Where Does the Pac-12 Go From Here?

The PAC is back, baby! And this time, it's with some friends from the Mountain West conference, stealing away San Diego State, Boise State, Fresno State, and Colorado State to get back up to 6 members and feasibly start getting to work on adding more schools. While they probably won't be competing with the ACC or Big 12 in terms of dollars and cents anytime soon, they're alive---and that's all that matters.

But the question quickly arises: where do they go from here? Who do they add, and from where? And once that gets answered, how will those plundered conferences respond?

In this video, I'll (probably erroneously) predict where the Pac-12 will choose to expand next, and the shockwave of realignment that will occur afterwards.

[mrterp]

Ain’t a conference realignment until Dalukes checks in

[guitardude]

"USC and UCLA joining the big ten makes absolutely no sense geographically"

UConn: "Hold my beer"

[SkylerMillerTheBronxProject]

They tried to kill the man but couldn't kill the idea. A geographically consistent conference.

[aaronthomas]

British Columbia Thunderbirds, welcome to the Pac-12!
Seriously, I do feel sorry for the University of Hawaii football program. So much great Pacific Islander football talent - it feels like Hawaii *deserves* to benefit from all of that. But it's difficult to overcome geography, I guess.

[girlwithaguitar]

I think a sneaky choice to add would be Wyoming. It connects Colorado State to the rest of the conference geographically, it's a longtime rival of Boise State and Colorado State, it's an R1 research university, and actually has the highest endowment of any MWC school. Them plus New Mexico, Memphis and Tulane seem most likely to me.

To make up for those missing teams, I think adding the 6 Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota teams all together would make a KILLER conference alongside the two Nevada schools, SJSU, Utah State and Air Force.

[empireonyt]

i just hope hawaii can survive in the aftermath of all of this

[imhappy]

As a CSU fan, what a Rollercoaster of a week.

Huge Pac12 news... and then crushing defeat

[maxl.b.m.y.g.]

Idaho should be seriously considered as an FCS teams to make the jump

[greenlightning]

I can't see Stanford and Cal joining the Pac-12 again even if the ACC does implode, which isn't a given. They seem to think that Wazzu, Oregon State and all of the schools that are joining from the MWC are beneath them. Cal might rejoin someday if they have absolutely no other options, but with the financial backing Stanford has I could see them going independent before they rejoin the Pac-12.

[dantheminigolfwizard]

It makes me so sad that Utah State was never even mentioned in the video a single time

[joey_bingham]

I think we need to add Utah State to the conversation of schools forming the new PAC. They are a geographic fit that can contribute to the conference in football and other sports, mainly basketball. It would also be good to bring the state of Utah back to the PAC.

[ryansuter]

Clear and concise with a pleasant voice! Wonderful 👍🏼👍

[jacksonperry]

I was hoping you’d upload a video on this.

[TheFranchiseCA]

A conference championship game does not require ten football members. CUSA held one in 2023, with just nine members, and only seven were eligible.

[Spritecranberry]

Beer companies can do something really funny with this conference

[arlyntheawesome]

While the NCAA swears you need 10 for a champ game, they've been known to play fast and loose with it. I'm currently seeing the PAC only going to 8 members (Memphis + Tulane) and as a conference making the most of a 7 game conference schedule to maximize their OOC opportunities.

That's how these G5 (or lesser P5 if you really wanna give them that benefit) will make the CFP, winning your big OOC games against P4 opponents. Having 5 (more realistically 4 with an FCS warmup game) spots to buff your resume is both how a program elevates oneself to national relevancy and how a conference makes itself respected in national media.

[MichaelDanger]

We're just moving the problem from one conference to another, i've become completely disillusioned by the last few years of realignment. Glad you pointed out the ceiling for this is a top level G5 conference

[danielmarley]

I never liked the idea of “Fb-only” or “no -FB” conference members.

[Mateus_Carvalho]

A Mountain West with the Dakotas would be real fun.

[maxl.b.m.y.g.]

6:18 where did you get Wichita State bringing their football program back?