USC and UCLA are gone from the Pac-12 come 2024. There’s not much conference commissioner George Kilavkoff can do about that now. He and his 10 remaining schools are now fighting for their lives.
We previously checked out the Buffs’ potential opportunities, but it’s becoming clear that the Pac-12 will have to beg for a savior unless it wants a Mountain West merger. The Big 12 is likely the best choice for most of the remaining Pac-12 schools — with the exception of potential Big Ten fits Oregon and (maybe) Washington — and Colorado’s former conference also enjoys the freedoms that come with having the upper hand.
Some of the possible scenarios for a Pac-12-Big 12 merger were examined by Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports. First of all, though, Dodd believes that not much will happen until the independent Notre Dame Fighting Irish make a move. But after that happens, Dodd and his industry source laid out the following option, which has the Big 12 poaching from the Pac-12 (h/t CBS Sports):
Next, Dodd put together a “mutual destruction” plan that features a 16-team, two-division conference. In the West, he has the Pac-12’s Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, Utah and Washington. The East Division would then basically be a smaller Big 12: Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and UCF.
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