Because they had the joint beef with the rest of the P12. USC and UCLA were bringing in the most revenue but getting only equal shares with schools bringing in the least. They petitioned the P12 multiple times to change the revenue sharing structure in favor of schools bringing in the most revenue. The P12 ignored the requests and the warnings from both schools that they were unhappy with the P12’s amount of revenue overall and the equal share distribution.

If AZ’s pres or anyone else in the P12 knew USC and B1G were in discussions to the point of a likely realignment, the P12 would have gotten out in front of that and launched a public relations shaming campaign to keep USC in the fold. USC and UCLA worked quietly together for over two years to make the B1G move. Oregon was not part of it.