Conference realignment has far-reaching implications for the rights of college athletes, including those impacted by a May 18 unfair labor practice complaint filed by the National Labor Relation Board’s regional director Mori Rubin, which asserts that USC, the Pac-12 and the NCAA are joint employers of Trojans football and men’s and women’s basketball players. The Pac-12’s role in this controversy is due to change—and timing matters a great deal.
USC is currently a member of the Pac-12. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the university will remain a Pac-12 member through the 2023-24 athletic season, after which it is set to join the Big Ten.
Last week saw two other Pac-12 stalwarts, Oregon and Washington, accepted the Big Ten’s invitation to join in 2024 and, by doing so, push the Pac-12—a league that dates back to 1915—to the brink of extinction. The schools’ moves were widely criticized by college sports fans and observers, at least those outside of Eugene and Seattle, for making a mockery of the notion that big-time college sports are primarily about education.
Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association, says the latest temblors in college football have made the unfair labor practice (ULP) charge, which his group originally filed last year, all the more convincing.
“It is not something we are excited about—we think it is devastating for college athletics in many ways,” said Huma. “But their greed and crude business decisions highlight...
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