Work in Progress

As yours truly reads the piece below from the LA Daily News, he gets the sense that the enlarged travel schedule caused by UCLA's move to the Big Ten, and its implication for student-athletes who have to do the traveling, is at best a work in progress. Blog readers will recall that the travel issue was one of the concerns of the Regents when they intervened in the planned move. Excerpt:

The UCLA athletic department is officially one year away from joining the Big Ten Conference, but there are still logistics to solve as their respective fall sports programs prepare for their final season in the Pac-12 Conference. “There are a lot of moving parts when you switch conferences,” UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond said. “You start talking about traveling schedules, opponents and just everything. The good thing is that we have a year to prepare and have been since June 30th of last year.”

Big Ten representatives have also been involved in UCLA and USC’s preparations, having made multiple trips to both campuses to help establish a foundation for what lies ahead over the next year. “I had the pleasure of spending time in Los Angeles in mid-June with leadership from USC and UCLA,” Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said at the conference’s media day. “Student-athlete welfare, scheduling and marketing were the primary focus for both institutions at our meetings.” Jarmond traveled in February to visit with officials at the Big Ten’s headquarters in Rosemont, Illinois. UCLA football coach Chip Kelly confirms he’s also had meetings with conference officials regarding a “general overview of stuff.”

...How the teams will travel across the country to compete in conference play remains a work in progress as the administration considers a feasible solution. UCLA is expected to travel at least 5,510 miles roundtrip to complete the upcoming football season but will see an increase to 13,479 miles traveled round trip to complete the 2024-25 schedule, with trips to Big Ten opponents Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Rutgers in New Jersey.

...“This move was made to benefit all of our 750 student-athletes,” Jarmond said. “This is going to put them in a better position when it comes to resources, brand exposure and being competitive across the board. It wasn’t done for this sport or that sport, it was done for our entire athletic program and where we want to go.”

...“I’m confident you will see creative solutions that address travel concerns, connect all of our members and student-athletes into a unified conference, and promote competitive balance,” Petitti said...

Full story at https://www.dailynews.com/2023/08/01/uclas-big-ten-conference-move-is-just-a-year-away/.