Rick Neuheisel suggests UCLA a good fit for Big 12 expansion

Former UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel wasn't happy with Jim Mora calling his old Bruin teams "soft." (Keith Birmingham/Staff)

Former UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said UCLA should be interested in the Big 12. (Keith Birmingham/Staff)

Former UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said in an interview on Sirius XM College Sports Nation that UCLA might be a good fit for the Big 12, which is looking to expand.

“Just as Texas A&M wanted to branch away from Texas, I wouldn’t be surprised to see UCLA say, ‘You know what? We don’t want to deal with this USC thing. We’re going to be our own guy,'” the former coach said Wednesday. “It wouldn’t shock me at all.”

The Big 12’s board of directors voted unanimously for commissioner Bob Bowlsby to start exploring potential expansion teams on Tuesday. According to the Kansas City Star, the league is considering either two new teams, which will bring the conference back to 12 teams, or four teams, which will pull the conference even with the SEC and the Big Ten.

The short segment below focuses specifically on the possibility of Pac-12 teams leaving for the Big 12. Neuheisel said, while he has no inside information and that he is just taking an outsider’s perspective, he could see either Cal or UCLA fitting into the Big 12.