As many college football fans know, the football conferences will look very different over the next few years. There are 11 different conferences that make up D1 college football, the ACC, American, Big 12, Big Ten, C-USA, Independent, MAC, Mountain West, PAC-12, SEC, and Sun Belt conferences. However, there is one conference that will be causing a lot of big changes in the next year.
What Conference is Causing All of These Changes?
The big changes are from the PAC-12 conference. The conference currently consists of University of Arizona, Arizona State University, University of California, Berkeley (Cal), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), University of Colorado Boulder, University of Oregon, Oregon State University, University of Southern California, Stanford University, University of Utah, University of Washington, and Washington State University. However, over the last few months, every team except Oregon State and Washington State has reported to be leaving the conference after the 2023 season.
Why is Every Team Originally Part of The PAC-12 Leaving?
There are a few factors that have led to the falling apart of the PAC-12. The driving force behind it was the PAC-12’s lack of urgency to renew their media rights contract. These contracts are very important, because they are the only way conferences will be able to broadcast their games. Therefore, this is the only way the conference will make money. According to Sporting News, “Its current 12-year, $3 billion with Fox and ESPN will expire in 2024, meaning the conference had to get a deal in place to remain a cohesive whole.” Since the PAC-12 was unable to reach an agreement, this resulted in almost all of the teams leaving the conference, out of the fear of not being able to have financial security from the conference.
What Does This Mean For the Future of PAC-12?
The PAC-12 is rumored to be merging with the Mountain West Conference. The merger would be the best-case scenario for the two lonely remaining teams, Oregon State and Washington State. It would result in an increase in financial security, according to ESPN, since Mountain West Conference has a stable contract with broadcasters. The future of this conference is still very uncertain, but there is speculation that Oregon State and Washington State have no current plans to leave the conference.
What Conferences Are the Teams Moving to?
ACC: The ACC currently consists of 14 teams, but once the 2024 season approaches, it will be welcoming Cal and Stanford.
Big Ten: The Big Ten also currently consists of 14 teams, but the conference seems to have its doors wide open to PAC-12 teams. 4 teams will be joining the conference next year; Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington.
Big 12: The Big 12 also has 14 teams this season after some recent addition to the conference this season. In the 2024 season, they will be adding The University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the University of Colorado, and the University of Utah.
The remaining conferences will not consist of any former PAC-12 teams.
The 2024 season will look very different for many teams; teams of all different conferences will be going against teams they have never played before. There is the potential for new rivalries to form, new traditions to be started, and a lot of traveling to new stadiums. It will be interesting to see how this will play out for the future and what the future of the PAC-12 will look like.
