USC, UCLA planning move from Pac-12 to Big Ten as early as 2024, sources say

USC and UCLA, two of the Pac-12's flagship programs, are planning to leave the conference for the Big Ten as early as 2024, and a move is considered imminent, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.

There is still a formal notification process, as the two schools have to let the Pac-12 know their intentions to leave. USC and UCLA also have to formally apply to the Big Ten. According to a source, that process is underway.

Multiple sources told ESPN on Thursday that the move is expected to happen. A source called the next steps «formalities,» and an announcement could come within the next 24 hours.

The Pac-12 has won a share of nine national championships in college football. Eight of them involved either USC or UCLA.

A source said that the exploration of finances and what it would take to make the move has been going on for weeks. While finances are playing a big role in the move, competitiveness, brand and the overall landscape of the future of the sport have played a bigger role.

«USC and UCLA have to make the decisions to position them best for the long term,» a source familiar with the move told ESPN. «The future is so uncertain we need to be operating from a position of strength.»

The Mercury News first reported the news of USC's and UCLA's planned departures.

The reason this move would be less disruptive than potential moves in the ACC is that USC and UCLA have a grant of rights tied to the current Pac-12 television contract, which expires after the 2023 football season and 2023-24 school year. That's why the expectation is that both schools can go to the league for the 2024-25 season and not suffer any financial penalty.

Pac-12 officials had been nudging both Los Angeles schools for years to extend the grant of