How the Pac-12 and Big 12 conferences would look if they were to merge

There is a possibility that the Pac-12 and Big 12 conferences converge to form a mega conference

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

With all of the changes happening within the sport, the college football world is just waiting for the next realignment domino to fall in order to get more clarity. 

This anticipation of course coming on the heels of the decision by both USC and UCLA to defect from the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten, which has left the rest of the Pac-12 members scratching their heads and questioning what is next for them. The conference has a few options to choose from, and one that seems to be getting the most traction at the moment is a merger with the Big 12. 

Yes, the conference that has reportedly been trying to pick off up to six of the remaining Pac-12 schools. The Athletic's Stewart Mandel explained that the merging of the two conferences would be a better move than people realize saying:

A combined Big 12/Pac-12 wouldn’t be on par with the newly turbo-charged Big Ten and SEC, but it would become the clear No. 3. It would boast three College Football Playoff participants in Oregon, Washington and Cincinnati, and 12 schools that have appeared in a New Year’s Six bowl since 2014. By comparison, the ACC has two CFP participants (Florida State and Clemson) and has had six New Year’s Six participants

He also went on to explain that it would give the mega conference 10 of the top 30 TV markets, which would likely enhance their value in the eyes of bidders whether it be major networks like ESPN or FOX, or even a streaming service like Apple. 

Mandel also threw out the idea of adding two more schools in San Diego State and SMU, to the conference to put it at 24. This would allow for there to be four pods of six teams that are for the most part geographically sound, unlike the cross country conference move the two Los Angeles schools are making.

Here is how Mandel thinks the pods would look:

There’s at least one viable scenario in which both the Big 12 and Pac-12 could leverage the latter’s current instability, @slmandel writes.

They could merge.

Here's what it could look like: https://t.co/mpNKCzL82o pic.twitter.com/cvM7VFiEg8

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 15, 2022

He also provided an explanation of how the format would work saying:

• Nine conference games in total, eight of which are prescheduled.
• Those games follow a 5 + 1 + 1 + 1 model: Five games within your pod, and one each against the others.
• Cross-pod foes rotate every year.

His idea also includes a conference playoff if you will, with the winners of each pod squaring off in a conference semifinal the week of Thanksgiving. The two winners of the respective semifinal games will then square off in the conference championship. 

He also proposed an interesting idea that would entail the other 20 schools facing off saying:

The other 20 teams get paired off in cross-pod matchups based on similar records — for example, the second-place Pacific team plays the second-place Mountain team for their regular-season finales. Assuming a 12-team Playoff is coming, this will guarantee the league more late-season games with CFP ramifications — candy for TV networks.\

While we still are awaiting ESPN's decision, this does seem like a fascinating idea that will keep both the conferences relevant in a world of mega conferences. I propose the idea of calling it the "Big-Pac" just for the sake of memories of what college football once was.