’s the Big Ten.”