programs but the toughest possible outcome for the rest of a conference that was already struggling. Paolo Uggetti: As one rival Pac-12 staffer put it soon after the news surfaced, this is great for the L.A.
It can still exist but the idea that it can compete in the national landscape without the Los Angeles schools is absurd. This has the potential to serve as essentially a death blow for the Pac-12. Do other schools recognize this and also seek preservation options? Do Utah and Colorado look to the Big 12? If the Pac-12 seeks replacement options, schools such as San Diego State or Boise State do very little to make up for the loss of USC and UCLA. It's going to take some time to have any real sense of what happens for the conference because schools such as Oregon and Washington have clear incentive to leave as a form of self-preservation. Kyle Bonagura: The Pac-12 as a conference and the other member schools were completely caught off-guard by this move. Our college sports reporters weigh in on what comes next after another seismic move in the NCAA landscape. Is this move the end for the Pac-12? Could it be another step toward superconferences? When will the next dominoes fall? The fallout of the latest existential shift to college sports could be even bigger this time around. USC and UCLA are planning to join the Big Ten as early as 2024, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday, spinning the conference realignment wheel again a little under a year after Oklahoma and Texas rocked the college football world by announcing their intentions to join the SEC.