Big 12 Will 'Aggressively Pursue' Further Expansion, Could Be A Huge Problem For The PAC-12
The Big 12 apparently plans on going on offense after Texas and Oklahoma leave the conference.
It was officially announced Thursday that Oklahoma and Texas will leave the Big 12 for the SEC in 2024.
After lots of chatter about when it would happen, an official decision is in. Now, the Big 12 apparently plans on scooping up more teams.
Following the announcement, Ross Dellenger reported the conference and commissioner Brett Yormark will "aggressively pursue" adding more teams to the conference.
That's really bad news for one conference:
The PAC-12.
The Big 12 is the PAC-12's worst enemy.
BYU, UCF, Cincy and Houston will all officially join the Big 12 this summer. The four programs will help stem the loss of the Sooners and Longhorns. The conference will still have a substantial hole, but it's a good start for Yormark.
There's one very obvious place for Yormark to go hunting for new teams, and it's the PAC-12. He should already be on the phone with Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.
If he's not, he's not doing his job.
The biggest problem for the PAC-12, which we covered Thursday, is the lack of a media deal. Not only does the PAC-12 not have a new media deal, no network seems overly interested in giving the conference one.
Meanwhile, the Big 12's media future is very secure. That gives Yormark immediate ammo to lob at the PAC-12. Do you want stability or a future that's unknown?
The answer is obvious, and it's stability. The longer the PAC-12 goes without a media deal, the more power the Big 12 will get. Yormark's conference will start looking very tempting for multiple PAC-12 teams.
Expansion is a crazy thing, and it's hard to say for sure what will happen. However, the Big 12 seems setup for success, and if Yormark tries to raid the PAC-12, there might not be anything George Kliavkoff can do to stop him. Imagine hearing about this timeline a few years ago. Nobody would have believed you. Yet, here we are. Welcome to the insane world of college sports.