PAC Expansion rumors

[Little George]

Just thought I'd throw this out there for discussion.

Anyone who moves the needle thought? The immediate thought was no, BUT that is a lie. Don't move and get left behind!

Arguments can be made for many teams because while FB is the main getter, schools like KU really lift BB to a new level.

Two schools unhappy with current alignment that could move but only while the iron is still hot? Yep, One may be ready if they are still unhappy, and that could be Nebraska as they have felt like a step sister since moving to the big 10. The other is highly offended by the addition of OU and UT to the SEC. Yep, A&M! Did A&M want away from ALL Texas schools, or just Texas? Good question. Only A&M knows!

Those two would be a Home Run for the PAC. Anything else is gravy!

Other that could expand our reach are:

Kansas for obvious reasons. Basketball POWER. TV market
OSU has a balanced athletic dept. that could help across the board. smaller TV market, but not a bad one.

IF A&M, then IF they allow other Texas schools.

IF they allow then Baylor is obvious! IF not, then NOPE for all of Texas.

Adding A&M, Nebraska, Kansas, and OSU would put us at 16 and a stronger spot across the board in sports and TV markets.

IF NOT Nebraska and A&M, then we could land along with OSU and Kansas:

Baylor is obvious!

Texas Tech? Maybe
TCU? Maybe, they have a solid market area.
ISU? Eh, likely to the Big 10?
KSU? Have not expressed interest, but being left alone sucks.
WVa? WAY too far east, will likely head to BIG 10 or ACC.

Other schools that add market or level of competition:

Houston? Why not? Major city that actually ties to Louisiana with it's location.
SDSU? Yea, it's in Cali. LOL
Boise? IDK!
BYU? National following, but the religion thing will strike them out.
Notre Dame? Not happening. In fact there have been rumors of USC mating with Notre Dame to join the Big Ten. LOL Imagine that .

Expansion MUST include Texas! NOT UT, but the state. Major markets and recruiting.

Do we stop at 16 or go with a 18 or 20 team super conference? I think we stop at 16, but IF there are only FOUR major conferences we need to grab the very best of the rest we can while they are available. I do not see anyone east of the Mississippi coming our way and the schools available are just few and far between.

[KansasCityCats]

I've heard rumors that K-State has serious interest, although they're denying everything publicly.  KU is trying hard to get into the Big-10...but they cut a lot of sports & I don't know if they'll be accepted (also as a result of their miserable football program).

If I had to make an assumption...I'd say that there are two realistic possibilities:

-Iowa State to the Big-10 and West Virginia BACK to the ACC.  The remaining six school merge to make the Pac-18

OR

-Oklahoma State, K-State, Texas Tech and Baylor (or TCU) merge to create the Pac-16.  Everybody else can "figure it out".

Both would make sense for us & would allow a couple additional west-coast programs to beg their way into the conference if/when there is a major realignment in the future (Boise, Colorado St., UNLV, SDSU, BYU, UNM, NMSU, UTEP, Houston, etc.). 

We should act now, so we don't get stuck with 6-8 of the "mid majors" in the future.  The Big-12 schools don't want to "settle" for Houston, so the only person that WANTS to backfill OU/UT today is Bowlsby (the AD) because he's out of a job if everything falls apart.

Can't wait to see how this pans out...

[soazbnb]

But will the Pac-12 lower their standards and only consider additional schools if they are Tier-1 research institutions or whatever the hell Utah and Colorado had to be to get in? I agree we need to be ahead of this to avoid being left behind....

[KansasCityCats]

https://wreckemred.com/2021/08/24/big-12-realignment-fox-analysts-says-osu-ksu-pac-12-not-sure-tech/

Looks like my second prediction is coming to fruition.

KSU and OSU...with TTU and TCU likely trying to work their way in.

I like it!

[Little George]

I like KSU and OSU, but Baylor isn't mentioned? We need that Texas market!

[Little George]

OK, so IF we gain Kansas State and Oklahoma State that is a plus.

Why stop at 14?

Why not target the Texas market?

IS there something in the works for maybe A&M? They have stated they want to be the ONLY school from Texas in their conference! HMMM!

IF we could swipe them, could we also swipe Nebaska from the Big Ten where they have NOT been happy? HMMM!

That would be the very best senerio I could put together for expansion and the new commish spoke about what? HMMM!

Just saying Baylor would be a top priority in any other senerio right? Yet we are avoiding Texas? Texas is the biggest prize!

[KansasCityCats]

They'll definitely grab somebody from Texas...likely TTU and TCU or Baylor.

Both schools have extremely low student populations & they're private schools....so they don't fit the typical criteria for the Pac.  Regardless, recruits from Texas get an opportunity to play in front of their families and the TV market in Dallas is solid.  I think we need to grab at least one of those schools.

Nebraska is definitely sniffing around.  I'd love to see them reignite their old rivalry with Colorado.  A&M is out of the question.  They're whining because they'll always be little brother to UT.  The money in the SEC is too hard to pass-up (as well as the ESPN kiss-ass coverage).

[Little George]

Worst case senerio is we do nothing and get passed over again. If we do not move forward I would not be surprised to see USC go to the Big Ten with ND. Then where will that leave this rotting conference?