USC AND THEN UCLA led the exodus from the Pac-12 and (Flickr/Dinur).

For many years – decades, really – rival pro football organizations have been trying to copy the success of the National Football League.

You had your AAFC, several AFLs, USFL, XFL’s etc. None have come close to matching the glamour and earning potential of the original.

But now, the ground – excuse me, turf – is shifting beneath our feet. Two forces are combining to create a sort of shadow NFL and how the sport will be transformed is anybody’s guess.

The first shot across the bow comes from the NIL, which is not a league but a way to pay college athletes who are otherwise considered to be amateurs.

NIL stands for Name, Image and Likeness and it means that athletes at the college – and other levels – can be signed to deals by which they get paid for how much more comes into the college’s sports programs based on the use of their “NIL” in publicity, ticket sales, attendance and even video games.

Premier gridders can make thousands – and a lot more – of dollars and it’s been such a force that high school and even junior high athletes have been signed to such deals. Can you imagine that? An eighth-grader getting up-front money on the theory that he or she turns into a marketable star down the road?

Of course, the amount of exposure such a fella would get from deciding to commit to Well-Known Tech than State University at Muncie will be – and already has – started to further tip the playing field in favor of the biggest and gaudiest football and basketball programs.

Add to that the influence of developing “super conferences” which stretch – almost – from sea to shining sea – and you’ve got a veritable athletic earthquake.

The venerable Pac-8 (Pac-10, Pac-12) is staggering under the impact of flight – next season– of its two marquee programs, USC and UCLA to the Big 10.  Colorado is bailing, too, leaving the emaciated Pac-9.

It’s going to get worse. Rumors suggested that Arizona and Arizona State and Utah will soon be late for the door. The principal lure is TV money, which is the Holy Grail for big-time college sports.

So what are we left with? A Pacific Coast Conference with San Diego State, San Jose State, CSU San Luis Obispo? Not exactly pulse-pounding matchups.

If the trend continues, the Pac-12 will soon become the Pac-Zero and super-conferences the National College Football League.

Editor’s note: It was announced Friday afternoon that Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Oregon and Washington would be leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 10.