The Pac-12 is expected to add schools

While negotiating their media rights deal, the Pac-12 may be making room for further additions down the line

The offseason of college sports truly never sleeps as even with Week 0 football starting on Saturday, there are still murmurs in regards to conference expansion.

Some of it being directed towards the Big Ten, as they are expected to build up their conference to 20 teams but there is also some attention on the Pac-12. The conference who has seemingly been the subject of the most attention and criticism this offseason after the departures of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten.

There has been speculations surrounding the Pac-12 of conference mergers between with Big 12, the ACC, or the conference just blowing up all together. However, the Pac-12 received a second wind when ESPN pulled out of negations for the Big Ten's media rights, thus making way for the conference to still have some value. It is evident that ESPN wants to have content for their later slots on Saturday's, and Pac-12 after dark is already established in that time slot. 

However, even with their being confidence that the 10 schools remaining have some value to offer, there are still concerns around the country that they will be poached by the Big Ten or Big 12 if the conference doesn't expand. Something that Pac-12 insider John Canzano touched on in one of his latest newsletters in which he interviews former Fox Sports executive Bob Thompson saying:

Adding San Diego State to the Pac-12 would replace a small piece of the Southern California divot left by the defection of USC and UCLA. The Aztecs are worth about 1.1 million TV households. Thompson also mentioned Boise State and UNLV as possible targets. 

Canzano explained that athletic directors around the conference are torn on which schools they should be targeting, whether they be from the Mountain West or the Big 12 saying:

The half dozen or so Pac-12 athletic directors I am talking with are split on whether adding a couple of Mountain West Conference programs is the right move. Some of them believe it would add value. Others think the conference should be more ambitious and pursue a few higher-profile candidates in the Big 12.

Adding a San Diego State would give the Pac-12 access to the Southern California market again, while UNLV gives access to the transcendent Las Vegas market. However, if they are able to lure away a higher profile Big 12 team that could also be enticing.

Regardless of who they decide to pursue, there is a firm belief that expansion is coming as ESPN's executive Burke Magnus expressed:

 “I don’t think anybody believes the Pac-12 will stay at 10, necessarily, but we don’t need to know anything beyond, ‘These are the 10, these are the rights, here’s the value, and there will be a mechanism to account for any new members if that is to happen.’” 

We will just have to wait and see what happens, but the Pac-12 is clearly gearing towards moving forward with their 10 schools, and making some later additions. What we do know is that they will need some hustle in order to avoid other schools getting poached by the Big Ten or Big 12.