College football expansion: Big 12 makes decision on 2 more schools, per report
After playing a major role in the most recent phase of college football conference realignment, it appears the Big 12 will not pursue any further expansion at least when it comes to two schools, in particular. The league is not discussing the addition of either Oregon State or San Diego State at this time, according to The Athletic.
Big 12 members voted to add four current Pac-12 schools in recent days, with Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah all set to make their moves effective next summer in time for the 2024 college football season, and there has been some speculation that the conference will add more members in the future, as well.
Those departures, plus the bombshell announcement that Oregon and Washington will join the Big Ten next summer, has left the Pac-12 with only four members for next year: Oregon State, Washington State, Cal, and Stanford.
And there is credible talk that the Big Ten may target the last two on that list in the future, too. That's hardly enough to stay in business, leading to rumors that the league may cease to exist or that it could merge with the Mountain West, although it's too early to say definitively what will happen there.
Oregon State could get offers to join a conference in the future, especially as the program has improved under current head coach Jonathan Smith, coming off a 10-win season and expected to compete for the Pac-12 title this season.
San Diego State has already been in the news around realignment recently.
Despite the Aztecs' aborted attempt at trying to eject itself from the Mountain West Conference — an awkward move that included a letter announcing its intention to leave, followed by the MWC saying it did leave and owed them $17 million, and then the league saying it could stay and didn't owe the money after all — there could still be some hope on SDSU's part that greener pastures lie elsewhere.
Perhaps in the Pac-12, which has considered the school already, and has extra incentive to add pieces amid its dramatic losses. The Aztecs are in California, boast a new football stadium, and are a winner on the gridiron and in basketball, where they just played UConn for the NCAA title.
(Athletic)
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