Big Ten Considers Raiding Pac-12 in Expansion Efforts

If the Pac-12 begins to break apart, the Big Ten is ready to take some of its schools.

A small group of Big Ten presidents held a preliminary meeting Wednesday to discuss adding two to four new members from the Pac-12, sources confirmed to Sports Illustrated. The potential expansion targets are Oregon, Washington, California and Stanford. The news was first reported by Yahoo Sports.

A source familiar with the Big Ten thinking said the conference’s presidents are more interested in adding all four schools, while the league’s media partners are more interested in a two-member addition of Oregon and Washington. While one league source cautioned “nothing is there” in terms of an imminent move, a second source said “a real proposal is going to take shape fast” regarding Oregon and Washington.

However, that doesn’t mean the proposal would be accepted. Sources stressed there is reluctance among Big Ten stakeholders to strike what would be a death blow to the Pac-12, which is also trying to keep the Big 12 from poaching Arizona, Arizona State and Utah after already taking Colorado last week.

The Pac-12 presented figures for a proposed new media-rights deal to its membership Tuesday. Those figures were met with skepticism by some in the conference, which has furthered the tension within the league and pushed it to the brink of collapse.

A statement from the league Wednesday said, “Big Ten Conference is still focused on integration of USC and UCLA but it’s also the commissioner’s job to keep conference chancellors and presidents informed about new developments as they occur.”

Big Ten leaders publicly have stressed for more than a year that their focus is on the logistics of adding the Los Angeles schools to the league in July 2024, not adding new members. However, sources told SI last August, upon the announcement of the Big Ten’s massive new media-rights agreements with Fox, NBC and CBS, that “we are not done expanding.” The assumption then was that Oregon and Washington could be additional targets, but that talk quieted over the ensuing months due to concerns in the Big Ten and its media partners about whether the two schools added full-share value to the league.

As the Pac-12’s efforts to hammer out a satisfactory media deal stalled, the Big 12 recognized an opening and made its successful play to add Colorado. With that destabilizing the Pac-12 and the other so-called “four corners” schools considering leaving, the conversation shifted—if that league is in its death throes, perhaps the two top remaining brands could be acquired at a discounted rate. 

Still, bloating to 18 or 20 members presents massive hurdles in terms of logistics, travel and scheduling. This could be considered an expansion fueled more by what’s available than what’s coveted.