Horace Greeley, the famed newspaper columnist and author, once uttered the phrase “Go West, young man.” These words could very well become the rallying cry for the next wave of college football’s game of musical chairs.
The University of South Florida might contemplate being a part of the new version of the Pac-12. It would be wise for Michael Kelly, the outside the box thinking Vice President for Athletics at USF, to keep abreast of the latest developments. The Pac-12 has added four significant teams from the Mountain West Conference to rejuvenate the league, with the new members joining in 2028, coinciding with the opening of the Bulls’ new on-campus football stadium.
The PAC 2 this week expanded to six teams with the inclusion of Mountain West members San Diego State, Boise State, Fresno State, and Colorado State, joining founding members Oregon State and Washington State. Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould, known for her progressive approach, believes that with the appropriate selection of new members, the conference can be restructured to enhance its standing with the NCAA and the College Football Playoff.
Gould aims to recruit the top teams outside the Power 4, recognizing that to build an appealing new Pac-12, it’s necessary to include UNLV and select members from the American Athletic Conference: University of Texas San Antonio, Rice, Tulane, South Florida, Memphis, and Birmingham, thus expanding the conference to 14 teams. Should the Pac-12 decide to further increase its membership to 16, Air Force and New Mexico could be considered valuable additions.
The Pac-12 has the potential to schedule games across all the key Saturday television time slots, including noon, 3:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and the late slot at 10:30 p.m., which could appeal to prospective media partners. Although ESPN and Fox may not be interested in a partnership, other networks like The CW, ION, and Warner Brothers-Discovery Sports, along with streaming services such as Apple TV+, Roku, Paramount+ and Amazon, would likely consider a coast-to-coast nationwide conference quite seriously.
The new Pac-12 could feature emerging brands in college football, and with many in major media markets, the conference might attract a compelling mix of linear television and streaming partners. It’s conceivable that they could command between $12 to $15 million per member.
I know that it is not the money the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12 is banking but it is twice as much as these schools are getting now in their perspective markets. But this new version of the Pac 12 is the best teams from the non-Power 4 conferences and that is something that can’t be overlooked.
“The league lost its designation as an autonomous/power conference, a moniker that gave it more voting privileges within NCAA governance and more revenue in the CFP distribution model. It is unclear if the conference could regain such a designation,” Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported.
Dellenger stated on Thursday that while the Pac-12 may not recover its former status, it could argue for a greater share of playoff revenue. Additionally, he noted that the Pac-12 champion might secure an automatic berth in the 12-team College Football Playoff by 2026.
There are plenty of reasons to keep the Pac 12 alive and being part of the new conference might be something worth giving serious consideration to. Let’s keep an eye on is going on out west.
