The current reality in college sports is that the Pac-12 no longer exists in any meaningful sense. Sure, the conference website still has Oregon State and Washington State listed as members, but that’s a technicality. There aren’t 12 schools in the conference. There aren’t even 10 or eight. The conference which used to be known as the Pac-10 and, before that, the Pac-8 does not have a meaningful presence in college sports right now. If we don’t view this as a dead conference, it is at least comatose. How long will the coma last? We don’t know, but we do think that a rebirth will happen in our lifetimes.
In the next six to eight years, the schools which have made their way to the Big Ten and the SEC will collect the checks they are counting on to fatten up their coffers and provide sorely-needed revenue. USC will collect all that sweet Big Ten television money. UCLA will do the same. For the next several years, the checks are going to cash, and that will offset any cries for limited travel and a less logistically challenging world for student athletes in the non-revenue sports.
However, once the next decade goes by — with 10 years of repeated long-distance travel — it’s hard to think that administrators won’t eventually turn around and realize how counterproductive it is to be flying across the country instead of having USC play Stanford and UCLA play Cal and Oregon State play Washington. In 2035 or 2038 or 2040, administrators might say enough and bring back the architecture of the Pac-12. Yes, the Big Ten checks are going to cash at USC, but is this going to be the permanent “forever home” for the Trojans? Check back in 10 to 15 years.
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