To the surprise of absolutely no one…

[UteFanatic]

UC board of regents approves move to the Big10. Will probably have to pay Berkeley money and implement student athlete wellness provisions to compensate for the increased travel burden.

[UrbanLiar]

NM

[UteFanatic]

Corrected. Thanks.

[AlaskaSteveUteAlum]

Wait and see what happens to the USC and UCLA fan base when they have to travel to the Midwest and East coast for league games, league tournaments and championship games.

[W16Ute]

UCLA has a fan base?

[ALUF]

USC fan base won’t be able to handle it. They’re so soft

[The Miami Ute]

Wait and see what happens when 18-19 year olds have to travel cross country on an every other week basis and they start seeing the toll it takes on their social and educational life. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if people start departing these programs for the simple reason that they don’t want to put up with the hassle. And then there’s the weather. How many cold weather games did UCLA and USC play every year in the PAC? Maybe one? Well, get ready to triple or quadruple that. Goodbye and good riddance. Don’t let the door slap you on the a** on the way out.

[Waybackutefan]

The cougar clowns are eating this up as the final nail in the coffin of the P10. Anything to distract them from the recruiting curb stomp.

[Stone]

I understand the desire for more $$ – it is critical and a top priority. But this move seems shortsighted. It will bring more money, but there are many intangibles that will have real costs, but may not show up in a spreadsheet. IMO, the main intangibles are travel for students and families of students and the loss of traditional rivalries (which impacts fan interest).

Although the dollar amount to travel will be easily offset, the burden of constant travel will wear on the students and the families of those students. Further, fans will care a lot less about a weekend matchup with, for example, Iowa and Illinois, as compared to Oregon State and Washington State. Sure, the novelty of matchups with Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State will be fun for a while, those matchups will be the exception, not the rule (especially if UCLA and USC are in a west division). If Utah were playing the Big 10 west, I would still support the team, but I would absolutely be less interested and less likely to travel to those away games as compared to the Pac12 slate of teams.

That said, I am not of the opinion that USC and UCLA will lack success in the Big 10 (as many claim). I think they will do fine – especially if they are in the weaker west division. I just don’t think it will be nearly as fun for their fans, and that will impact the bottomline over time.