OT: Death of USC and UCLA

[Frosty]

With the recent exodus of players from USC and UCLA, I’m curious if this hurts them far more in the B1G than it would’ve if they would’ve just stayed in the PAC12 (Which IIRC was more money anyways).

My reasoning for saying it does is now they have depleted rosters, already with no Defense, and heading into one of of the most stout defensive conferences in football. They also both just lost their futures as Malachi Nelson and Dante Moore have both entered the transfer portal. So currently they are moving to a tougher conference with a worse roster.

So what now?

I would argue that with geopolitical factors such as taxation and the already low sports climate in California, this may be the nail in the coffin for these programs.

Curious to see if you think the dissolvement of the of PAC12 basically destroyed these programs as well.

 

[DarkVolder]

I think it was a horrible move that they will regret it tremendously. I can see them both moving to the Big 12 in the next few years.

 

[rikberry31]

With the recent exodus of players from USC and UCLA, I’m curious if this hurts them far more in the B1G than it would’ve if they would’ve just stayed in the PAC12 (Which IIRC was more money anyways).

My reasoning for saying it does is now they have depleted rosters, already with no Defense, and heading into one of of the most stout defensive conferences in football. They also both just lost their futures as Malachi Nelson and Dante Moore have both entered the transfer portal. So currently they are moving to a tougher conference with a worse roster.

So what now?

I would argue that with geopolitical factors such as taxation and the already low sports climate in California, this may be the nail in the coffin for these programs.

Curious to see if you think the dissolvement of the of PAC12 basically destroyed these programs as well.

There are a lot of teams that will be worse than them in the B10. They would be in trouble in the SEC because we have only one Vanderbilt but the B10 has multiple.

 

[hog88]

Their move to the B1G10 won't affect football and mens basketball much but it will kill the non-revenue sports.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Somewhere in the neighborhood of $80M+ per year from the Big 10 vs the $20M+ Apple MIGHT have given the PAC.

Success is measured differently in college athletics these days, but let's keep blaming the players for being greedy.

 

[LouderVol]

Unless they took an SMU type deal to join the Big 10 there is no way they are getting paid less in the Big 10 than they were in the PAC.

 

[TrojanorVol]

This is my specialty right here. Old die hard USC Trojan fan here since about 7 and I'm almost 40. Lived in SoCal for 38 of those years and live in the Knoxville area now and have had love for the Vols since 97 to the point it's the college football team I choose to obsess over these days. I had no connection or family here. It's the Vols football culture and fan base that sold me and considered it the best even as a kid. I can write a novel on this topic but will keep it as short as possible with as little words as possible. Southern CA college football culture stinks, nobody cares anymore, the students are all foreign or from out of the area and then leave the area where in the past... kids went where their parents went if they could. Some would go to the rival school based on acceptance or financial situation or scholarship options. The academics are #1 at USC and Ucla and athletics took a backseat for so long... they lost that football culture that was never close to what it is in the South or even Midwest but now is truly pathetic. Ucla football doesn't have the budget to compete and lacks interest from their alumni to make any real progress. USC has chosen idiots as athletic directors forever and didn't make their signature sports team a priority for 10 plus years and it shows. USC has chosen all head coaches since Carrol who play a soft brand of football. Where it's all about the play design and having athletes do the work over focusing on the offensive and defensive lines take over games. Since Carrol left, it always felt like we would get all 5 star WRs, RBs, DBs, QBs and everyone else was a 3 star. I took my Son to a game when they had Sarkisian as head coach... we struggled against a weak Cal team but it wasn't the performance, it was something about the realization that I felt like I believed in a lie most of my life that college football was as important to USC as it was for me and that was nothing close to the truth... I prefer to root for the Vols and enjoy Neyland win or lose much more now. Been to 60 plus college football games, rose bowls and a natty... that Bama game at Neyland was the most special experience... nothing has compared to it.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

This is my specialty right here. Old die hard USC Trojan fan here since about 7 and I'm almost 40. Lived in SoCal for 38 of those years and live in the Knoxville area now and have had love for the Vols since 97 to the point it's the college football team I choose to obsess over these days. I had no connection or family here. It's the Vols football culture and fan base that sold me and considered it the best even as a kid. I can write a novel on this topic but will keep it as short as possible with as little words as possible. Southern CA college football culture stinks, nobody cares anymore, the students are all foreign or from out of the area and then leave the area where in the past... kids went where their parents went if they could. Some would go to the rival school based on acceptance or financial situation or scholarship options. The academics are #1 at USC and Ucla and athletics took a backseat for so long... they lost that football culture that was never close to what it is in the South or even Midwest but now is truly pathetic. Ucla football doesn't have the budget to compete and lacks interest from their alumni to make any real progress. USC has chosen idiots as athletic directors forever and didn't make their signature sports team a priority for 10 plus years and it shows. USC has chosen all head coaches since Carrol who play a soft brand of football. Where it's all about the play design and having athletes do the work over focusing on the offensive and defensive lines take over games. Since Carrol left, it always felt like we would get all 5 star WRs, RBs, DBs, QBs and everyone else was a 3 star. I took my Son to a game when they had Sarkisian as head coach... we struggled against a weak Cal team but it wasn't the performance, it was something about the realization that I felt like I believed in a lie most of my life that college football was as important to USC as it was for me and that was nothing close to the truth... I prefer to root for the Vols and enjoy Neyland win or lose much more now. Been to 60 plus college football games, rose bowls and a natty... that Bama game at Neyland was the most special experience... nothing has compared to it.

