The most meaningful day in the history of Tucson sports was Dec. 13, 1976. Thatโs when University of Washington president John Hogness became the last Pac-8 president to agree to a conference expansion that would add Arizona and ASU.
For the Tucson sports community, it was like being promoted from Triple-A to the big leagues. UCLA and USC would be playing at Arizona Stadium and McKale Center, replacing UTEP and Wyoming.
One of those in the room at the 1976 conference meetings in San Francisco was Washington athletic director Mike Lude, who had spent six months trying to persuade his president to affirm the addition of Arizona and ASU.
On Thursday, Lude, who has lived in Tucson for 25 years, celebrated his 100th birthday with many associates from 1976 who saw the good in absorbing the Wildcats and Sun Devils into the conference.
Lude and the conference enjoyed growth, prosperity, brotherhood and good health for the next 46 years.
It seems ironic that on Ludeโs 100 birthday the message from the Pac-12 was that nothing lasts forever.
Thursdayโs news that UCLA and USC will bolt the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten in 2024 was volcanic. The Bruins and Trojans have chosen to chase the almighty ESPN, Fox and CBS dollars and abandon their geographical affiliations of more than 100 years. This will shake up college sports as much or more than last yearโs decision by Texas and Oklahoma to jump from the Big 12 to the SEC.
This is how things have changed the last 46 years: One of the Starโs lead headlines on the day Arizona was admitted to the Pac-8 was: โAcademic Rewards Expected.โ
But that was 1976, when the collegial model of college sports ruled. A union with academic powers Stanford and Cal was almost as prestigious as the idea of playing USC in the Los Angeles Coliseum and UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
UCLA and USCย are joining the Big Ten for the bottom line. It's a cash grab. Why else would the Bruins and Trojans even consider a move to a conference whose home office is in Rosemont, Illinois, 2,014 miles away from Los Angeles, to become partners with low-brow Rutgers and Maryland, among others?
Hereโs why: itโs 2022, not 1976. TV ratings mean more than academic rankings.
Two weeks ago, Pac-12 athletic directors and first-year commissioner George Kliavkoff spent three days in Las Vegas at the leagueโs annual โsustainability convention.โ During the week, Kliavkoff and the 12 ADs stood side-by-side on a platform inside Allegiant Stadium. Smiles all around.
Kliavkoff stood immediately next to Arizona AD Dave Heeke. The leagueโs two-newest ADs, USCโs Mike Bohn and UCLAโs Martin Jarmond, each with less than three years of Pac-12 service, stood side by side, about 12 feet away.
Could they have possibly been thinking of abandoning the league during those sustainability meetings?
One thing you canโt measure any more in college athletics is loyalty. Missouri and Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the football mega-payoff in the SEC. South Carolina bolted the ACC for the SEC.
The game is changing so quickly that the once history-proud Big 12 recently added BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and Central Florida to its membership.
UCLAโs departure to the Big Ten Conference could jeopardize or end a decades-long basketball rivalry between the Wildcats and Bruins.
Anything goes.
A good guess is that the Big Ten is smart enough to know the geographical logistics of USC and UCLA in its membership wonโt work and that there is more expansion/addition to come. A better guess is that the Bruins and Trojans would ultimately be joined in the Big Tenโs โWest Divisionโ by Oregon, Cal, Stanford and Washington.
That would make sense for a super conference, or any conference. It would also solve a second-level headache of note: retaining scheduling partners for softball, baseball, volleyball and the non-revenue sports.
USC and UCLA are too bright to think they could bolt the Pac-12 and somehow maintain relations with their 10 former conference partners in non-football scheduling,
Those that remained in the Pac-12 would surely tell them to pound sand.
Arizona doesnโt seem positioned as well to be absorbed in a super conference. It doesnโt have the football clout or the TV market to be as attractive as Cal or Washington. The UAโs status as a college basketball powerhouse wonโt make much difference. Income from TV media deals have long indicated that about 85% is traced to football and maybe 15% to basketball.
Whatever happens, itโs almost certain that Arizona will be part of the vast changes to college footballโs landscape the next few years. Whether that be as an addition to the bigger Big 12, with games against Baylor and BYU replacing games with Stanford and Oregon, is anyoneโs guess.
Whatโs most important now is for Arizona to be proactive and avoid getting stuck back in a conference with Wyoming and Colorado State.
