CFB Insider names 2 Pac-12 schools "fully engaged" with the Big Ten eyeing a $1 billion media deal compared to Pac-12's $25 million
Pac-12 schools have been getting a lot of attention with the conference on the brink of collapse and others picking up programs they want. The USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins have already left for the Big Ten in 2024 and the Colorado Buffaloes have announced a return to the Big 12. However, two more Pac-12 schools could find new homes.
According to ESPN's College Football Senior Writer Pete Thamel, two Pac-12 schools are "fully engaged" with joining the Big Ten: Washington and Oregon.
Sources: Washington and Oregon are "fully engaged" with the Big Ten. Things remain fluid, but are trending in that direction.
It makes a lot of sense financially why both the Washington Huskies and Oregon Ducks are looking to leave and join the Big Ten. The difference in the media rights alone is massive as the Pac-12 is looking to sign a deal while the Big Ten has a massive $1 billion per year deal.
Are more Pac-12 schools going to look to leave the conference?
This is a weird question because it depends on what the conference does. Some remaining programs are not Power Five schools that would want to stick around. However, the programs with some futures in the sport would want to look elsewhere to understand the severity of the situation.
There seems to be some smoke that the Arizona Board of Regents wants both the Arizona Wildcats and Arizona State Sun Devils to be with the Big 12. That means the Pac-12 is crumbling as it is are being left with the runts of the litter in its own conference.
One way to stop teams from leaving, and even have teams looking to join, will be announcing a media rights deal. Pac-12 schools still can get some exposure compared to other conferences on the West Coast and that will help them become bigger stars. Things are interesting on that front as they lost some serious media markets as of late, losing Los Angeles and that is huge for a lot of reasons.
The conference is dealing with a lot of turnover and things are changing on a dime. It will be interesting to see if there are any more teams that are going to be turning to other avenues for their college football future. This can be a massive domino in the college football world as things look to be changing by the hour.
College football expansion has seen many different programs, even some that were considered Stallworth, change homes. Will this be the final one or is there more to come?