The Big Ten Conference will become a coast-to-coast league in the latest shakeup to college athletics.
UCLA and the University of Southern California confirmed Thursday that they'll join the Big Ten, which will grow the league to 16 members, in 2024.
OFFICIAL: USC will join the Big Ten Conference in 2024.
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) June 30, 2022
Their additions, coupled with the additions of Rutgers and Maryland over the last decade, will give the league a nationwide footprint.
It's the latest round of expansion after the Southeastern Conference announced last year that it will add Oklahoma and Texas.
UCLA athletics and the USC Trojans confirmed the news Thursday in multiple tweets. The conference has primarily been allies in preserving the status quo of college football.
𝗕𝗜𝗚 news! UCLA is joining the Big Ten Conference at the start of the 2024-25 season! 👀
— UCLA Athletics (@UCLAAthletics) June 30, 2022
➡️: https://t.co/ygoY70o2bo#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/Cgj5orGhiI
The two Los Angeles-based teams have been conference foes since 1922. They were part of the Pacific Coast Conference, then later the conference now known as the Pac-12.