Pac-12 Still Looking To Expand In Next Couple Years After Mass Exodus
The offseason was headlined by conference realignment and while conferences like the SEC and Big Ten got their white whales, the Pac-12 spent nearly an entire year trying to stay afloat.
However, their inability to secure a media rights deal and unwillingness to add expansion programs such as San Diego State, SMU, Colorado State, or Tulane among others led to uncertainty around the conference. So, around the time of Pac-12 media day when there was no deal to be had, programs started exiting the conference like students in a classroom after the bell rang.
Four went to the Big 12, two more joined the Big Ten with USC and UCLA, and Stanford and Cal were the final nail in the coffin as they left for the ACC. This left Oregon State and Washington State without a place to go, as the two programs have been working on a plan all season long.
It appears they have somewhat settled on one as we learned at the end of October that they will look to be a two-member conference with an alliance with the Mountain West. However, the NCAA only gives conferences two years to assemble eight members to join their conference, so that means the Pac-2 will need to expand further if they plan to continue. Something that Oregon State's president Jayathi Murthy, discussed in an interview with NPR, expressing they want to keep the conference afloat.
"As you know, the NCAA requires us to build up to eight teams," said Murthy. "We've got two years to do it. What I'm hoping that we'll get to is put OSU front and center - make us visible across the country. So we'll be looking for alliances and paths forward. I know how good we are. I know that we've got plenty of fight in us. And - you know, and we're on moral high ground, all right? I mean, we are doing right. We're doing right. We're in the right. And so we will fight it out."
Expanding for the Pac-2 means they will obviously need six more programs, but whether or not programs are willing to take that risk now, is yet to be seen. If the conference does continue on and look to expand, it is highly unlikely they will do so under the same leadership that got them in this scenario.
The two remaining programs are currently in a legal battle with the remaining 10, which until that case is resolved could cause a holdup.
