Rick Neuheisel Thinks UCLA Should Move To The Big 12

Former UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, who has radio show on SiriusXM, thinks UCLA could bolt for the Big 12 Conference.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see UCLA say, `You know what? This deal with this USC thing? We’re gonna go and be our own guy, rather than always tied to the school here in Los Angeles.’ It wouldn’t shock me at all. I don’t have any inside information. I’m just saying from outside looking in. UCLA just left Adidas for cash. They went to Under Armour. Right? If there were a reason to do it.”

Yes, it is crazy. But it also reinforces the idea that from a UCLA perspective that “this USC thing” overrides almost everything.

55 thoughts on “Rick Neuheisel Thinks UCLA Should Move To The Big 12

  1. The winds of change are blowing. Act or be forced to react. Wake up ‘SC…

    • They’re going to need someone to go with them and right now the most likely candidates are: UT and CO.

      • Boy, you certainly seem distraught at the thought of the brubabies packing up and leaving.

        • Well ask yourself if TX is happy they no longer face off against TX &M – same for UT and BYU – NE and CO. FL doesn’t face Miami any longer.

          ‘If’ UCLA chooses to leave they will regret it.

        • I’m not. Oklahoma is fine no longer playing Nebraska. Our #1 rival is in South Bend, not West LA.

          • I want to be able to keep a foot on their throats here in LA. You see how much smack they talk with us having dominated the series. Could you imagine how much they would talk if they were never forced to back it up on the field? No thank you. Plus, we don’t want them getting regular recruiting exposure in Texas and Oklahoma without us getting it too. Keep the LA schools together.

  2. ucla’s always been second fiddle to USC, or second guitar as Slick Rick would put it. That’s just one reason why they’re universally called the little gutties. Always in SC’s shadow.

  3. That’s pipe dream by Neuheisel and as stated it just confirms how desperate a former coach of theirs is to gain any national relevance for bel-air tech since Wooden retired (1975) and passed away (2010).

    If they’re that clueless good luck

        • Dan Guerrero alrready destroyed the football fan base by running off the alumni band and cheerleader and tripling the cost of season tickets this year despite the Obama Depression. They will have to import more inner city school kids to fill up all the empty seats. The ruin football program is heading for UCSB-ville.

          • Even for Rick to suggest the possibility of moving to the Big12 was a sign of weaknesses.

    • It makes sense they will always be USC’s little sister. Have they ever done anything in Pac 8/10/12? Always the ugly fat bridesmaid.
      #basketballdoesnotmatter

      • Right, especially in Men’s BB. The greatest living bozo u BB player is a chick.

        #beachblanketbingosandboxwallyballon

      • Great Point. But to hear Rick Neuheisel say UCLA is a declaration of quiting and running for cover.

    • The Trolls are speechless. Funny stuff. Slick Rick has somehow managed to turn on his own kind. Or not. This whole premise of ucla turning tail and joining the Big 12 to escape from further USC beatdowns and slide into alienated obscurity has me believing that this is simply inaccurate reporting.

  4. Leave it to that USC Law Grad Neuheisel to think outside the box and make sense. The f uclans haven’t been a national power in football since 1957.They would be perfect competing against Kansas and other Big 12 basketball schools and be their mediocre selves in football. The Pac 12 could replace them with Fresno State and not notice any difference.

    • You make cogent argument i.e. specific to mens basketball now as to Fresno State – understand the gain there is based on a decent head coach notice the interest in Boise St. has declined since Petersen left.

      I’d take BYU and NM and NV or UNLV if none can be poached from the state of Texas.

    • But UCLA FB is good enough to make bozo u FB bend over gladly in in 3 of the last 4 CT FB games.

      Wins count not whiny excuses.

      • The only string of wins the gutties have put together against USC in the last 16 years were when the Trojans were heavily sanctioned.
        Now that they’re over, things are returning to normal.

          • On the bright side for the government school. . . at least the bRuins wouldn’t lose 3 times per season to the Trojan Bball team.

          • Yes that does happen every 10 – 12 years.

            Kindly explain why bozo u men’s bb program in 17 all time NCAA BB tournaments have been ONE & DONE 9 times – Choka, choka, choka, choka – I’m pretty sure bozo u can’t stand real competition.

          • Squatter, explain to us why Thug U aka ugly cheated during the Johnny Cheetin’ Wooden and Jim Harrick years?

        • Were you sanctioned when we beat you eight straight.
          Sorry, unfair question as you are almost always on some sort of probation or in some sort of investigation.

