The Big Ten Conference Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously today to admit the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California to the Big Ten Conference effective August 2, 2024. Competition will begin for all conference sports in the 2024-25 academic year.
Joint statement from University of Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones and Director of Athletics Josh Whitman.
As a founding member of the Big Ten Conference, the University of Illinois is excited to welcome the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California as the Big Ten’s newest members.
UCLA and USC are preeminent academic institutions with robust, successful athletic traditions. They stand as two of the most recognizable, celebrated brands in higher education and intercollegiate athletics, and their institutional values and forward-looking vision align with those of our existing membership. We are excited to have them as peers, colleagues, and competitors.
College athletics is in a period of intense disruption, with change occurring rapidly around us. For the Big Ten to retain our position as one of the nation’s preeminent conferences, we must continue to be strategic in our thinking, bold in our decisions, and precise in our execution. Today’s news demonstrates all of these qualities and represents a monumental moment in the history of the Big Ten Conference. We thank Commissioner Kevin Warren and the Big Ten staff for their leadership.
The University of Illinois is proud to be affiliated with the newly constituted Big Ten Conference, and we look forward to spirited, intense competition on the fields of play and productive, successful collaboration away from them.
