Breaking: Pac-12 Commissioner to meet with SMU Wednesday

SMU is viewed as one of the best candidates to join the conference

Conference realignment news has been on the quiet side over the past few weeks in regards to the Pac-12. Whether the West Coast power will replace USC and UCLA has been a frequent question, and we may have finally gotten close to that answer. 

There have been a couple murmurs here and there of San Diego State wanting in, which they are widely regarded as the first in line but there has also been discussion as to who follows them as the other best candidate. Myself and others that cover the Pac-12 closely have long been speculating that the conference would look further east than they have before, and consider SMU.

A program that has consistently been successful in football, and also happens to be in one of the most talent rich areas in the country. On Tuesday night, Action Network's Brett McMurphy reported that Pac-12 Commissioner George Klivakoff will be heading to the Dallas Fort-Worth area on Wednesday to meet with SMU.

Pac-12 commish George Kliavkoff visiting SMU Wednesday, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. San Diego State & SMU are top Pac-12 expansion candidates. Pac-12 needs more members & more inventory for new media rights deal, which is expected to rely heavily on digital streaming services

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) February 8, 2023

McMurphy also explained that the conference needs more members in order to help facilitate their new media rights deal, which is reportedly expected to happen with a notable streaming service or two. 

Klivakoff has reiterated countless times that the media rights deal comes first, but this may show that the powers at be when it comes to the buyers of the Pac-12's media rights, want to see the conference add a couple members first.