College football expansion: Big Ten wanted one school instead of UCLA

UCLA wasn't the Big Ten's first choice during its recent football expansion, according to one Pac-12 school president

College football expansion took another huge turn when the Big Ten accepted the membership of USC and UCLA starting in the 2024 season.

But it sounds like the conference wasn't entirely interested in one of those schools, according to a higher-up in the Pac-12 pecking order.

Arizona president Robert Robbins claims that Oregon was in fact the other primary target for the Big Ten along with USC, not UCLA.

"When I heard it first, the deal was going to be USC [and] Oregon [to the Big Ten]," Robbins told CBS Sports.

"Their TV market is not that big, [but] they play in different colored uniforms, and they win. That's where I would have started this thing off. I think Fox wanted to consolidate LA and not let anybody else in [with USC and UCLA]. I think it's brilliant. Well played."

Related: Must-watch games when USC, UCLA join Big Ten

This isn't the first time that Oregon and the Big Ten have been connected in expansion rumors, with insiders noting that officials from the conference have been in conversation with both Oregon and Washington about membership.

Though, nothing formal has come out of those talks as of yet.

Robbins noted that it was USC that initiated the process of joining the Big Ten, but didn't want to make the move alone and wanted to keep at least one conference member nearby for closer trips.

"USC started this whole thing," he said.

"I think UCLA was a reluctant follower in this whole thing. But [USC] needed a travel partner close by so it makes sense."

Any reluctance UCLA may or may not have had was probably put to bed when it realized how much more money it will make as a Big Ten member.

The conference inked a landmark media deal that is set to make $1 billion per year over seven years, considerably more than the Pac-12 is expected to make in whatever deal it can get in the future.

(CBS)

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