Tag: Pac-12 expansion

Which conference would be a better football fit for Oregon — Big Ten or Big 12?

Rivalries and past history matter in college football. With that being said, which conference — Big Ten or Big 12 — would be a better fit for Oregon?

With the departure of the Colorado Buffaloes from the Pac-12 Conference, the topic of conference realignment has once again been brought to the forefront.

If you’re an Oregon Ducks fan, this means your team is in the middle of nearly every conversation brought forth at the moment, good or bad.

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While we’ve talked about potential options for Oregon going forward, and how a move to the Big Ten would be desirable for both parties in the end, we’ve also touched on where the Pac-12 might look to expand if it wants to make a last-ditch effort to keep the conference intact.

Should the Ducks end up leaving the Pac-12, we need to start vetting their landing spot. The Big 12 may be the more likely option at the moment, but the Big Ten is the more-desired outcome. But is the Big Ten that much better than the Big 12, and if so, why?

Let’s take a look at that question. In college football, one of the most important things for fans to hold onto is rivalries, and shared experiences. One place may be a great spot for a team to land, but if it doesn’t have any history with the teams in the conference, the move could fall flat in the end.

So when looking at the Big Ten and the Big 12, which conference has Oregon had more experience with, and where would the best rivalries come from? Let’s take a look:

If the Pac-12 wants to expand, here’s who they should target

In order to stabilize, it’s pretty clear that the Pac-12 Conference needs to expand. Here are some candidates for them to bring in.

There are many things the Pac-12 Conference can do going forward in the wake of losing the Colorado Buffaloes to the Big 12 Conference, but the consensus thought is commissioner George Kliavkoff needs to do what he can to add some new members as quickly as possible.

With the departures of Colorado, USC and UCLA, the Pac-12 is about to shrink to the Pac-9 next year. In order to stabilize, they need to add one new member at the very least, and potentially three new members in order to get back to relative strength.

So who might they go after? Here are a few options:

Eight potential candidates should the Pac-12 look to expand

A report from @Brett_McMurphy shows George Kliavkoff could be looking to expand the Pac-12. Here are some candidates for potential expansion.

The idea of conference realignment and expansion is not new in the world of college football. After the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners announced that they would be going from the Big 12 to the SEC a few years ago, it opened the door for both the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins to jump ship and leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten last summer. Both of those moves are yet to officially take place, but with those moves on the horizon, it has led to speculation of more realignment in the future.

For the Oregon Ducks, there is a belief that they may end up moving to the Big Ten in the coming years, along with another school like Washington, or Utah. However, before that happens, the Pac-12 appears to be making a last-ditch effort to try and expand itself, working to get back to 12 teams after losing the Los Angeles schools.

According to a report from Brett McMurphy on Tuesday night, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff will be taking a visit to SMU on Wednesday, with the potential goal of adding the Mustangs to the conference in an expansion move. SMU would likely not be the only team that the conference adds, but could be the first major domino to fall.

Even if the Pac-12 were to add a couple of these teams, it’s hard to see them leveling up enough to be seen as one of the major conferences in college football. A lot of the candidates for expansion are typically smaller schools from non-Power 5 conferences. For example, you aren’t going to convince a school like Oklahoma State or Texas Tech to move to the Pac-12, with the Big-12 sitting pretty at the moment. You also have ACC schools that would be good candidates, but they’re locked into a TV deal that makes realignment infeasible for the time being.

So who could Kliavkoff look to add to the conference to bring it up to full strength? We’ve got a few candidates in mind.

Gonzaga AD reportedly talked to Big 12 boss; Pac-12 war with Big 12 continues

Pete Thamel of ESPN reports #Gonzaga’s athletic director met with #Big12 Commissioner Brett Yormark. This is an urgent matter for the #Pac12.

The Pac-12 and Big 12 continue to fight for leverage, money, memberships, and seemingly everything else under the sun in college sports. A new plot twist: They might be fighting over Gonzaga, though the extent of that particular battle is unclear.

On Wednesday afternoon, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Gonzaga Athletic Director Chris Standiford talked to Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark while the GU basketball team was in Texas to play Tennessee in a preseason scrimmage.

ESPN college basketball reporter and columnist Dana O’Neil subsequently tweeted confirmation of Thamel’s report from a second source, noting that talks between Gonzaga and the Big 12 are only in the “exploratory” stage. So, it’s not as though a deal is about to be reached. Yet, it’s clearly another statement by the Big 12 about its intentions, which clash with the Pac-12’s best interests. Let’s break down this situation and provide some other notes you need to be aware of:

Big 12 Conference looking at potential West Coast expansion

The Big 12 could potentially poach a few Pac-12 schools.

Conference realignment has been one of the major talking points in the college football world for quite some time now. Texas and Oklahoma are heading to the SEC and USC and UCLA are moving to the Big Ten.

The Big 12 responded to losing Texas and Oklahoma by announcing the addition of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF. League commissioner Brett Yormark is looking toward the West Coast for potential expansion.

“Obviously going out West is where I would like to go. Entering that fourth time zone. A program that has national recognition. One that competes at the highest level in basketball and football, stands for the right things, is a good cultural fit.”

Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are obvious candidates to join the Big 12. The conference could even look northward to Oregon and Washington if it wants to expand its national footprint.

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