Will Oregon Follow Colorado To The Big 12?

Could the Oregon Ducks be on the move and follow Colorado to the Big 12?

After months of speculation, the Buffaloes have pulled the trigger on leaving the PAC-12 and returning to the Big 12, according to multiple reports.

An official announcement is expected at some point Thursday. The PAC-12's inability to land a new media deal was finally hit with major consequences.

The Buffaloes are out, and that's really bad news for the future of George Kliavkoff's conference. Will Colorado be going alone or could the Ducks be joining?

Will Oregon leave the PAC-12?

It feels like college football fans are now living in a Cold War spy drama. Information is flooding in, and it's unclear what should be trusted and what shouldn't be.

What we know is the PAC-12 has been clinging to life by its teeth. Collapse has looked imminent many times, and it's never been in worse condition than it is right now.

Oregon, the biggest brand in the PAC-12 outside of USC and UCLA, has no incentive to stay in a dying conference. Will the Ducks join Colorado?

247Sports reporter Jason Scheer, who has been correct on a lot of PAC-12 topics, tweeted Monday that "there's another school in the Pac-12 beyond the rumored four corners that will surprise people and is seriously contemplating a jump to the Big 12.

Oregon alum and former NFL player Geoff Schwartz speculated Wednesday night that he believed the team Scheer was referring to had to be Oregon.

What will the Ducks do?

Nothing added fuel to the fire that something is going down in Eugene than when it was reported the school's Executive, Audit and Governance Committee of the Board of Trustees scheduled a Thursday morning meeting on short notice.

Matt Prehm broke the news AFTER the news of Colorado going back to the Big 12 came out.

Now, it's very possible the trustees are meeting to handle Dan Lanning's contract. It's very possible, but why would that be scheduled on short notice?

Why would word break shortly after Colorado pulled the trigger on leaving the PAC-12? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that all bets are off at this point.

Oregon desperately wants to be in the Big Ten, but there's no Big Ten invite available right now.

Oregon is a national brand with the backing of Nike and Phil Knight. If the rush for the lifeboats is on - and it appears to be - it'd make sense for Oregon to be making a run for it. The PAC-12 has never been closer to collapse than it is right now. Is the next chip to fall Oregon? Are the Ducks the team Scheer was referring to? Buckle up because we're officially in uncharted territory.

Written by
David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.