NCAA
What universities left the Pac-12 Conference in 2024 and where did they go?
The Pac-12 Conference is down to only four schools remaining as three more schools join the Big 12 Conference.
Question marks still surround the future of the Pac-12 Conference after ten of its major schools including the likes of the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and the University of Utah announced their defection as move to the Big 12 Conference.
They joined other major schools such as, the University of Oregon and the University of Washington who previously confirmed their plans to join Big 12 with ten of the 12 original members all abandoning the organisation.
USC debut
College football team the USC Trojans played their first ever Big Ten conference match-up this weekend, as Lincoln Riley’s men face a box-office clash with the Michigan Wolverines, the reigning national champions.
USC joined the Big Ten ahead of the 2024 NCAA season, having announced two years ago that they were departing the Pac-12 after more than six decades in the conference. And the Trojans aren’t the only Californian powerhouse to have swapped the Pac-12 for the Big Ten this year: the UCLA Bruins also made the move.
USC and UCLA’s stunning defection comes a year after two other major teams, the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners, left the Big 12 conference for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). What’s more, the 2022 confirmation of USC and UCLA’s Pac-12 exit signalled a mass exodus from the conference. Eight other colleges opted to leave after the 2023 season, with the Oregon Ducks and the Washington Huskies also switching to the Big Ten.
Schools that left Pac-12
Stanford
Cal
moved to Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
Washington
Oregon
USC
UCLA
moved to Big Ten Conference
Arizona
Arizona State
Colorado
Utah
joined Big 12
Moving to a more prestigious conference
For all these former Pac-12 and Big 12 colleges, the change of conference has brought with it the opportunity to compete within an association of greater prestige. “The Big Ten and SEC are widely regarded as the premier conferences in college football,” ESPN’s Keith Jenkins notes.
When it comes to silverware, the numbers certainly back up the Big Ten and the SEC’s exalted status. Per ESPN, teams from the Big Ten have won more national championships than those from any other conference, with 31. The SEC is second, just four adrift on 27. The Pac-12 lags behind with 15, and the Big 12 has only five.