Pac-12 football: Ranking the league’s 10 best expansion candidates
By John Scimeca
3. SMU
Southern Methodist University makes sense for the Pac-12 in today’s college football landscape: namely, it’s located in one of the nation’s 10 largest metro areas (Dallas-Fort Worth) that is both a massive media market and a significant recruiting pipeline.
If Pac-12 football wants to be growth-minded and acknowledge the very real threat of potentially losing its next two most valuable members in Oregon and Washington, it should look long and hard at adding the Mustangs.
SMU would have preferred the Big 12, but that was a long shot with the addition of Fort Worth-based TCU a decade ago. The football team has greatly improved recently, putting together a 25-10 record since 2019 and reaching the AP Top 25 in each of those three seasons. It’s not quite the “Pony Express” of the 1980s, but there’s potential value today in adding SMU.
2. Boise State
Perhaps no other team has exploded onto the FBS level in the past two decades as a mid-major like Boise State, encapsulated by the famous “State of Liberty” play that defeated OU in the Fiesta Bowl. In reality, the Broncos have been solidly impressive on the blue turf: in the past two decades, they’ve reached the AP Top 25 every single season until last year and they’ve finished with 10+ wins in 15 of those 20 seasons.
Boise, Idaho isn’t a huge urban market to add to the league’s coffers, but that’s about the only knock against the Broncos. 25 Broncos have heard their names called in the NFL Draft during the past decade. Boise State is the most successful Group of Five team that’s yet to be “unclaimed” by the big boys.
Lastly, you knew this was coming — the Broncos are an astounding 10-4 against Pac-12 opponents since 2008.
1. San Diego State
This one is the obvious choice. Don’t overthink it, Pac-12 schools. The Aztecs are a solid football program that thrives in southern California, where the conference is about to lose its two cash cows.
San Diego County is home to 3.3 million people, and the university is building a brand-new football stadium. The Aztecs just completed one of the best seasons in school history in 2021, winning 12 games. That marks four of the last six years in which San Diego State has won 10 or more games.
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This addition feels like an eventuality… unless another power conference pulls a surprise move and scoops up the Aztecs from the Mountain West before the Pac-12 does.