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The bombshell news that UCLA and USC are leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big 10 in 2024 may not directly affect UNLV, but the indirect repercussions are loud and clear. Changes are coming, whether it’s tomorrow or next offseason or sometime soon after that, and UNLV has to be prepared.
That’s why athletic director Erick Harper jumped on the phone as soon as the story broke and called UNLV president Keith Whitfield.
It’s not difficult to imagine how the conversation went.
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“When things like that happen, I’m going to be on the phone with my president right away,” Harper said. “They’re the ones on the board of directors within a conference. I’ll be on the phone immediately with our president, just to make sure if there’s something he is hearing on the president side, that I’m aware of it. And I can provide anything I’m hearing on the AD side. All of our information is shared. You have to be in lockstep with your president.”
Harper is a longtime college administrator who was named athletic director for the first time in January, while Whitfield took over as UNLV’s president in 2020. While they may be relatively new on the job, nothing will forge a strong relationship faster than constantly huddling to strategize and navigate the high-stakes realignment situation.
With the deconstruction and reconstruction of power conferences hitting closer and closer to home, UNLV has to be prepared and thinking two moves ahead. Harper and Whitfield are the ones guiding UNLV as the university strives not to be left behind when the music stops.
“We’re making sure we are paying attention to the landscape, because it can change in 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours,” Harper said. “In this day and age, rumors are going to be swirling continuously. Obviously the rumors started right away about what the Pac-12 is going to do and what the Big 12 is going to do.”
UNLV has been rumored to be angling for a Pac-12 invitation for years, so the exodus of that conference’s two flagship programs could present an opportunity to move up the ladder. But realignment is not that simple, as moving parts and infinite permutations make it difficult to predict how one move will impact the next.
Will the Pac-12 seek to add schools to replace UCLA and USC, and possibly even expand beyond that?
Will other Pac-12 teams look to flee to a growing power conference?
Will the Mountain West attempt to expand by adding leftover Pac-12 schools?
Could a complete reformation of both leagues — and other Group of Five conferences — be far behind?
Those are all possibilities Harper and Whitfield will have to consider, plus many more. The key for UNLV, according to Harper, is to remain flexible and focused on what they can control.
“What I do in relation to positioning our university is make sure we’re doing things we need to do to make sure our university is the best it can possibly be,” Harper said. “If you’re taking care of your home, all those other things will fall into place and people will come knocking on your door.”
Harper cited academic support for athletes, donor networking/fundraising and season ticket sales as some of his key objectives as UNLV waits to see how how the latest round of realignment will shake out.
And while it may seem like the most unlikely outcome, remaining in the Mountain West Conference — as is — could still be on the table. The MWC has so far stayed out of the realignment fray, counting the same 11 full-time members since 2013 (Hawaii is a football-only member, bringing that sport to 12 teams).
For what it’s worth, it sounds like Harper would be okay if the end result of all the conference reshuffling found UNLV staying with the MWC.
“We think the Mountain West is a strong conference,” Harper said. “We’ve been in it for a number of years. It’s a strong conference, a competitive conference. A lot of Tier 1 institutions are within this conference, so we think it is a strong conference, same as we did the last time conference realignment was happening with the AAC and the Big 12 and SEC.”
However, the UCLA and USC news served as the latest reminder that maintaining the status quo is improbable.
In a Friday press release, the Pac-12 announced it will “explore all expansion options.”
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
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