Mick Cronin will see his life as the UCLA head basketball coach change significantly over the next year. But this latest round of conference realignment — the death of the Pac-12, the exertion of control by TV networks over the college athletics landscape, and the bags and bags of cash being tossed around — might be a necessary evil.

When Cronin met with reporters on Thursday, he said if John Wooden were to come back and be told the Pac-12 was no more, he’d be beside himself. But Cronin also said this simply comes down to finances.

“There’s about four athletic departments that actually make money in the entire nation because of scholarship bills and budget expenses,” Cronin said. “It’s all happening because of money. That’s just the reality of it. It’s not all because of football. It’s because expenses and bills have grown.

“What I would tell you is this is not the end-all fix. It’s far from over,” Cronin continued. “It’s been going on for a long, long time. And none of it is in the best interest of the student-athlete, no matter what anybody says. It’s in the best interest of more money to cover the bills. That’s it.”

UCLA and USC will be moving to the Big Ten in 2024, where they stand to make more than $70 million annually from media rights revenue. The Pac-12 distributed $37 million in FY2022.

Cronin says that rising costs in college athletics have made this all inevitable.

“The problem with this whole thing is the public doesn’t understand. Well, why are there bills? I’m out there all the time. I get, ‘What do you mean? Where’s all the money go? You get all this money from TV?’ Well, go and pay the scholarship bill for 700 out-of-state student-athletes at UCLA,” he said. “Pay that bill. Then pay the food bill. Then pay all the travel bills. Then pay the medical bills.

“Where’s this gonna be in five years or whenever the ruling comes down you’ve got to pay the revenue (share) to the players? Then where’s that money coming from? We’ve already exhausted all the media rights money. That’s the problem. Where does that end?”

Cronin also hit back at criticism that football is forcing other sports into adverse situations.

“Everyone says we’re all changing leagues because of football. No, we’re changing leagues to pay the bills for all the sports because you have one or two that are revenue sports — if that, at certain schools — and the model has been they pay for the other sports forever. And the bill’s gotten too big. So, you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to pay them. It’s unfair to say football’s the problem. They’ve been the answer.

“There’s just not enough money in the current structure at the way college athletics is.”