Gene Smith shares importance of Big Ten adding USC, UCLA

The joint move of USC and UCLA to shrug off the Pac 12 and ultimately join the Big Ten in a few years was one of the more shocking developments in college football realignment. Two west coast schools, admittedly with nominal ties to their new midwest compatriots, playing Purdue and Illinois regularly, feels off.

But, there is of course an upside to the Big Ten’s southern California coup. Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith outlined some of the reasons for the move and why he’s excited on “The Gene Smith Podcast,” his own show produced by OSU athletics. On the most recent episode — featuring USC AD Mike Bohn — Smith expounded on the value of adding USC and UCLA.

“You said it in your question, that tradition and that history and it’s all the things that Mike talked about. We have two AAU institutions joining our AAU institutions. It provides collaborative opportunities for our faculty and our presidents and researchers and all those types of things. It’s beyond athletics. We’ll be able to create synergies in so many different ways. I’m just really, really excited by the fact that we have two progressive athletic directors in Mike and Martin [Jarmond] at UCLA, who will ultimately look at this opportunity to make sure that we all maximize this new relationship and in different ways.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

In this instance AAU stands for Association of American Universities which is a collection of member research institutions — every Big Ten school except Nebraska is an AAU member. Nebraska lost the status in 2011. And while academics usually generate lip service from athletic administrators and eye rolls from fans, Smith knows the weight that designation carries for the league.

And Smith is a lot like the res of us, too. He can’t wait to go watch Ohio State play a regular season game in the Rose Bowl or see USC’s horse mascot, Traveler, doing its thing.

“But the tradition is really cool. When you think about USC and its rich tradition and so many ways. You know, the horse, I can’t wait to just see the horse and see that bad boy dancing around on the field. It’s just moving to think about the fact that they will be a part of our regular schedule in some form or fashion. And to Mike’s point, our television platform will be significantly enhanced with them joining our family. It’s just really a beautiful thing to make this happen. It’s just special,” Smith said.