LOS ANGELES — After months of haggling over UCLA’s end-around move to join the Big Ten Conference, the University of California regents are stepping aside and allowing the departure to proceed as planned.
The regents voted during a meeting Wednesday at UCLA to allow the Bruins to join the Big Ten provided they take measures to mitigate travel and address other athlete well-being issues.
By joining crosstown rival USC as part of an expanded Big Ten that will include 16 teams — stationery be damned — the Bruins will help form the nation’s first coast-to-coast conference as well as a worthy foil to the supercharged Southeastern Conference.