The Big 12 on offense?
The Big 12 has been given an unexpected opportunity to solidify its position among the Power 5 conferences. Its new commissioner doesn’t want to waste it. The league is in “serious” talks with six Pac-12 schools – Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington – and is determined to move quickly, sources told The Athletic. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, hired just last week, has been described as “hyper-aggressive” by one source and has the support of Big 12 presidents and chancellors to pursue adding Pac-12 members. It’s unclear how quickly the Big 12 could finalize a deal on its expansion efforts, but these sources expressed optimism that Yormark can pull it off. CBS Sports first reported that the Big 12 was in discussions to add several Pac-12 schools. Arizona and Arizona State have long been considered logical for the Big 12 if those schools were ever interested in getting out of the Pac-12. But USC and UCLA screwing up the Big Ten makes the Big 12 dream bigger. It also looks at Utah, the Pac-12 football champion in 2021, and Colorado, a member of the Big Eight and Big 12 until 2011. Oregon and Washington’s aspirations are harder to predict right now. For both, it probably makes sense to keep their options open and hold out for the possibility of joining the Big Ten or the SEC. The Big 12 would need those first four, but an effort to bring in all six is certainly worth it. “(Yormark) talked about making sure we’re going to be aggressive, not sit on our hands,” a Big 12 athletic director told The Athletic. “I talked to some ADs and we think we’re in a position of strength.” Yormark first met his commercials last Friday in a Zoom meeting, and several said he was impressive in his debut. He’s been strong in his belief that the Big 12 can thrive in this changing climate, and he appears to have the right connections to help make that happen. He wasn’t set to officially start his job until Aug. 1, but Yormark is taking this opportunity to pull off an upset and knows the Big 12 can’t afford to sit back and watch this latest realignment saga unfold. — Max Olson and Chris Vanini
What the Big 12 could gain from adding these particular Pac-12 programs
When a league has a chance to be aggressive in a conference realignment round, it usually takes it. Beyond the obvious draw of Oregon and Washington, the Arizona schools would bring in Phoenix’s media market, the 11th largest in the nation. Colorado would bring in Denver (No. 16) and Utah would boost Salt Lake City (No. 30) along with incoming Big 12 member BYU. It also makes sense from a scheduling and travel standpoint, especially with BYU already in the fold starting in 2023. It would keep the Holy War going, and while maintaining or rekindling rivalries isn’t usually a major driving factor in any move like this , would be a great byproduct. A source at one of the target schools noted that many Pac-12 fans don’t travel well, and the strong fan bases in the Big 12 are another factor that makes the conference interesting. The idea of Iowa State, BYU or Kansas fans visiting more regularly than several current Pac-12 schools could be appealing. A Big 12 source noted that Colorado was “very tentative” in 2010 when it left the Big 12 for the Pac-12, seeking stability as well as potential West Coast exposure/enrollment. Maybe that calculus looks a little different in today’s college sports landscape — and a Pac-12 that doesn’t include LA schools. “I think a lot of things are possible,” the Big 12 source said. — Nicole Auerbach and Vannini
How does the Pac-12 respond?
Less than a week after the league lost its top schools, a Pac-12 source said the conference is operating with a sense of urgency but is “not panicking.” If one of the remaining Pac-12 schools suddenly got a call from the Big Ten or the SEC, the source said that would be reason enough for the rest to hit a panic button. But the Big 12? The source said the current iteration of the Big 12 is not an obvious yes. It might make more sense for the Arizona/Colorado/Utah contingent to wait a bit and consider all options, including what the Pac-12 might put together as a counteroffer. One option worth exploring, the source said, is some kind of partnership between the Pac-12 and the ACC. (Just don’t call it an “alliance,” please.) Both leagues need a boost, because both are set to fall far behind the SEC and Big Ten in terms of annual revenue. The ACC is stuck with a media rights deal that’s effectively depreciated and doesn’t expire until 2036 — would a deal with the Pac-12 allow them to renegotiate such a (bad) deal? It’s a question managers across the country are asking. — Auerbach
Could the Pac-12 regret its inaction in 2021?
Less than a year ago, the Pac-12 could make a move. New commissioner George Kliavkoff received plenty of interest from leaders of Big 12 schools looking to jump ship. It would be very easy to go after its most attractive members, plant a flag in the state of Texas, and potentially put an end to the Big 12. But for the Pac-12, those schools just weren’t attractive enough. Kliavkoff instead pursued the option that his conference believed added more value at the time, partnering with the ACC and Big Ten on their ill-fated Alliance. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said at the time that they hoped the compact would “allow a conference like the Big 12 to figure out their path forward.” Calling this merciful seems a bit generous, but the inaction on expansion from the Pac-12 helped the Big 12 come together and agree to bring in four new members. The Big 12 survived because no Power 5 league wanted its remaining eight schools. The Pac-12 might not be so lucky. “Shame on the Big 12 if they don’t do what the Pac-12 wasn’t willing to do last year,” a group of 5 ADs told The Athletic. That’s not to say the Pac-12 would have avoided its current problems by raiding the Big 12. Even if USC and UCLA were in favor of expansion (and sources believe they weren’t), such a move wouldn’t have prevented from the closing for a better deal in the Big Ten. But it was a time when the Pac-12 could have taken a competitor out of the market and created a Power 4. The Big 12 can do the same right now, though it won’t be as easy to pull off. No one is questioning whether Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah add enough value to the Big 12 to be worth it. Its leaders want to be aggressive. They’ve lived through this very cycle of panic, fear and uncertainty, so they know how vulnerable Pac-12 presidents are right now and how amenable they must be to offering a good solution. The wild card, of course, is Yormark. He has a lot to learn about this landscape and needs to do it as quickly as possible. Yormark brings over 30 years of experience in professional sports, not college. He has no long-term relationships with these commissioners. Maybe that helps. He does not owe it to them to be collective. The Big 12 has been through enough to know that doing nothing can prove costly. — Olson
Why is the Pac-12 opening media rights negotiations now?
The Pac-12 announced Tuesday that its board had “authorized the conference to immediately begin negotiations on the next media rights agreements.” The timing drew attention, but sources inside and outside the Pac-12 seemed to think it made sense. The Pac-12, with its current deal through 2024, has to do what it can to stay afloat and believes that visiting media partners and evaluating them will help. Or maybe you can play a merge or a co-op. If you’re Arizona or Colorado, wouldn’t you want all the facts and figures before you decide to switch to another league? It’s useful information that might lead to a re-engagement of current members of the Pac-12 with each other. At least, that’s the optimistic view of the situation. A more pessimistic view: Taking the numbers doesn’t change the numbers. The Pac-12’s value to potential media partners has taken a significant hit, whether it can put a dollar amount on it or not. — Auerbach
So, what about the best of the rest?
A former Pac-12 administrator put it simply Tuesday: Oregon and Washington are superior to anything the Big 12 has to offer. That’s worth remembering in all of this as the Big 12 and its new, unhinged commissioner look to strike first and annex a portion of what’s left of the Pac-12. While it’s unclear what the Ducks and Huskies can do — and what real options they have right now — it’s safe to say that those two programs, more than any other, control the fate of the Pac-12 this year. dot. The Pac-12 is no doubt trying to get over things as well – why else would it make a statement saying it will immediately begin media rights negotiations? — but that statement probably has little bearing on the current situation. It also distracts from the larger issues at hand at the national level. What will Notre Dame do? And, perhaps just as importantly, what will North Carolina do? Do not…
