At a previous board meeting this year, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block defended the university's decision to shift conferences, saying he believes it will benefit athletes and the school.
Block said college athletics is in a"volatile" period, thanks to factors such as conference realignments, student-athlete transfers and new rules allowing athletes to profit from"name, image and likeness" contracts.
He said the university also recognized that it will need to invest additional financial resources to maintain its athletics programs. "We have a storied tradition of outstanding athletics ... and we want to maintain that tradition of outstanding opportunities for our students," he told the board. Given the financial and career opportunities available for college athletes,"our students were asking for better national exposure," Block said."They've been frustrated sometimes about the exposure they're getting currently," he said.
"The national platform -- being in a conference that competed nationally would give them better exposure. So I think our student-athletes overall have been excited about the opportunity to compete with the very best teams. So I think that competitive excellence was a big part of this."... In the end we decided this was the best move for UCLA," he said.
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