Nice post
The collection of talent that Carrol assembled was some of the best that I have ever witnessed when the Trojans had it rolling. The hurricanes during their run in the early 2000s are also in the discussion as well. You are right though, once PC left for Seattle, the brand became weaker over the years.

 

[Voltopia]

This is my specialty right here. Old die hard USC Trojan fan here since about 7 and I'm almost 40. Lived in SoCal for 38 of those years and live in the Knoxville area now and have had love for the Vols since 97 to the point it's the college football team I choose to obsess over these days. I had no connection or family here. It's the Vols football culture and fan base that sold me and considered it the best even as a kid. I can write a novel on this topic but will keep it as short as possible with as little words as possible. Southern CA college football culture stinks, nobody cares anymore, the students are all foreign or from out of the area and then leave the area where in the past... kids went where their parents went if they could. Some would go to the rival school based on acceptance or financial situation or scholarship options. The academics are #1 at USC and Ucla and athletics took a backseat for so long... they lost that football culture that was never close to what it is in the South or even Midwest but now is truly pathetic. Ucla football doesn't have the budget to compete and lacks interest from their alumni to make any real progress. USC has chosen idiots as athletic directors forever and didn't make their signature sports team a priority for 10 plus years and it shows. USC has chosen all head coaches since Carrol who play a soft brand of football. Where it's all about the play design and having athletes do the work over focusing on the offensive and defensive lines take over games. Since Carrol left, it always felt like we would get all 5 star WRs, RBs, DBs, QBs and everyone else was a 3 star. I took my Son to a game when they had Sarkisian as head coach... we struggled against a weak Cal team but it wasn't the performance, it was something about the realization that I felt like I believed in a lie most of my life that college football was as important to USC as it was for me and that was nothing close to the truth... I prefer to root for the Vols and enjoy Neyland win or lose much more now. Been to 60 plus college football games, rose bowls and a natty... that Bama game at Neyland was the most special experience... nothing has compared to it.

This tracks. I lived in southern California for around a decade and would occasionally go to USC games just to get near a football field. I was fascinated by how often I knew more about USC"s team than the people I spoke to at games, or even watching at bars around town. Occasionally I'd run into one of those older silver fox types with sunbleached gear from the 80s or 90s who knew their stuff. But not regularly. Just an odd environment. You could tell there was a lot of money - I mean a LOT of money - but you could also tell that winning and losing wasn't really the end of the world for 'em. USC games were just a thing to do. Go to the game, kick the post, watch the Song Girls, and enjoy the weather.

And if you've ever been to Los Angeles, it would make sense to you. There's a million things to do around LA. College football will never dominate there. Not even a dynasty could capture that town. It will never buy in to the degree SEC fans have bought in. It's just not that kind of market.

 

[GoDucks349]

With the recent exodus of players from USC and UCLA, I’m curious if this hurts them far more in the B1G than it would’ve if they would’ve just stayed in the PAC12 (Which IIRC was more money anyways).

My reasoning for saying it does is now they have depleted rosters, already with no Defense, and heading into one of of the most stout defensive conferences in football. They also both just lost their futures as Malachi Nelson and Dante Moore have both entered the transfer portal. So currently they are moving to a tougher conference with a worse roster.

So what now?

I would argue that with geopolitical factors such as taxation and the already low sports climate in California, this may be the nail in the coffin for these programs.

Curious to see if you think the dissolvement of the of PAC12 basically destroyed these programs as well.

I think it will hurt UCLA more than USC because USC is private, similar to ND, whereas, UCLA is a public state university and funding is a whole different situation.

And oh, bye the way Dante Moore is now a Duck,

 

[GoDucks349]

This tracks. I lived in southern California for around a decade and would occasionally go to USC games just to get near a football field. I was fascinated by how often I knew more about USC"s team than the people I spoke to at games, or even watching at bars around town. Occasionally I'd run into one of those older silver fox types with sunbleached gear from the 80s or 90s who knew their stuff. But not regularly. Just an odd environment. You could tell there was a lot of money - I mean a LOT of money - but you could also tell that winning and losing wasn't really the end of the world for 'em. USC games were just a thing to do. Go to the game, kick the post, watch the Song Girls, and enjoy the weather.

And if you've ever been to Los Angeles, it would make sense to you. There's a million things to do around LA. College football will never dominate there. Not even a dynasty could capture that town. It will never buy in to the degree SEC fans have bought in. It's just not that kind of market.

