It was the best-kept secret on campus. Not that the U-M regents were hiring Santa Ono as the U-M’s fifteenth president—that USC and UCLA were joining the Big Ten conference. 

It was a seismic change, made more astounding by the fact that not a single local or national outlet had a clue that it was afoot. Either the schools kept an uncommonly tight lid on their internal discussions—or they just responded to discussions held elsewhere. 

One sign that the initiative may not have come from the schools:  Sports Business Journal reported that two senior Fox Sports executives played active roles as the conference navigated bids from multiple media companies. Adding the Los Angeles teams could increase the value of the conference’s media right from the current $441 million a year to $600 million or more.

Once the news broke, the immediate speculation was that USC and UCLA would need playing partners on the West Coast, and that Washington and Oregon would soon be on board as well. 

But more informed sources said that the Northwest schools are on hold pending resolutions from Notre Dame and Stanford. A retired Fox Sports executive was quoted as saying that Stanford was “$15 million dollars more valuable than Oregon,” and that the Notre Dame/Stanford pairing would be the first exploration.

If so, that would make Notre Dame the linchpin for further changes. Once it decides, other dominoes seem likely to fall.