Oliver Luck reportedly determining expansion candidates for the Pac-12

Pac-12 expansion appears to be a legitimate possibility for the Pac-12 again

With the Pac-12 Conference appearing to be on its last leg, there seems to be a shift in confidence around the conference following the hiring of Oliver Luck.

The father of Stanford legend Andrew Luck, and former AD of West Virginia and XFL commissioner has been hired as a consultant by the remaining four Pac-12 programs. He is responsible for figuring out what the best moves are for the four schools, whether it be finding a landing spot in another conference, merging with the American or Mountain West, or expanding. 

According to media consultant Jim Williams, expansion seems to be on the horizon again for the conference as he reported that Luck is "starting the process" of determining which programs would be beneficial to the conference. 

Oliver Luck will be starting the process of working on what teams should be added to the PAC 4 from the American and the Mountain. A list of about 12 teams will be reviewed. This DOES NOT mean a partnership or merger is off the
table it just means they have a process in place

— Jim Williams (@JWMediaDC) August 14, 2023

Williams explained that Luck will compile a list of around 12 programs who will be considered. He also divulged that just because expansion discussions are happening again, doesn't mean that the conference won't end up merging with the American or Mountain West. 

If Luck is somehow able to pull off expansion for the Pac-12 in about a week and possibly track down a media rights deal in the process, it certainly feels fair to question George Kliavkoff's efforts over the past year.