Pac-12 Moves Closer to Adding Schools -- San Diego State, SMU Top Candidates

A Mercury-News report indicates adding two schools to the conference is "highly likely." Approval of eight of 10 schools is required

Nothing is final until Pac-12 presidents approve a deal and the targeted schools accept, but expansion is likely, with San Diego State and SMU being the top candidates to be added to the Pac-12 to keep it a 12-team conference after UCLA and USC depart for the Big Ten in the summer of 2024.

That's the implication of a report by Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News, who began his report with this:

The Pac-12 is inching closer toward remaining a 12-school conference following the departures of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten in the summer of 2024.

The university presidents discussed SMU and San Diego State as expansion candidates during a meeting last week and approved commissioner George Kliavkoff taking the next step in the complicated process of adding membership, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting.

Sources emphasized that the approval was informal in nature — the presidents did not vote to add specific schools — but expansion is viewed as highly likely.

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff was on the SMU campus this week for a visit and attended an SMU basketball game.

The report noted that it is not known whether other schools were discussed as possible Pac-12 targets.

The addition of new schools to the Pac-12 require the approval of 75% of the presidents of the remaining 10 schools.  In other words, eight of the 10 school presidents would have to approave the deal.

Before expansion can occur, the Pac-12 must negotiate a new media deal, and the incoming schools must agree to requirements of that media deal.   Then a formal invitation can be presented.

San Diego State has long been considered the most obvious choice to add to the Pac-12 since it gives the conference a means to the southern California market. 

San Diego State is currently in the Mountain West Conference, and the Aztecs went 7-6 in football this past season and are scheduled to face UCLA and Oregon State in 2023. They are ranked 25th this week in men's basketball with an 19-5 record, including a win over Stanford and a loss to Arizona.

The sense that SMU would also become a Pac-12 member has received increased meda attention in recent weeks.  SMU is located in Dallas and would give the Pac-12 a small window into the Texas market.

The Mustangs play in the American Athletic Conference. They went 7-6 in football and are currently 9-16 in men's basketball, including a loss to Arizona State.

If San Diego State and SMU were added to the Pac-12, neither would be granted a full revenue share initially, although each might get a full share later.

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Cover photo of San Diego State's Matt Bradley is by Isaiah J. Dowing, USA TODAY Sports

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