From SFGATE: ...UC Santa Barbara, known for its wild ragers, lost its title as the top party school in America to Florida State University, according to Niche. The beachside university plummeted to No. 26, even falling behind USC (No. 5) and San Diego State University (No. 18)...
Full story at https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/college-rankings-ucla-niche-22432023.php.
Just not like the old times:
Source - EdSource: https://edsource.org/2025/california-research-grants-federal-funding-trump-administration/733468.
The Pac-12 is inching closer toward remaining a 12-school conference following the departures of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten in the summer of 2024. The university presidents discussed SMU and San Diego State as expansion candidates during a meeting last week and approved commissioner George Kliavkoff taking the next step in the complicated process of adding membership, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting. Sources emphasized that the approval was informal in nature — the presidents did not vote to add specific schools — but expansion is viewed as highly likely. Kliavkoff attended an SMU basketball game on Wednesday night as part of a campus visit, according to the Dallas Morning News. It is not known if other schools were discussed last week during the Pac-12 presidents’ quarterly meeting, held at Arizona State.
Expansion is part of a complicated three-step process in which the Pac-12 must negotiate a new media rights contract with network partners; the schools must agree to sign their media rights over to the conference; and invitations to new members must be extended on a formal basis. The Pac-12 has been negotiating a new media agreement since July. Kliavkoff has said that process would come first, followed by the grant-of-rights piece and then expansion. But the three tracks were expected to unfold concurrently, sources said, with the conference informing its media partners of expansion plans during contract negotiations and prior to issuing formal invitations.
Under Pac-12 bylaws, expansion requires a three-fourths vote of the presidents, meaning eight of the 10 schools would have to approve any new members. (USC and UCLA will not participate in expansion proceedings during their final 18 months in the conference.) ...
Full story at https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/02/09/pac-12-expansion-process-moves-forward-with-smu-and-san-diego-state-as-top-targets/.
It seems that lots of letters and emails went back and forth after UCLA decided to join USC in moving to the Big Ten. Excerpts from The Athletic:
The day after USC and UCLA announced their intent to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, UCLA chancellor Gene Block wrote to University of Washington president Ana Mari Cauce to apologize for not giving prior notice — and said the decision to leave the conference was “personally anguishing,” per a copy of the letter obtained by The Athletic via records request...
Block, UCLA’s chancellor since 2007, is not considered to be particularly hands-on with athletics, one of the reasons why the Bruins’ exodus was more surprising than the Trojans’...
Block wrote to Cauce... “I wanted to send you a personal note to express my sincere apologies that I was unable to share information with you before the public announcement. I am truly sorry about this.
“This was an extremely difficult decision for UCLA — and personally anguishing. I and many others in our Bruin community greatly enjoy the traditions and friendly rivalries that exist within our conference. I want to express the deep respect that I have for you, our other Pac-12 colleagues, and for the conference leadership.”
Cauce responded, in part: “This was tough all around, but friendship first! You’ve been a great colleague, and often a mentor. That hasn’t changed and [I] look forward to continuing our dinners and dialogues at AAU, APRU* and maybe even the UW-UCLA game — there will be more to come.”
The same day Cauce received Block’s note about leaving the conference, Washington’s president also received an email from the leader of a potential Pac-12 expansion candidate: San Diego State president Adela de la Torre, who wanted to discuss “possible opportunities.” ...
Full story at https://theathletic.com/3962500/2022/12/02/ucla-usc-big-ten-realignment/.
