USC President ‘Shut Down’ Potential 2021 Pac-12 Expansion, per Report

Ten months ago, Carol Folt was surprised the league was discussing the possibility of expansion. Now, the Trojans will be leaving for the Big Ten.

When Texas and Oklahoma made the decision to leave the Big 12 for the SEC in July 2021, the move sent shockwaves within the college football landscape.

Like the two powerhouse Big 12 programs, USC and UCLA—two blueblood Pac-12 programs—made the decision to leave the West Coast league to join the Big Ten in June. However, prior to the two Los Angeles-based programs bolting, USC president Carol Folt was part of committee assembled last summer to determine if the Pac-12 should expand and add schools from the Big 12.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff constructed a meeting with three presidents that included Folt and three athletic directors to determine the fate of the league’s expansion efforts. Nearly 15 minutes into a Zoom call in discussing a hourlong presentation, Folt explicitly stated that she was surprised the league was talking about expansion and was not sure why the league wanted to expand, and she reportedly “shut down” the talks.

After the special committee made the decision to not expand in August 2021, both the Bruins and the Trojans left the conference instead. 

As the Pac-12 scrambles to keep its remaining members together, more changes could potentially come for expansion. Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger reported yesterday Big 12 presidents as recently as this week sent messages to Pac-12 presidents to try to lure them to their conference.

At the center of teams potentially leaving the Pac-12 lies in the league’s revenue, which ranks last among Power 5 programs. However, Kliavkoff told reporters during the league’s media days on Friday that the conference has plans to close the revenue gap while also rejuvenating the prestige of the league.

“We’ve still won more championships than anywhere else,” Kliavkoff said. 

However, Folt and USC are firmly pressing onward with their move to the Big Ten.

“We’re not going to respond to anonymous comments or hearsay,” Folt said in a statement, per the Times.

As Trojans first-year head coach Lincoln Riley prepares for the upcoming season, he told the Times that he had “conversations” and was given a “heads up” that the program could potentially leave the Pac-12 for other opportunities.

“… We knew we were going to have to monitor the landscape of what’s going on,” Riley told the Times. “You have to be on the forefront, and so I’m glad our people were progressive enough to seize what I think is going to be a great opportunity. I certainly understand the reasons behind it and fully support it.”

Meanwhile, when Kliavkoff was asked if USC misled him on Friday, he chose not to talk about it.

“We’re going to take the high road and not talk about what happened in the past,” Kliavkoff said.