Which teams are next in line for Pac-12 and Big 12 expansion?

Both the Pac-12 and the Big 12 have expansion candidates in mind

Arguably the most fascinating aspect of college football that takes place in a board room is conference expansion.

Within the past couple years now, we have seen four Power 5 programs jump ship from their current conference in order to join one of the two biggest powers in college football. It started with Texas and Oklahoma announcing that they will be joining the SEC, which blindsided college football in its own right, but when USC and UCLA announced that they were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten it truly threw off the sport's equilibrium.

Geographical sense was thrown out the window, as the two Los Angeles schools' closest conference opponent will be Nebraska. Not only did USC and UCLA's move hurt the Pac-12 due to the fact that no one knew nor had a chance to prevent the move, but it also came at the worst time possible for the conference. The Pac-12's current media rights deal is set to expire on July 1, 2024, and obviously without the Los Angeles programs their value took a huge hit.

So much so that the Big 12 was able to jump them in line despite their deal still having a couple more years left on it, while also being able to add four teams to the conference to get back to 12 teams. The conference led by Brett Yormark has been on the offensive side of things for the last year, and has been very vocal that they would like to poach the four corner programs from the Pac-12. 

The conference out West hasn't had the most success publicity wise, but they have been able to secure vows of loyalty from remaining members at one point throughout the year. The thing holding the conference back is their inability to lock down a media rights deal, which is what is holding them back from expansion. Something that Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger recently reported should be happening soon. 

In all expansion talks regarding the Pac-12, all signs have pointed towards San Diego State and SMU. Dellenger explained that it may be coming soon though, as in order to join the Pac-12 in 2024, San Diego State will owe the Mountain West an exit fee of about $17 million. That fee is expected to triple in cost by July 1.

With expansion expected to be happening soon in college football, Dellenger broke down the teams that both the Pac-12 and Big 12 are viewing as candidates. Naturally, since there is now a slight rivalry between the two conferences there is some overlap in interests.

Let's take a look at the potential candidates for each conference!

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Big 12

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Top Candidates: UNLV, San Diego State, UConn, and Memphis 

Other Possible Candidates: Colorado State, SMU and Fresno State

The conference's top candidates would not only give the Big 12 access to but control over Las Vegas, which is where the Pac-12 plays the conference championship games. San Diego State gives them access to California, and while the belief is that San Diego State prefers the Pac-12, if the Big 12 were to lure them away it would be detrimental to the Pac-12's existence. UConn and Memphis provide more teams back East for the Big 12, and both have historically successful basketball programs to bolster the conference's already strongest sport. Of the other possible candidates, two of the three are confirmed to be Pac-12 targets as well, so again a little rivalry moves being seen here. It is worth noting that the Big 12 does want to add Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado but all four recently pledged allegiance to the Pac-12. 

Pac-12

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Top Candidates: San Diego State and SMU 

Other Possible Candidates (based on previous reports): Colorado State, Tulane 

From the get go, the Pac-12 has interest in adding San Diego State. It allows them access to Southern California, which they lost and also is one of the more all around competitive programs. SMU may be the conference's act of rivalrous showmanship as well, as Dallas is home to where the Big 12 hosts their championship. SMU is a football program on the rise, and being in Dallas would be massive for the Pac-12 in terms of eyes on televisions. Colorado State was confirmed as an outside candidate a while back, and while they don't bring the most value they do make sense as a pairing with in-state rival and Pac-12 member, Colorado. Tulane checks the boxes academically, provides a decent market, but if the conference doesn't add SMU there's no shot they will be considered. If the Pac-12 decides to add programs such as SMU and Rice, adding Tulane would make a ton of sense geographically, but if they don't the Green Wave could be picked off by someone else. The only concern with the Pac-12 is that there hasn't been a consensus as to how many programs they'd like to add.