Are USC and UCLA torpedoing their recruiting by joining the Big Ten? Hey, Nathan!
COLUMBUS, Ohio — USC and UCLA helped their athletic departments’ bottom line significantly by leaving the Pac-12 Conference to join Ohio State football and the rest of the Big Ten.
The Pac-12′s per-school payout for 2021-22 was $37 — lowest among the Power 5 programs. The Big Ten’s leading per-school distribution for the same period was $58.8 million (except for Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers). That distribution increases next year with a new, richer media rights deal.
One of our Buckeye Talk subscribers, though, wonders if that financial boost came with a major cost elsewhere.
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Hey Nathan: “I’m wondering if USC and UCLA’s recruiting could be hurt by joining the B1G. That is a lot of travel for families if they want to watch their sons play. Many of the B1G campuses aren’t exactly “destination cities.” That’s a lot of miles when half your games are 1,000s of miles away. Just a thought.” — Garry from the 419
Hey, Garry: To make sure people know the parameters, the L.A. Times calculated the average distance from UCLA to a Big Ten school to be about 2,160 miles. That is nearly three times the average distance to any of their soon-to-be-former Pac-12 partners.
Even programs with a national reach have a regional base. Of the 111 players on USC’s roster, 59 are from California. Even if you assume that includes the vast majority of the walk-ons, that’s still a considerable portion of the scholarship base drawn from in state.
However, this probably will not significantly affect USC. At its best, this is one of a small handful of truly marquee programs. Lincoln Riley joined to reclaim that status.
UCLA may take a bigger hit. You can, though, argue the opposite effect. Are USC and UCLA more attractive to national recruits in the Midwest, South and East Coast now that they will play a significant portion of their schedule closer to their players’ homes?
Ohio State likes to appeal to California and Arizona prospects by pointing out how often they will play bowl and playoff games out west. If a player from say, Chicago, was previously hesitant about playing at USC or UCLA, now he knows they will play games in Evanston, Champaign, Madison, West Lafayette, Bloomington, East Lansing and Ann Arbor every four years.
Plus, the Pac-12 looks like it may be splintering as we speak. If the Big Ten picks off one or two of the refugee programs, that adds a couple more proximal rivals to the mix.
Bottom line: If USC and UCLA thought this move would torpedo their football recruiting, I’m not sure they would have still taken the money grab. They presumably studied this option and decided it was worth going the distance.
After all, playing the majority of his games out west didn’t dissuade Caleb Williams from leaving Washington, D.C., for Oklahoma, then the Trojans.
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