  5. Usc, ucla, Stan, Cal, ASU, UA, Utah and Colorado should break from the Pac 12 and form the Western Division of a new 16 team super conference called the Big Pacific Conference (Big Pac or B-Pac for short). The Eastern Division should be comprised of Tex, OU, OKST, TCU, TXTECH, BAYLOR, HOU and SMU. Super conferences are probably coming and I think smart schools and conferences will be proactive.

    • Why boot out the Pacific Northwest schools? They’ve been a part of the conference for a long time and have had success.
      How about the PAC8 members USC, UCLA, CAL, Stanford and the Washington and Oregon schools form the western division. The AZ schools, CO and Utah are joined by Texas, OK and probably OK st. and Baylor to make up the east.
      I think that looks like a pretty solid “super conference”

      • You’re right about the tenure of some of those schools as they were members before USC. However, it’s not really booting the NW programs as much as it is the southern programs defecting. We can’t let nostalgia stand in the way of progress and a brighter future. The NW schools could keep the conference and build it out, but I would have them in a new 16 team Mountain West super conference. The MWC would have the 4 NW schools, Fresno St., SDSU, SJSU and maybe Hawaii as the Western Division. The Eastern Division would be made up of Boise St, Idaho St, BYU, Utah St, UNLV, Nev, Colorado St and Air Force. You could also swap in the New Mexico schools anywhere you wanted to.

        My principle concern in all this is USC. If a school in Iowa City, IA is making more off of their football games being televised than teams in LA, you’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere and it’s time to take stock.

        I would hate to see USC and Ucla decouple because we need to keep the TV market intact and sell it as a whole. We just aren’t reaping the benefits of being in the 2nd largest TV market due to our current association and agreement with the Pac 12 and it’s leadership. Super conferences are coming and USC needs to be looking at options because other people/entities are making moves that will have an effect on the program.

        • “We can’t let nostalgia stand in the way of progress and a brighter future”…Exactly. Why let nostalgia for the ruins being a national power in 1954 keep the super conference from getting better members?

          • The only reason I want to keep Ucla is because delivering the entire LA market gives us leverage. As much as the two fan bases might hate it, the LA schools have more power sticking together.

      • I would go with your setup, but I think it makes less sense geographically than what I’m proposing.

      • You both are missing the point, the ruins can’t compete so they need to go elsewhere.

  6. Ricky Neu, you rascal, you’ll do ANYTHING for ratings!! i hear the wolfman knocked over three people running to the telex machine to get this story posted tout suite onto his blog!!

    the Cadre gives you a pass on this one, Ricky Neu….this ONE.

    #Don’tTestTheCadre

  7. Call me a heretic but I like Rick. He is a good analyst and defends the pac 12. He is a Bruin but does not shy away from giving the Trojans their due. I heard him this morning. He did not advocate for the Bruins to leave the Pac 12 or say they would . He answered a question about teams leaving their current conferences in context of the Big 12 expanding.

      • I do too – he’s very objective and insightful and also willing to dump on bel-air tech….perhaps because of that certain current HC there. Regardless Rick is a trip.

  8. Ok, Rick if you really said that it just shows how you got your butt kicked 50 to zip.
    Keep your name in the news with this kind of stuff and keep in touch with your fraternity bros.
    Hollywood is the right place for you, not coaching.
    Stick with what you know, you.

  9. I sure hope UCLA jumps ship for the big 12, and Neve comes back, there always going to be second to the mighty USC TROJANS. HAHA UCLA

  10. “The football monopoly in Los Angeles is officially over.”

    – Rick Neuheisel

    • For the record, he didn’t say that, the PR people did.
      The football monopoly in LA started when Mora arrived.

  11. Rick is a good dude and know him very well, always has reminded me of an old USC pitcher from years ago, Bill “The SpaceMan” Lee .. Wacky coooocooo .. He know’s football and is bright.. lol calling RAIN MAN.. Anyway, Ucla should run for the hills.. It will be ugly for them guttie’s moving forward..

    Still laughing ..

  12. Wolf, this doesn’t reinforce anything. I’m glad you say “from a UCLA perspective” because it is just that – singular. I can assure you that it is not the UCLA perspective. You’ll be surprised to know that we don’t sit around worrying that we have to face USC (a team that we’ve beat 3 out of 4 years since Neu was fired). You’ve been infected by the same bug that Mike Garrett had when he famously said the NCAA was envious and wished they were all Trojans (seems to run rampant these days).

    Neuheisel is a good guy, and a good Bruin, but he was fired because his teams became softer each year and maybe he alone had a “USC thing”, since he proved he could never beat SC in his tenure. But UCLA fired him and did not retain him as a spokesperson for the school. Don’t fall victim to his ploy to garner attention to his radio show.

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