Pac 12 expansion

Zstatman

Zstatman

Well-Known Member
Has anyone else noted that the Pac 12 evidently still has a pulse and is working to grow again?

Just this week, the Pac 12 announced four new teams, San Diego St, Fresno St, Boise St and Colorado St will be joining the conference in 227 to join Oregon St and Washing St. They took the four largest TV markets from the Mountain West.

To be a viable FBS conference you have to have 8 members so they are now looking for who will be the next two.

- Theye could go after two more from the Mountain West but wouldn't they have done that already
- Could they get Stanford and Cal back from the ACC? To be honest, I'm surrised Stanford, at least, isn't in the B11G.
- Some speculation has been around Memphis and Tulane, maybe?
- I'd think they would look at a Texas school, Rice, Texas St, N Texas come to mind.
- looking around the rest of the country, including the Midwest, it's not apparent who they could go after.

They have a $25 million or so war chest. All the schools that left had to pay an exit feee. Plus they are still getting Rose Bowl money.

I'm happy to see they aren't rolling over and playing dead. I wish them luck.
 
The new PAC-6 needs at least 2 more full members in 2026 to be an official FBS conference. The logical move would be to take 2 more MWC schools but that would cost less in 2027 due to poaching penalties built into the 2024 scheduling agreement the PAC-2 signed with the MWC.

So the PAC-6 will probably work down a check list of potential candidates.

1. Cal and Stanford are not interested. No need to try
2. They could try inviting Memphis and Tulane from the AAC, but those 2 might need at least 4 other teams from the Central or Eastern Time Zone to join them
3. They could focus on getting 2 teams from Texas, maybe UTSA and UNT.
4. If all else fails, they can pay the penalty and get 2 more teams from the MWC. UNLV seems to a cinch to be one of them. The other could be Air Force, or New Mexico.
 
The current setup for 12-team CFP is to take the top 5 conference champions and 7 at large teams.

If this new PAC conference does this rebuild right, they might be the 5th conference champion invited most years to the CFP.
 
It all hinges on whether ACC loses Clemson and FSU soon. If they do, what's left of ACC (after B1G, SEC & BIG 12 pick it over) merges with PAC. If not, PAC gets some non-P5s to join.
 
Wyoming and the Air Force Academy make sense to me. They just need to get to 8 for now. I think once the ACC loses its two biggest members, and they will, Stanford and Cal will come back into the Pac 12 and then it starts to look like a semi-legitimate conference again.
 
Still dead IMO. They might be large TV markets in a general sense, but college football isn't really a big thing out there and none of the Pac12 teams have a big viewership following compared to the other 5 conferences. They lost every semi-popular school they had.
 
Hawkboys said:
It all hinges on whether ACC loses Clemson and FSU soon. If they do, what's left of ACC (after B1G, SEC & BIG 12 pick it over) merges with PAC. If not, PAC gets some non-P5s to join.
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When I started this thread, I wasn't really thinking about the ACC imploding, so to speak. But it makes sense.

Just last week the Big 12 announced they were 'pausing' expansion talks with UConn.

Speaking of Clemson and FSU, does the B1G really want either one? I could see us wanting a team in Florida but what about Miami? Miami seems a lot sexier than Tallahassee.

Who would the B1G really want out of the ACC? Maybe this is when Notre Dame finally joins? Duke and North Carolina? Do they have to be a package deal? Maybe Duke to B1G, NC to SEC. I could see us taking Georgia Tech, great Schook and that Atlanta market. . Virginia would be a maybe. And, maybe Stanford to B1G? IMO, Stanford and Cal don't have to be a package deal.

The SEC has its own big ego and would go for some of these team.

Big 12 could be a player for some of those second-tier team, NCState, Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse, Boston College.

And those that don't get into any of them, say Wake Forest, they are part of the leftovers in the ACC, ind of like the Pac 12. The ACC could look to grow from other conferences or maybe go for that coast-to-coast merge with the Pac 12.

