SALT LAKE CITY — The first thing Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby was asked at his press conference during the Big 12's media days?
Realignment.
“That would be the seventh year in a row we have been asked that question first, so congratulations — you are setting records,” he joked.
It makes sense that fans and reporters are still interested as we close the door on a decade that brought about a lot of change.
Yahoo's Pat Forde named the Pac-12, BYU and the Mountain West as losers in his breakdown of this decade of realignment. Utah came out as a winner, he said.
Despite being in 10-team conference with a 12 in its name, Bowlsby said his conference has had no talks about expanding at “any level.”
But under the right circumstances, things could change quickly.
The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel did a deep dive into the topic of realignment — why it’s inevitable, when it could happen and in what form.
Mandel wrote that with broadcast contracts coming up in the next few years, if there’s going to be a major shakeup, it will be between 2023 and 2025.
“Legal developments started (conference expansion), and legal developments will continue to influence it,” said David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute. “What might happen is something new.”
Possible changes range from the Pac-12 or Big 12 adding a team to more teams — like USC — going independent to a Power 5 coalition or even a scenario where 28 teams break away from the NCAA to create a College Football Premier League.
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