Agree totally with this my niece's husband played bball for ASU and his brother played DB for USC, the environment and culture around USC is just more of an "oh, by the way I think the trojans are playing this weekend, do you want to go?" type of environment.

 

[joevol33]

This is my specialty right here. Old die hard USC Trojan fan here since about 7 and I'm almost 40. Lived in SoCal for 38 of those years and live in the Knoxville area now and have had love for the Vols since 97 to the point it's the college football team I choose to obsess over these days. I had no connection or family here. It's the Vols football culture and fan base that sold me and considered it the best even as a kid. I can write a novel on this topic but will keep it as short as possible with as little words as possible. Southern CA college football culture stinks, nobody cares anymore, the students are all foreign or from out of the area and then leave the area where in the past... kids went where their parents went if they could. Some would go to the rival school based on acceptance or financial situation or scholarship options. The academics are #1 at USC and Ucla and athletics took a backseat for so long... they lost that football culture that was never close to what it is in the South or even Midwest but now is truly pathetic. Ucla football doesn't have the budget to compete and lacks interest from their alumni to make any real progress. USC has chosen idiots as athletic directors forever and didn't make their signature sports team a priority for 10 plus years and it shows. USC has chosen all head coaches since Carrol who play a soft brand of football. Where it's all about the play design and having athletes do the work over focusing on the offensive and defensive lines take over games. Since Carrol left, it always felt like we would get all 5 star WRs, RBs, DBs, QBs and everyone else was a 3 star. I took my Son to a game when they had Sarkisian as head coach... we struggled against a weak Cal team but it wasn't the performance, it was something about the realization that I felt like I believed in a lie most of my life that college football was as important to USC as it was for me and that was nothing close to the truth... I prefer to root for the Vols and enjoy Neyland win or lose much more now. Been to 60 plus college football games, rose bowls and a natty... that Bama game at Neyland was the most special experience... nothing has compared to it.

God willing, I'll be in southern California pretty soon for a surgery for my wife. Was gonna be at USC, but they're going to do it at UCLA I believe now. Both hospitals are kinda working together, a Dr from each hospital, long story about a first time transplant. Anyway, I was looking forward to talking some football, even smack, out there. You just took the fun out of my plans

 

[wmcovol]

I think it was a horrible move that they will regret it tremendously. I can see them both moving to the Big 12 in the next few years.

I think they come back looking to reform the Pac12 someday. FB may play a national schedule but the other sports doesn’t make sense.

The entire fiasco is a result of terrible administration at the schools (we know about that) & conference office. This past season proves they had a great product provided all the schools invested in it.

 

[Okie]

God willing, I'll be in southern California pretty soon for a surgery for my wife. Was gonna be at USC, but they're going to do it at UCLA I believe now. Both hospitals are kinda working together, a Dr from each hospital, long story about a first time transplant. Anyway, I was looking forward to talking some football, even smack, out there. You just took the fun out of my plans

Sorry to hear about your wife. I hope that all goes well for her.

I was in the Sacremento airport in December, ahead of the Oklahoma/USC game for the NC years ago. I was wearing my OU hat and a guy walks up and says "I'm from UCLA and I hope your team kicks USCs a$$es to eternity." Some other people heard him and were shaking their heads in approval. The hate was strong toward USC then.

Unfortunately for Sooner fans, USC got hot in that game and didn't let up. OU played their worst game in years that night and got their butts handed to them. I am not sure that Bob Stoops ever fully recovered from it.

As a Sooner, I have hated USC for decades, going back to Charles White winning the Heisman over Billy Sims. Hated them then, hate them now, will hate them always. I hope that they lose every game that they play.

 

[joevol33]

Sorry to hear about your wife. I hope that all goes well for her.

I was in the Sacremento airport in December, ahead of the Oklahoma/USC game for the NC years ago. I was wearing my OU hat and a guy walks up and says "I'm from UCLA and I hope your team kicks USCs a$$es to eternity." Some other people heard him and were shaking their heads in approval. The hate was strong toward USC then.

Unfortunately for Sooner fans, USC got hot in that game and didn't let up. OU played their worst game in years that night and got their butts handed to them. I am not sure that Bob Stoops ever fully recovered from it.

As a Sooner, I have hated USC for decades, going back to Charles White winning the Heisman over Billy Sims. Hated them then, hate them now, will hate them always. I hope that they lose every game that they play.

Thank you, and I've always disliked USC

 

[stolitonic]

God willing, I'll be in southern California pretty soon for a surgery for my wife. Was gonna be at USC, but they're going to do it at UCLA I believe now. Both hospitals are kinda working together, a Dr from each hospital, long story about a first time transplant. Anyway, I was looking forward to talking some football, even smack, out there. You just took the fun out of my plans

While I have my issues with the state of California-I will be the first to admit that some of their physicians are on a different level.

I wouldn't worry much about giving football smack talk, your knowledge may be woefully superior to that of the locals.