'We Just Got Sooner'd and Horn'd': UCLA and USC Announces a Surprise Move to the Big Ten
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The Pac-12's brightest stars, UCLA and USC, are making a Big jump!
The California universities announced Thursday that they are headed to the Big Ten, a move that has major implications for college athletics.
The news is the latest seismic shift in college sports, according to multiple outlets, and comes on the heels of last year's announcement that Oklahoma and Texas would move to the SEC conference.
"College athletics is changing, and UCLA has always led in times of change," UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond told ESPN. "For the sake of our student-athletes, and for preserving the legacy of Bruin excellence, we cannot afford to stand still."
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USC athletic director Mike Bohn called the Big Ten "the best home for USC and Trojan athletics as we move into the new world of collegiate sports," according to the outlet.
But the shift caught the schools' longtime conference officials by surprise.
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The Pac-12 said in a statement that they were "extremely surprised and disappointed" by the news of UCLA and USC leaving.
"We just got Sooner'd and Horn'd," a Pac-12 university official told ESPN, referring to Texas' and Oklahoma's defection to the SEC with a nod to their mascots.
The Big Ten will offer the Los Angeles schools increased competition, not to mention financial benefits, ESPN said, and will deal a big blow to the Pac-12.
Or, as CBS Sports said, the conference is considered now to be on "life support."
