New Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff has plenty of items on his to-do list when he takes the helm of the conference July 1.
Among them is renegotiating a new media rights deal in the coming years.
As part of making the Pac-12 more attractive to broadcasting partners, could it expand again?
In 2010, when Kliavkoff’s predecessor, Larry Scott, was the new commissioner of the then-10-team league, he aggressively sought expansion — pursuing Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Colorado to form a 16-team “super conference.”
Ultimately, of course, the conference added two teams, Utah and Colorado, to form the Pac-12.
Recently, Pete Fiutak of College Football News examined the possibility of future Pac-12 expansion, listing his top 10 candidates.
“Which schools would help make the Pac-12 a bigger national thing? Who should the conference be talking about pitching? Start with the geographic concerns. Of course it would be nice to have a bigger footprint, but there’s a bit of a limit,” Fiutak wrote. “There was a time when Louisiana Tech and TCU were in the WAC — sky point — but the Pac-12 isn’t going to want to get too crazy.
“There’s also a bit of a reality check. Going after Notre Dame would make sense — geography, schmeography — but the school is way too tied to the ACC. Going after Missouri would be an idea, and there was a time back in the early 2010s when Texas A&M was on the table, but those two aren’t leaving the SEC.
No. 10 on Fiutak’s list is BYU.
“Business-wise, it’s perfect. It’s a huge school with an international following — quick tip: never use the word passionate when it comes to sports business; fans are brand loyal customers — that’s going to watch every single second of every single big football and basketball game.
“The greater Salt Lake City TV market is fine, the natural rivalry with Utah is outstanding, and the teams are good enough to make the sports side of the league stronger. But there’s a gigantic, however … The church-owned and operated aspect to BYU is a concern for a whole slew of reasons — not a public school, no sports on Sundays, ideological differences on several levels — and the University of Utah already gives the league a big footprint in the state. The Pac-12 should think about it just because BYU would make the conference bigger and bring in a ton of money and energy, but it won’t happen. The two will end up having a Notre Dame/ACC relationship.”
Here’s the rest of Fiutak’s top 10 list: 9. Boise State; No. 8 Fresno State; No. 7 Nevada; No. 6 Texas Tech; No. 5 UNLV; No. 4 Oklahoma State; No. 3 San Diego State; No. 2 Kansas; and No. 1 Oklahoma.
Why does Fiutak have the Sooners’ the most likely expansion target for the Pac-12?
“You might notice that Texas isn’t on this list. There are a few reasons for that. Texas makes gobs and gobs and gobs of money, and it might be just fine hanging as a Big 12 school even if the league loses some of its teams to the Pac-12. Texas would have no issues remaining the richest athletic department while the Big 12 raids other leagues for schools like Houston, UCF and Cincinnati. The other prevailing thought is that it’s a better fit for the Big Ten if it wants to leave — that was on the table a 10 years ago — more than it is for the Pac-12,” Fiutak wrote.
“But Oklahoma is different. Remember, historically, beyond the great football rivalry, Texas and OU aren’t tied at the hip. Oklahoma was Big 8 and Texas was Southwest Conference before the Big 12 was formed in 1996. Texas wasn’t necessarily part of the discussion back in 2011 when OU was really, really, really close to bolting for the Pac-12.
“This is the first very quiet call the Pac-12 needs to make. If the desire is there to open up the talks again, welcome to the rock of a program that would cause an avalanche.
“... It might be USC’s Pac-12, but Oklahoma would be something different thanks to the geography and style. All of a sudden, the school would take on a new profile, the region would have a different sports look and the Pac-12 would love, love, LOVE to have a football program this big in the central time zone.”