Pete Thamel: Oregon move to Big Ten not what USC bargained for

Two years after USC and UCLA announced that they were leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big Ten, Washington and Oregon are reportedly on the verge of doing the same.

However, USC may not be happy with two other teams from the Pac-12 being voted into the Big Ten.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel appeared on the Paul Finebaum Show on Friday and said that when USC was negotiating with the Big Ten, it shared that it didn’t want other Pac-12 schools to follow.

“Former USC AD Mike Bohn had made it pretty clear internally at USC that part of the allure of this move was that they can own the West coast. They can be the West coast destination. They can be the place that recruits want to go,” Thamel said. “They’d be making twice as much money from TV as any other West coast competitor. And so that was not something negotiated in the deal, I want to be clear. But it was something that was certainly talked about and something coveted and valued.”

Los Angeles Times columnist Brady McCollough went a step further, writing that USC was “adamant with the Big Ten that they did not want to be followed.” He went on to state that if the Big Ten had to add, USC wanted “anybody but the Ducks.”

However, as Thamel pointed out, a number of the people who were a part of USC landing in the Big Ten are no longer involved with the university. Former Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren is also gone and is currently with the Chicago Bears. There may have quietly been a handshake agreement in place at one time, but most of the people involved with the negotiations are now elsewhere.

“USC did not have a vote today. I’m sure commissioner Tony Petitti called USC President Carol Folt and discussed with her this impending move,” Thamel said. “But look, Kevin Warren, who brokered that deal for the Big Ten is gone. Mike Bohn obviously resigned amid controversy. Even the Chief of Staff at USC in their athletic department, who was at the forefront of that deal – Brandon Sosna – is with the Lions. So the only constant in college sports is change. And there’s been a lot of change in just the one year since USC and UCLA agreed to go to the Big Ten.”

It remains to be seen what is next for the Pac-12 as Arizona, Arizona State and Utah are reportedly also considering leaving the conference. But one thing is clear, USC and UCLA will soon have company with other West coast teams joining the Big Ten.