Trojans Wire’s Matt Zemek believes a lack of culture fit will hinder a potential Pac-12-Big 12 merger

How much of a factor do you think culture fit will play into the Pac-12’s next move? @TrojansWire managing editor @MattZemek offered his take:

The Big 12-Pac-12-Big Ten chaos has been the talk of the college sports world for the past few weeks.

UCLA and USC are headed to the Big Ten, beginning a domino effect across the country. Now, the Pac-12 and Big 12 have decisions to make, and a recent report stated that the Big 12 has a half dozen teams from the Pac-12 on its radar.

But, at this point, nobody knows. Managing editor Matt Zemek of Trojans Wire offered his take on what might happen:

We’ll see how this unfolds. It could be that the Pac-12 will grab some Mountain West schools and play on in a diminished (Group of Five) capacity akin to the Big 12 after the departures of Texas and Oklahoma. However, I think we’re heading for massive mega-conferences, with the SEC (under ESPN) and the Big Ten (under Fox Sports) vacuuming up lots of different schools and becoming at least 24 members strong if not more.
The Pac-12 could merge with the Big 12, but after the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the idea of seeing liberal Pac-12 institutions in the same bed with conservative schools from the South Central Plains just doesn’t strike me as a likely outcome. If the Pac-12 had wanted to add Baylor or TCU or Houston, it would have done so last year after Texas and Oklahoma went to the SEC. There’s a reason that didn’t happen. The institutional and cultural fits do not exist, and in a reworked conference, no Pac-12 or Big 12 team will have the juice needed to really move the needle. I think the Pac-12 is likely dead, with its members scattering to the Big Ten (Oregon and Washington), Big 12 (Arizona schools), and Mountain West (Washington State and Oregon State). Where Colorado and Utah fit is less certain. I think both schools would love to be in the Big Ten but would land in the Big 12 if they can’t be included in a mega-size Big Ten.
The Pac-12 grabbing schools from the Mountain West makes the most sense, with San Diego State and Fresno State as the lead horses in that race. But, the rest is uncertain. To be frank, it is all uncertain.
However, one thing is set: More changes are coming, and the landscape of college sports will continue to shift drastically over the next year or so.

And who knows, the Pac-12 just might dissolve into nothing, especially if those half-dozen teams leave for the Big 12. Times are certainly changing.

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