Breaking: Pac-12 Vetoes Conference Expansion

The Pac-12 announced their decision to not pursue conference expansion on Thursday morning. According to the press release:

"Following consultation with our Presidents, Chancellors and Athletic Directors, the Pac-12 Conference has made the decision to not pursue expansion of our membership at this time. This decision was made following extensive internal discussion and analysis, and is based on the current competitive strength and cohesiveness of our 12 universities. It is also grounded in our confidence in our ability as a conference to best support our student-athletes and to grow and thrive both academically and athletically."

This decision follows the conference's announcement to form a joint alliance with the Big Ten and ACC conferences. While specifics have yet to be named, the alliance includes a scheduling component for football and women’s and men’s basketball "designed to create new inter-conference games, enhance opportunities for student-athletes, and optimize the college athletics experience for both student-athletes and fans across the country."

"I love the vision that [Pac-12 Commissioner] George Kliavkoff has right now and along with the other two commissioners," said USC head coach Clay Helton of the news.

"To take this step is exciting [for] coaches, now again we deal in the present, and this could be down the road but for us it's really about getting our team better right now and getting ready for that first game, but that was exciting news. You talk about some really unbelievable universities that are lining together to try to help student athletes, that is a cool thing."

The SEC conference announced their own expansion this year, adding Big 12 teams Texas and Oklahoma which will go into effect in 2025.

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