The Pac-12 Revival

The late, great Pac-12 Conference, which died a painful death over the last two years, is rising from the ashes.

You'll recall the progressive disintegration to the Pac-2.

The conference first went from the Pac-12 to the Pac-10 (when USC and UCLA left for the Big Ten), then to the Pac-9 (when Colorado left for the Big 12), then to the Pac-4 (when Oregon and Washington bolted for the Big Ten and Arizona, Arizona State and Utah went to the Big 12 after commissioner George Kliavkoff was unable to land a decent TV package) and finally, to the Pac-2 (when Stanford and Cal, left with no other choice, went on their knees to the ACC and accepted severely reduced media rights to gain acceptance).

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The two schools that were left behind, Oregon State and Washington State, gamely tried to stay in the public eye by continuing their in-state rivalry games with Oregon (the Civil War) and Washington (the Apple Cup), and by scheduling several games with Mountain West Conference opponents.

And now, suddenly, it's the Pac-6.

Last week, new commissioner Teresa Gould, who is a huge improvement over Kliavkoff and his predecessor, the lamentable Larry Scott, announced that four Mountain West schools--Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State--will be joining the Pac-12 in July of 2026.

The move didn't come cheap. The four outgoing Mountain West schools will each owe the league $17 million, and the Pac-12 will have to pay at least $10 million per school due to the scheduling agreement between the two conferences. Total cost: $111 million.

The new teams will begin play in the Pac-12 in the fall of 2026. Gould needs two more additions to reach the NCAA minimum threshold of eight schools to qualify as an FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) conference. The deadline to do so is July 1, 2026, the end of the NCAA's two-year grace period after the mass exodus.

Gould must be complimented for making a strong first step to rebuild the conference. While the four newbies certainly don't measure up to the departed schools--some are calling the league the Pac-12 Lite--they are decent alternatives. 

Certainly San Diego State was originally being considered as one of the schools to replace USC and UCLA before the rest of the roof caved in.

Who"s Next: The obvious question.

Gould is being cagey, as she is most likely waiting to see if the ACC implodes with pending lawsuits by heavyweights Clemson and Florida State--who want to leave the conference--which then might make Stanford and Cal available to rejoin the Pac-12. 

Her savvy comment on when new members might be added: "we haven't set a hard timeline at all, because for us, it's really about being patient enough to see what opportunities might unfold, but also being aggressive enough to create opportunities on our own."

Translation: wait to see if Cal and Stanford might become available, while continuing to pursue other options. The next two additions actually must be made by June 2025, so the new members can give the required one-year notice to their current conferences.

Who else might be targeted? Memphis and Tulane from the American Athletic Conference (AAC), consistently two of the best teams in the Group of Five conferences, should be of interest. Tulane beat USC in the Cotton Bowl in 2023 and Memphis is the favorite to gain the fifth conference championship bid to this year's expanded playoff.

Or she could get into the Texas footprint with some combination of UTSA, North Texas, Texas State and Rice. San Antonio is the nation's No. 31 TV market, North Texas and Texas State are consistent winners. Rice brings academic clout and has gone to bowl games two years in a row under former Stanford assistant Mike Bloomgren.

Or Gould could return to the Mt. West and grab San Jose State and Air Force or UNLV.

Another question: Would Stanford and Cal, two of the top academic institutions in the world, feel comfortable joining a conference with a bunch of "state" schools that lack similar stature, notably Boise State (ranked No. 332 by US News) and Fresno State (#185).

The ultimate goal is to be in the mix for the College Football Playoff. Current playoff guidelines provide automatic berths to the five highest-ranked conference champions. The Pac-12, when it reaches at least eight teams, wants to get that fifth berth after the Power 4 leagues.

With that in mind, if I were in Gould's chair, I'd be tempted to try and grab Memphis and Tulane right now. Not only would that add the two best Group of Five teams available, but it would also weaken the AAC and improve the Pac-12's chances of getting that fifth conference championship playoff spot. If Stanford and Cal became available, she could always try to go to 10 teams.

All we know for sure is that realignment is far from finished, and that Gould will find at least another two teams, in all likelihood, by next June.

Elsewhere in college football...

• Cal improved to 3-0 with an impressive 31-10 win over San Diego State. Justin Wilcox's defense continues to shine, Francisco Mendoza continues to thrive as the starting quarterback, and even with superstar running back Jadyn Ott sidelined with a knee injury, Cal didn't miss a beat with backup Jaivian Thomas rushing for 169 yards. Next week the Bears head to Tallahassee to meet floundering Florida State. The Seminoles, who were famously unbeaten but snubbed by the College Football Playoff last year, are off to an 0-3 start. I think the Bears have a good chance to win their first ACC game and move to 4-0, with Florida State sinking to 0-4.

• After two desultory performances, Oregon's Ducks looked like the team we all thought they could be, smothering Oregon State 49-14. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel hit his first 15 passes and looked like the Heisman candidate we all thought he could be.

• In the other Pac-12 throwback rivalry game, Washington State upset Washington, 24-19, behind rising star QB John Mateer.

• Texas redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning had his coming out party when starter Quinn Ewers suffered a second quarter injury. Manning, the No. 1 recruit in the nation two years ago, came off the bench to throw for 267 yards, four TDs and run for a 67-yard score in a 56-7 blowout of UTSA. He made his grandfather, Archie Manning, and uncles Peyton and Eli, very proud.

• Indiana, under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, who built a great program at James Madison, trounced UCLA 42-13. The Hoosiers, now 3-0 having outscored their opponents 150-23, could become bowl eligible at 6-0 with upcoming games against Charlotte, Maryland and Northwestern. The Bruins (1-1) meanwhile, are probably looking at a 1-4 start with the next three games against LSU, Oregon and Penn State.

• After a bye week, Stanford begins ACC play this Friday night at Syracuse. The Orange are also coming off a bye after beating Ohio and Georgia Tech. Right now Syracuse is favored by 9 1/2 points. To win, the Cardinal will have to weather the cross country flight and find some type of running game. To date, Stanford running backs have accounted for just 101 yards on 50 carries in two games.

• Six of the top seven teams in this week's AP college football rankings are from the SEC: No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Georgia, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 6 Tennessee, and No. 7 Missouri. Not to mention Oklahoma at No. 15 and LSU at 16.

• I can't argue with any of that. It's not inconceivable that the SEC will have six of the 12 teams in this year's College Football Playoff. In fact, it's very likely.