Clint Lamb
Videos by OutKick
In a surprise move, the Pac-12 announced last week that MGM Resorts executive George Kliavkoff would be the new commissioner of the Power Five conference. With the way the Pac-12 has been trending in recent years, a new commissioner is welcome and necessary change.
In his introductory press conference, Kliavkoff hit the ground running and offered several ideas for improving the conference profile. He discussed several controversies such as playoff expansion, legalized sports betting and Pac-12 relations with Las Vegas, all of which Pete Fiutak with College Football News has broken down nicely.
Though those topics are interesting, but his tidbit about expanding the Pac-12 is particularly noteworthy.
Fiutak recently gave a list of possible schools that would fit in well with the Pac-12 vision, including BYU and Oklahoma State. The most shocking team on his list, though, is Oklahoma:
As great at Oklahoma has been sports-wise in the Big 12, the league is still owned by Texas. That’s the anchor tenant.
It might be USC’s Pac-12, but Oklahoma would be something different thanks to the geography and style. All of a sudden, the school would take on a new profile, the region would would have a different sports look, and the Pac-12 would love, love, LOVE to have a football program this big in the central time zone.
As the article states, the Sooners almost bolted to the Pac-12 back in 2011. However, this is a much different time, and while Texas is still considered the face of the Big 12, Oklahoma has dominated that conference since 2015.
The Sooners have won six straight Big 12 titles and made four appearances in the College Football Playoff. Their arrival in the Pac-12 would help the perception of that league, which hasn’t been in the Playoff since 2016.
That’s a pretty tough sell. What do you think? Which school should the Pac-12 pursue?
Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.
They would lose millions off the TV contracts. The PAC-12 would snub its nose OU and Oklahoma State because they care more about football than the Olympic sports. They would also hurt there chances at the playoffs because they have an automatic bid as of now cause Texas sucks since 09 after Colt McCoy left.
That would be the worst move ever to join that conference for Oklahoma. They should bring in BYU and Boise State if they want to expand.
I think Oklahoma has seen the forgotten outcast Nebraska has become in the big 10. Nebraska should rejoin the big 12 and become relevant again.
OU is a pipedream. If they want to expand, they’re going to have to poach from lower tier conferences, not superior ones.
If the Big 12 would get a functioning brain they would invite the Duo of USF & UCF. It would give them a footprint in Florida and you get a built in rivalry. Plus the Big 12 would actually have 12 teams Again.
This is an intriguing idea. Certainly adding the Florida footprint makes sense.
PAC 12 has big problems that expansion will not fix. The only expansion that would make any sense is to add both Texas and Oklahoma but that would be a bad move for those schools.
The Pac 12 and Big 12 would be better off just combining together…perhaps they’d get in the CFP more often…maybe even win a game every now and then
I HIGHLY doubt OU would get Texas’ permission to go to the PAC 12. And as we all know, OU needs UT’s permission even to take a tinkle. Hook Em.
San Diego State and Boise State would make the most sense – but word down here in SoCal is that USC and UCLA will never let SDSU in because they view San Diego as their own recruiting pool – they don’t want to give up the Bill Waltons, Reggie Bushes and Marcus Allens.
But SDSU already dominates the PAC 12 in basketball, and it’s football team is better than the bottom half of the Pac 12. (Boise’s football team is better than the TOP half of the PAC 12). SDSU already competes in the PAC 12 in soccer.
With SDSU getting a new football stadium built in time for 2022, and Tony Gwynn Stadium having hosted the College World Series regionals in the past, it ought to be a no-brainer. Plus, the TV rights would be a nice bump for the PAC 12. Right now, the PAC 12 gets bumpus for ratings in the San Diego market.
You know, if the original Mountain West had held together, it would be better than the PAC 12 is now: BYU, Utah, SDSU, Boise, Air Force, TCU, UNLV, Wyoming. Add in Hawaii and New Mexico, and you’d have a basketball powerhouse and a football team at least as good as the PAC 12.