College football realignment: Pac-12 to explore expansion after Colorado exit

Arguably no conference has been hit more by college football realignment than the Pac-12, which lost its third team in the last year after Colorado voted to leave the league and go back to the Big 12. Now, the conference has responded to its latest departure by saying it will pursue expansion of its own.

"The Pac-12 is comprised of world-leading universities and athletic programs who share a commitment to developing the next generation of leaders, supporting student-athletes' academic and athletic excellence, and broad-based athletic success," the conference said in a statement.

The Pac-12 added: "We remain committed to our shared values and to continuing to invest in our student-athletes. Today's decision by the University of Colorado has done nothing to disrupt that commitment. We are focused on concluding our media rights deal and securing our continued success and growth. Immediately following the conclusion of our media rights deal, we will embrace expansion opportunities and bring new fans, markets, excitement, and value to the Pac-12."

The departure of Colorado from the Pac-12 comes about a year after landmark members USC and UCLA decided to leave the conference to join the Big Ten, depriving the league of its presence in the massive Los Angeles media market, and which has made it difficult for the Pac-12 to secure a new media deal.

There is no question that the Pac-12 is at a crossroads after losing as much as it has combined with the absence of a new broadcasting contract, with some analysts projecting the conference will cease to exist at some point in the future.

That's thanks in large part to the Big 12, which has been aggressive in finding replacements after losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC in the conference realignment shuffle. It added BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF starting this season, and could add more in the future. It also has a contract with ESPN and Fox through 2031 that will pay member teams almost $32 million per year.

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff has assured his remaining members that their future deal will match or exceed the Big 12, but there is some concern as to how many of its football games will air on regular TV rather than streaming services.

Kliavkoff met with Pac-12 members on Wednesday to give them an update on how those negotiations are coming, according to insiders.

The delay in securing a new deal of any kind has helped propel Colorado to leave and has left other Pac-12 members tense. Most have expressed their loyalty to the conference as they wait for what the future looks like before making any decisions.

But as Colorado's exit has shown, that patience may only go so far.

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