Takeaways from college football realignment, plus predicting what’s next
It’s been a crazy week for college football conference realignment. The Big 12 and Big Ten have expanded, while the Pac-12 is on its last legs. Here are our takeaways from what’s happened so far, as well as what comes next.
Change has been coming in college football. In fact, conference realignment never really stopped — it only just paused.
The Big 12 lost Texas and Oklahoma only to respond by adding BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston, as well as now Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah.
Meanwhile, smelling blood in the water, the Big Ten made its move for Oregon and Washington. The Ducks and Huskies were the logical choices to add as the final football powers remaining in the Pac-12 conference.
Stanford, Washington State, Oregon State, and Cal are now left out in the cold. Will two of them be added to the Big Ten? Could the state schools join the Big 12, while Stanford and Cal get a ticket to the Big Ten?
Or could the four Pac-12 schools merge with the Mountain West? Every possibility is on the table. Before we get to more predictions though, here are some takeaways from the latest round of college football conference realignment.
The Pac-12 is the big loser from college football conference realignment
No conference played their cards worse in college football conference realignment than the Pac-12 which waited way too long to put together a new media deal.
Once USC left, the league wasn’t going to be as attractive to media companies anymore. The Big 12 was smart to target Colorado and Arizona and once that move happened, it put Utah and Arizona State in a corner.
Those schools would have risked being left without a home if Oregon and Washinton left for the Big Ten, which they did, so the Utes and Sun Devils had to follow.
Now, just four teams remain in the Pac-12. There are basically two choices: merge with the Mountain West or join the Big 12 (if it even wants those schools).
My guess is that the Big 12 doesn’t care about Stanford, Cal, Washington State, or Oregon State. They could merge with the Mountain West and use the Pac-12 brand name, however, it’s not going to be worth much.
Stanford and Cal are probably holding out hope that the Big Ten will add them too, but outside of making easier travel partners for the four West Coast teams, there’s nothing to gain.
Pittsburgh, Clemson, Miami, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and even West Virginia might be more attractive to the Big Ten than Cal and Stanford.
Colorado, Arizona, AZU, Utah, Oregon, and Washington were all winners in college football conference realignment. But the Pac-12 conference and the holdovers are the biggest losers.