Pac-12 insider believes expansion could be announced before Pac-12 media day
The college football landscape was forever changed by the announcement of USC and UCLA going to the Big Ten.
Not only because USC reportedly sabotaged the Pac-12's chances of expansion when the Big 12 lost Texas and Oklahoma, but because there has been a constant state of disarray. While the SEC and the Big Ten have established themselves as the two premier conferences, the Pac-12, Big 12, and ACC have all been working through some challenges in order to keep their conferences together.
The Pac-12 is currently the only conference without a media rights deal, which also means that they have yet had the chance to expand. While expansion for the conference has long been viewed as adding San Diego State and SMU, both of whom are expecting to be invited, the media rights deal has to come first. There have been so many projected deadlines missed throughout the year, and unless something happens in the coming days we may be on the brink of another missed unnecessary deadline.
However, there may be a date looming this next month that could serve as yet another deadline, with more at stake. On July 21, the Pac-12's media day will be taking place in Las Vegas. Unless the conference wants to only field questions about the progress of expansion and their media rights deal, they should be working towards getting it done prior. Something that Pac-12 insider Jon Wilner detailed in a recent article where he was fielding questions, and was asked if the media rights deal and expansion would be announced at media day.
No, I think they will be announced before media day.
As we discussed in this space last week, the July 21 event in Las Vegas is an unofficial but very real deadline.
The conference does not want its uncertain future to dominate the festivities at the expense of the teams, coaches and players in advance of the most anticipated season in eons.
While other tentative deadlines have come and gone, this July 21 deadline seems to be the one that the conference is actually hoping to meet. The conference has had an entire year to figure things out, and while optimism isn't high they do have a chance to surprise a lot of naysayers. They also have a chance to allow for people to focus on what could be the best season of Pac-12 football, ever.
