The Pac-12 cans plans to expand
The conference announces it will not expand or take on any Big XII runaways.
Speculation has been swirling since Texas and Oklahoma made the move to join the SEC—how will this affect the Pac-12? Will we use this as an opportunity to collect any teams leaping from the sinking ship of the Big XII? Will we nab some up-and-coming West Coast teams to strengthen our position in the face of the growing SEC doom?
Well, step one was to enter an alliance with the Big Ten and the ACC to… accomplish something that isn’t entirely clear yet.
Still, the possibility still remained for a step two to expand the Pac-12 into teenagedom, but the Pac-12 shot down that possibility with a press release today. The conference announced that they consulted the Pac-12’s “Presidents, Chancellors[,] and Athletic Directors” and came to the decision to stay at 12 schools due to our “current competitive strength and cohesiveness” and “our ability as a conference to best support our student-athletes and to grow and thrive both academically and athletically.”
So, twelve remains the magic number for the time being. Our apologies to the Texas Techs and Iowa States of the world because it’s not you—it’s us.
Oh man. I got to hand it to Leland that the "cans plan to expand" title is outstand..ing.
Not sure what to make of this. On one hand, none of the leftover Big 12 schools feel like particularly good fits. On the other hand, I want the conference to persevere. But I don’t trust the leadership across the Pac 12 schools to make the smart decision to protect the future of the conference.