However it shakes out, it will be intersting.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Wyoming and the Air Force Academy make sense to me. They just need to get to 8 for now. I think once the ACC loses its two biggest members, and they will, Stanford and Cal will come back into the Pac 12 and then it starts to look like a semi-legitimate conference again.
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Wyoming makes no sense at all. No TV market and they don't travel well. What's the population of Wyoming? 250k or so?
 
Zstatman said:
Wyoming makes no sense at all. No TV market and they don't travel well. What's the population of Wyoming? 250k or so?
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They don't make any less sense than the 4 schools you mentioned that joined. Big "TV market" or not, if people don't watch those teams what are you gaining? You think any bar or living room outside of Fresno or Boise is going to have a single person watching that game, especially when A) no one on the west coast south of Eugene gives a damn about football, and B) for the people not on the west coast that game isn't going to get over until approaching midnight?

I'm still failing to see your reasoning that the Pac12 is on the way up. It's just another group of 5 conference now viewership-wise.
 
Zstatman said:
Wyoming makes no sense at all. No TV market and they don't travel well. What's the population of Wyoming? 250k or so?
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My bad, Alexa tells me Wyoming population was 577k in 220. But still..........

Air Force maybe because they are a military academy and have a national following or even global. But as Fry says, they don't really have much viewership.

I don't see the Pac 12 wanting any of the leftover MWC schools.
 
I agree with Fry that none of these teams move the meter at all TV wise. But, Wyoming and Air Force both have a solid football tradition and are more recognizable than the alternatives.

If the ACC implodes and Stanford and Cal come back, I could see the Pac 12 being on par with the remnants of the ACC. Both being a step above the MAC or the Sun Belt.

I think where we end up is two premier leagues in the SEC and Big 10, the Big 12 a step below from that, then the ACC and PAC 12 a step down from that, and the rest.
 
Zstatman said:
SMU would be a good candidate for the Pac 12, that Dallas tv market.
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Right now, the Pac 12 has nothing better to offer SMU than the ACC. Even if the ACC loses its two biggies, it still will be better than the Pac 12. Too many moving parts to predict where things will be in 5 years though.
 
It's weird, the states of Wyoming and Colorado are almost identical in geographic shape and size, yet Colorado has grown to 6M people and is expected to keep growing.

The state of Wyoming now has the smallest population in the country at less than 600k people. The university is small too, with an enrollment of 12,000 in a small town of 32,000. The school's national rank is #216 in US News.

At this point, Wyoming's profile fits much better with Montana. In fact, If the MWC decides to rebuild, probably the best option is to add FCS schools like Montana, Montana St, Idaho, Idaho St and the 4 Dakota schools. Wyoming would fit perfect with those schools.
 
Will C said:
I love football but the conference should be about more than that. Cal and Stanford are premier academic schools and having them in the Big would be great.
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"Should be" and what is reality are two different things. The reality is that the Big10 is looking for schools that meet the minimum academic requirements for conference membership (meaning, no more Nebraska exceptions) AND move the money meter. Being a superduper smarty school doesn't make up for a lack of huge fan base or major media market. Sorry Stanford and Cal.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
"Should be" and what is reality are two different things. The reality is that the Big10 is looking for schools that meet the minimum academic requirements for conference membership (meaning, no more Nebraska exceptions) AND move the money meter. Being a superduper smarty school doesn't make up for a lack of huge fan base or major media market. Sorry Stanford and Cal.
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We sure do get wrapped up in what should be vs what is. I make no apologies for often focusing on what should be.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
"Should be" and what is reality are two different things. The reality is that the Big10 is looking for schools that meet the minimum academic requirements for conference membership (meaning, no more Nebraska exceptions) AND move the money meter. Being a superduper smarty school doesn't make up for a lack of huge fan base or major media market. Sorry Stanford and Cal.
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I love that it's both academic and athletic in nature. But I also see a time soon, where FB becomes it's own "for profit" venture outside of NCAA.
 
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