How long was this West Coast expansion in the works?

[NUCat320]

Given the speed with which this went from “possibly?” to “done” (basically Thursday at 9 to Thursday at 5), and given that the reports* are that the west coast wing called the B1G , and not the other way around, it seems that this happened really, really fast (faster than UT/OU, for instance).

Am I reading this right? The B1G’s additions have been pretty ehhhhh since Penn State (Nebraska was already fading, we had to talk ourselves into caring about Maryland, and Rutgers has been exactly as expected [but with player abuse scandals]), but these additions are the biggest available fish, except for historically ND and recently Clemson. This move is out-of-character huge.

I’m all in on Wildcat softball, and I’m looking forward to facing future conference opponents UCLA in OKC next year.

*I get most of my college sports related news from the WildcatReport free board.

 

[HappyNUyear]

Apparently this move was kept very quiet throughout the University of California System, as the powers that be in some positions I've heard are former B1G. This also appears to be FOX Sports from behind the scenes per reports from the people who broke the story.

I suggest everyone follow Dennis Dodd, Jon Wilner and a few others who've been right on target thus far.

 

[WestCoastWildcat]

Apparently this move was kept very quiet throughout the University of California System, as the powers that be in some positions I've heard are former B1G. This also appears to be FOX Sports from behind the scenes per reports from the people who broke the story.

I suggest everyone follow Dennis Dodd, Jon Wilner and a few others who've been right on target thus far.

Being involved with the UC system for many years, both as an employee and involved with intercollegiate athletics, while the UC Office of the President and UC Regents are a central source of power, each UC campus is a fiefdom and has some level of autonomy. Therefore it is quite possible that UCLA was able to negotiate moving to the BigTen w/o “permission” of the central authorities or Cal. That’s not to say UCLA may not encourage other BigTen members to also bring Cal into the fold. I guess it is a little surprising that UCLA pulled off their exit from the PAC-12 without too much blowback from the rest of UC system. Cal is now stuck in a precarious situation now hoping its “little brother” can help somehow from being left behind. I’m sure this all must be galling to UCB (don’t call them “Cal”) fans/alums who view their campus as supreme in the UC system. UCB is an excellent school but their athletics program esp football has struggled for a long time now. I would rather have Oregon come in over Cal but their are other factors involved other than quality of the athletic programs. Having seen the athletic facilities of U of O when I’ve visited my nephew in Eugene they are second to none. Oregon’s top notch athletics program is now stuck on an island for now with the remaining members of the PAC-12. My nephew who is a grad and a big Ducks fan is very concerned about where they will land.

 

[HappyNUyear]

Being involved with the UC system for many years, both as an employee and involved with intercollegiate athletics, while the UC Office of the President and UC Regents are a central source of power, each UC campus is a fiefdom and has some level of autonomy. Therefore it is quite possible that UCLA was able to negotiate moving to the BigTen w/o “permission” of the central authorities or Cal. That’s not to say UCLA may not encourage other BigTen members to also bring Cal into the fold. I guess it is a little surprising that UCLA pulled off their exit from the PAC-12 without too much blowback from the rest of UC system. Cal is not stuck in a precarious situation now hoping its “little brother” can help somehow from being left behind. I’m sure this all must be galling to UCB (don’t call them “Cal”) fans/alums who view their campus as supreme in the UC system. UCB is an excellent school but their athletics program esp football has struggled for a long time now. I would rather have Oregon come in over Cal but their are other factors involved other than quality of the athletic programs. Having seen the athletic facilities of U of O when I’ve visited my nephew in Eugene they are second to none. Oregon’s top notch athletics program is now stuck on an island for now with the remaining members of the PAC-12. My nephew who is a grad and a big Ducks fan is very concerned about where they will land.

Thank you for the insight