“Bigger Ten” is a column by Campbell Donovan about USC’s impending move to the Big Ten.
The fresh look of the Big Ten is just over a year away. This change will transform the college sports world as mega-conferences begin to form, but where will it leave the Pac-12?
The teams that will remain in the Pac-12 after the Los Angeles schools leave are Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Utah, Washington and Washington State.
The two Los Angeles schools were already a core part of the conference. With the loss of them, the Pac-12 is expected to lose about 200 million dollars in revenue each year according to sports expert John Canzano.
There has been lots of speculation about what direction the conference will go in to recoil. Some experts argue that this exit is the end of the West Coast league. Others predict that the Pac-12 will try to acquire other schools to turn its sinking ship around.
Currently, it sounds like the Pac-12 is exploring expansion to save themselves from extinction.
The team that would make the most sense to help the revival would be the San Diego State Aztecs due to both their location and highly competitive athletics. It was reported on June 16th that the Aztecs had requested to leave the Mountain West Conference, but needed to come to a final deal with other conferences first.
However, without an invitation from the Pac-12 by June 30 of this year, the Aztecs would now need to pay a 33.5 million dollar exit fee from the Mountain West Conference, which at this point sounds very unlikely and unaffordable.
Another ideal scenario would be if the Pac-12 could claim a Texas school and begin expansion in the Lone Star State. SMU is another target school from the conference, but after watching the San Diego State fiasco, the Mustangs will probably be much more cautious with their decision making.
Plus, the Mustangs were determined to get into the conference with the Aztecs. Now that San Diego State sits still, it leaves the Mustangs with an even tougher decision.
The Pac-12 already likely lost the nationally-viewed top contender for the conference. July will be an important month for the fate of the league, and without any change in this upcoming month, the end of the Pac-12 may begin to get a little closer.