College Football Expansion: Big 12 Contacts 4 Pac-12 Schools
College football expansion took two huge turns in the last two years and now the Big 12 has its sights on a third if the conference can get its way.
Big 12 officials have renewed contact with four current Pac-12 schools about potential membership, according to The Athletic.
Those four schools are Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado.
The desire to expand further comes after the bombshell that Texas and Oklahoma, the league's two biggest brands by far, announced they will leave the conference and join the SEC ahead of the 2024 football season.
Pac-12 falling behind
News of this renewed interest come as the Pac-12 continues to struggle finding a media rights partner and this is a key moment for the conference to prove it can get a new contract or risk losing more members.
The Pac-12 remains the only major conference without a long-term media contract as most of the top networks have pulled out.
ESPN is technically still interested, as are Amazon and Apple TV+, according to insiders, but it's not known how much interest there is or how much the outlets are willing to spend.
And the Pac-12 watched as USC and UCLA — two of its premier brands in its largest media market — jumped ship to join the Big Ten in 2024, making it difficult for the conference to secure the kind of deal it wants.
Big 12, Big Ten in pursuit
The Big 12 has been public in its attempt to expand to the West Coast and increase its exposure in the Pacific media markets.
Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff took public issue with the Big 12's incursion into its territory, accusing that league of "trying to destabilize our remaining conference."
And it's not just the Big 12 that has been moving in.
Representatives from Oregon and Washington have already been in contact with Big Ten decision makers about a potential merger, though none of these interests have materialized into any formal offers as of yet.
More: Former coach fears Pac-12 could collapse
(Athletic)
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