Conference Realignment: Big 12 has no interest in adding Pac-4 schools

What will happen next in conference realignment?

The rumors around conference realignment have been surrounding the ACC adding Cal, Stanford, and SMU for the past few weeks. The Pac-12 is soon to be just four members (Cal, Stanford, Oregon State, and Washington State) after this year, and while the Big 12 took Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and Arizona State, they have no plans on adding any of the four remaining schools and have not engaged in those conversations according to Brett McMurphy at the Action Network. 

Despite various reports to the contrary, Big 12 has not had conversations w/any of the Pac-4 schools & has no intention in engaging w/those schools, multiple Big 12 sources told @ActionNetworkHQ

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 27, 2023

The Big 12 is set to have 16 members starting in the 2024 season due to Oklahoma and Texas leaving for the SEC. This season will mark the first that UCF, Cincinnati, Houston, and BYU will have in the conference and those teams were added in response to the SEC taking the Longhorns and Sooners. The Big 12 has been focusing on expansion under commissioner Brett Yormark and with the SEC and Big 10 adding big-time programs and getting big TV deals, it has been necessary for the Big 12 to remain viable as a conference. The Pac-12 is on the brink and the ACC is having its own struggles as well. However, it does not sound like the Big 12 wants to add any of those schools at the time and their expansion could be done for now. 

The Big 12 has no interest in adding any of the remaining Pac-4 schools :: Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

While the Big 12 reportedly does not have interest in those schools, the ACC has been looking at two in particular over the past month. 

The idea of Cal, Stanford, and SMU joining the ACC has been reported on for the last couple of weeks, and while it initially appeared that the idea was dead when four schools (Florida State, Clemson, NC State, and North Carolina) opposed expansion, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported this week that the potential additions of Cal, Stanford, and SMU to the ACC are "again under serious consideration by the ACC". Thamel also reported that a small group of ACC presidents met Wednesday morning to discuss financial models that would come with the additions.

Thamel went on to say that those financial models are expected to include significant financial concessions from the school that will be added. Additionally, Thamel says that more meetings are expected this week and that a realistic timeline for a decision is about one week, and that there is expected to be a pool of money created from these additions and the ACC presidents are discussing how the money would be split. The mechanics are being worked out and there is a possibility of including a performance pool for success initiatives.

The report from Thamel also says that SMU is going to have to make concessions and those would include a willingness to take on no broadcast media revenue for the first seven years they are in the league. Stanford and Cal would both receive the same share, which will both be reduced but different in form than SMU's concessions. 

The Big 12 appears to be done adding schools, including those from the Pac-12, but keep an eye out for the ACC making a decision about expanding and adding Cal, Stanford, and SMU this week. 

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