Big 12 and Pac-12 reportedly no longer in discussion to become partners

After discussions between the two conferences were expected to end in a merger of some sort it has been reported that they will not be partnering up

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After the departures of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, there were many questions surrounding what would happen to the remaining 10 Pac-12 schools that were blindsided by the move.

Over the past couple weeks there seemed to be signs of a Pac-12 and Big 12 partnership of some sort, but according to ESPN's Pete Thamel those discussions have ceased. Thamel explained that the one of the main reasons for the talks ending was the fact that the Big 12 just didn't think the revenue needle would be moved after merging with the remaining Pac-12 schools. While a full merger with the Pac-12 is something that the Big 12 reportedly had to think about, Thamel explained the Big 12 simply just didn't think the value was there saying:

The Pac-12 source indicated the Big 12 was interested in that option. A Big 12 source said the Big 12 needed more time to explore that option further, which it did over the weekend and decided not to explore any options further.

Another Pac-12 source expressed skepticism to Thamel as there was confusion as to what would happen with each leagues' media rights expiring at different times. One Pac-12 source told Thamel that it was the Pac-12 that the partnership didn't make as much sense to saying:

"Because the Big 12 media rights can't be negotiated until 2024, Pac-12 schools have no motivation to join the Big 12," said a Pac-12 source. "The Pac-12 has announced that they're staying together and are in the middle of media rights negotiations."

The end of the talks mean a couple things for the Pac-12, with the first and foremost being that they have two more years remaining in their television deal. It also means that Pac-12 schools have a high chance of being poached by other conferences. 

The conference still has a chance to stay afloat, as they were granted the chance to enter negotiations for its next media rights agreements. This means the league will have to explore different avenues to bring in more revenue with what will likely be new partnerships.