The Pacific-12 Conference is made up of 12 schools spanning the Pacific coast and bordering states, well for now. As it stands now the conference is being dismantled and sold for parts to the Big Ten and the Big 12. and potentially might not be around in a few years.

Big Ten

The Big Ten comprises 14 schools in the midwest and a few in the northeast, and in 2024 UCLA and USC. Logistically it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to add these schools (read our newsletter from last week for more on that) but monetarily it is a huge boon to one of the most powerful conferences in collegiate sports.

It is also a huge loss for the Pac-12 because they have effectively lost their largest market in Los Angeles. The conference is set to renegotiate their media rights deal that ends soon and not having two historic football programs or any presence in the largest market on the west coast puts them in a less than desirable position.

Big 12

After the news came out about UCLA and USC going to the Big Ten, it didn't take long for the Pac-12 to get some other bad news. The Big 12, who is losing Texas and Oklahoma in 2025, wants Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. Those schools are now the core of the conference, as Arizona State and Utah are two of the better schools that often find themselves in the top-25 rankings in football.

That would be tough to swallow on its own but it was also reported that the Big 12 could also want Oregon and Washington. Oregon is the last marquee program left in the conference without UCLA and USC, it naturally has huge backing from Nike and is always on the forefront of content creation and plays some pretty good football too.

For those keeping count, of the 12 Pac-12 schools, that's two to the Big Ten, potentially six to the Big 12, leaving four schools.

What's Left?

Once the dust settles and everyone is gone, the four remaining schools are Washington State, Oregon State, Stanford and Cal. Four schools does not a conference make so even more moves need to be made.

One option would be to dissolve the conference and leave those four schools to fend for themselves. It's tough to find another six schools, which is probably what it would take to remain a part of the FBS ecosystem, and realistically there's a slim chance that those four schools wouldn't be able to find a conference quite quickly.

The other option would be to add more schools, and fast.

• San Diego State: They have had recent success and San Diego is a large market

• Boise State: The football program perennially posts double digit wins and has a rich history

• UNLV: Las Vegas is becoming more and more important in the sports landscape which would make UNLV a great addition to the Pac-12

• Utah State: Program that has good history and fills a spot

• Houston and SMU: It might be tough to lure them and SMU away from the American Conference because of the position that the Pac-12 is in but the chance to be "Power 5" might be enough

That's a lot of options, many of which probably will never come to fruition but nevertheless, the Pac-12 is not necessarily dead. Remaining as a Power 5 conference might be difficult though, losing their best and the bulk of their members, so suffice it to say that the future is murky at best.

Mound Visit

Saints Sports Network is a Christian group that brings you interesting sports coverage. Our name comes from Ephesians 2:18-21 where it notes that all Christians are saints in God's eyes. Therefore we are saints who write about sports but also want to make sure to share the Gospel. That's where Mound Visit comes into play because we all need a visit to the mound from God in good times and bad to recenter our lives and trust in him. We'll do that by highlighting a Bible verse for you to think and pray about in each newsletter that you receive from us.