Is Tulane One of Pac-12’s ‘Swing for the Fences’ Move in Realignment?

Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould recently spoke about what her conference is looking for in its next wave of members.

Oct 25, 2022; San Francisco, CA, USA; Deputy commissioner Teresa Gould speaks during Pac-12 Women's Basketball Media Day at the Pac-12 Network Studios. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Teresa Gould took one of the toughest jobs in college sports when she agreed to be the commissioner of the Pac-12 Conference.

Decimated by the departure of 10 members to three different conferences, she had two remaining schools — Oregon State and Washington State — and two years to chart a course before the Pac-12 would no longer be considered a conference by the NCAA.

She has moved aggressively, as the conference added four members from the Mountain West last week. But it’s not enough. She knows it. And she’s not being greedy. It really isn’t enough.

By the 2026-27 athletic year the Pac-12 must have at least eight teams to remain a conference. There are financial constraints to continuing to take in Mountain West schools, as each one comes with a “poaching fee” for the Pac-12.

Plus, the Pac-12, like the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12, appear intent on branching out geographically. That means going east.

Gould recently spoke with Yogi Roth on his podcast, the Y Option, about what is next for the conference.

She said that the league was intentional about adding the four Mountain West schools in part because they wanted to send a message that the league was rebuilding itself and had hoped that would reveal interested schools.

It had the desired result.

“There’s not enough hours in the day for us to engage with all of the people that are interested in being part of the Pac-12,” Gould said.

She indicated that the league isn’t done yet, saying that the conference intends to “swing for the fences” when it comes to their next members.

So, the question is whether Tulane is part of that move?

Tulane is reportedly planning for what might happen next. Matt Brown at Extra Points, a newsletter devoted to the business of college sports, wrote that Tulane was one of three AAC schools he was aware of that had hired a consulting company or a third-party firm to help prepare them for potential realignment in the Pac-12 or other conferences.

Last weekend Fox Sports reported that Tulane and Memphis were among the Pac-12’s top targets for the next stage of realignment. Ross Dellenger at Yahoo!Sports wrote on Friday that Tulane and Memphis, along with USF, could be a “package deal” for the league. The conference’s new members also met twice this week, once in person and once via conference call, to discuss the next steps, per John Canzano.

Earlier in the week UTSA football coach Jeff Traylor confirmed on his radio show that his school was talking with the Pac-12, but nothing was imminent.

Also, the AAC is reportedly talking with Air Force about joining the league so it can have all three service academies in the same conference for football.

Whatever happens next, the Pac-12 appears to be done being reactive, as it was two years ago under commissioner George Klivakoff.