With the news of the Big Ten snatching USC and UCLA from the Pac 12 in 2024, it is going to start a domino effect. The Pac 12 will lose out on the stronghold they had on the Los Angeles market, so it leaves the Pac 12 in flux knowing they have to go the renegotiation table for a new deal soon. With the SEC getting Texas and Oklahoma in 2025, USC and UCLA going to the Big Ten and UC, BYU, Houston and UCF going to the Big 12 in 2023 what is the next domino to fall?
The big dog out there is Notre Dame who the Big Ten has been checking their temperature for years, with the recent addition of USC and UCLA it could possibly sway them to stop being independent on the football side of things. Word, on the street is Washington and Oregon are trying to jump on the Big Ten train as well, but the Big Ten is waiting on Notre Dame first so with that it leaves a lot of Pac 12 teams scrambling. Word is new commissioner Brett Yormark has been checking the temperature of the remaining Pac 12 teams, I know they would love to snag Oregon and Washington if possible, but reports say that it is most likely that Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado would be the four they grab and once Texas and Oklahoma leave would leave the conference at 16. Maybe they grab California and Stanford as well, but honestly it seems that the Big 12 is in a position of power when the Pac 12 has been hit at its foundation losing its two biggest names and the LA market.
If I’m the Big 12 I’m plucking the remaining solid teams from the west coast and checking the temperature of ACC teams as well with Big 12 deal talks happening in 2025, so at the day follow the money, don’t worry about logistics of travel because that’s out the window football is pushing this trend and the Big 12 can’t be on the wrong side of the boat with this huge move.
Note: It would be interesting to see the conversation that Colorado would have to have with the Big 12 after leaving them for Pac 12 in 2011.
