College football realignment news: Update on plan for Pac-12 schools to join Big 12
College football realignment took another huge step when USC and UCLA decided to join the Big Ten in 2024, and now all eyes are on what's left of the Pac-12.
With the future of that conference an open question, there have been reports that the Big 12 has reached out to Pac-12 members about possibly moving over.
Now, according to reporting from the Dallas Morning News, those rumors turned out to be true.
But what will come of the talks? Not much, apparently. At least for right now.
“For all the reports of the Big 12 meeting with four to six Pac-12 schools — which were absolutely correct — talks were still in the early stages, industry sources say,” the report said. “Nothing major is happening at least for a while.”
"Deep discussions"
CBS originally reported that power brokers from the Big 12 were in "deep discussions" with six Pac-12 schools — Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, and Washington — about joining the new-look Big 12.
Rumors were swirling for a time that Oregon and Washington would be next off the board, with the Big Ten being the most likely destination.
But it now appears the Big Ten is pressing pause on any more expansion, leaving the biggest Pac-12 members looking at either remaining members of the remnants of the West Coast league, or finding a better option somewhere else.
Big 12 forced into realignment
The Big 12 has been a player in college football realignment, if only because of necessity.
After losing powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, the conference had to act fast, and it did: expanding to include BYU, Houston, Cincinnati, and UCF, who will become members in time for the 2023 football season.
Big 12 and Pac-12 have talked before
This isn't the first time the two conferences have been connected to the recent wave of college football realignment.
Back after Texas and OU announced their intent to leave, then Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby proposed his league merge with the Pac-12.
That idea was shot down at the time by the Pac-12, which thought it had USC and UCLA in its future plans. Now that those blue-chip properties are on the move, the Pac-12 might be more open to a merger.
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