Report: Pac-12 filed seven trademark applications to cover potential name changes

Pac-12 has eight committed members for 2026-27 athletics season

A view of the Pac-12 logo on the jersey of Oregon State Beavers punter Josh Green. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Pac-12 has undergone many name changes over its 100-plus years of existence. 

What began as the Pacific Coast Conference in 1915 morphed into the Athletic Association of Western Universities in 1959 after the disbandment of the original PCC. The AAWU later became the Big Five, Big Six, Pacific-8, and Pacific-10 before rebranding to the Pac-12 when Colorado and Utah joined in 2011. 

Left with only Oregon State and Washington State in August 2024, the Pac-12 regrouped and added Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State from the Mountain West Conference in September. West Coast Conference power Gonzaga also came aboard at the beginning of October, giving the Conference of Champions eight members for the 2026-27 athletics season.

On Monday, Sportico reported that the Pac-12 filed seven applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in December to cover potential name changes. The seven trademarks are for:

• Pac-9

• Pac-10

• Pac-11

• Pac-13

• Pac-14

• Pacific Athletic Conference

• The PAC Conference

The Pac-12 will need to add at least one more football-playing member before 2026 to reach the NCAA’s eight-team minimum to qualify as an FBS conference. Gonzaga does not compete in football. 

The trademark applications indicate that the Pac-12 and Commissioner Teresa Gould are planning to add between one and six members in the future. Schools that have been linked to the Pac-12 in media reports include current American Athletic Conference members Memphis, North Texas, Tulane, South Florida and UTSA, Texas State of the Sun Belt Conference and UNLV of the Mountain West. 

Sportico reported that the Pac-12 hired Cooley LLP to handle the trademark applications. A trademark typically takes more than a year to be registered, according to Sportico. 

In November, the Pac-12 announced a partnership with Octagon to work on the conference’s media rights strategy.

According to its website, Octagon is a “leading global agency in sports, entertainment and culture. A group of creative thinkers and energetic doers harnessing that playmaker spirit to generate fame that endures.”

Octagon has also advised the ACC, Big Ten, West Coast Conference, Atlantic 10 and Conference USA in media negotiations.

Until summer 2026, Oregon State and Washington State will remain the lone active members of the Pac-12. 

The Cougars and Beavers will play independent football schedules in 2025. Both schools are affiliate members of the West Coast Conference — with the exception of Oregon State baseball — for all other sports in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years. 

The Pac-12 and Mountain West are also embroiled in two lawsuits over exit fees and poaching penalties. 

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