SAN DIEGO — It's been nearly a year since USC and UCLA announced they were leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big Ten ahead of the 2024 season, and despite many assertions the conference was going to collapse - they are still standing.
And while rumors continue to swirl about the league's yet unrevealed media rights deal and what that could mean for programs like Colorado and Arizona, who are reportedly being pursued by the Big 12, the Pac-12 is still at 10 members and remains connected to the premier program in the Mountain West, San Diego State.
Locked on Pac-12 host Spencer McLaughlin discussed the conference's longstanding connection to San Diego State, as well as the looming June 30 deadline, on the latest episode.
"If the Pac-12 doesn't have a media deal by June 30th, it does not mean the conference is going to collapse," McLaughlin said. "However, it would mean they have failed to add San Diego State in this particular cycle, and that would be, in my view, a bad idea."
After June 30th San Diego State would have to pay a huge fee to the Mountain West if they wanted to join the Pac-12 by 2024, a scenario that is very unlikely and would likely push the Aztecs into the 2025 realignment cycle.
It would also be a bad look for a conference that has struggled to instill confidence in current members and fans, and could jeopardize the standing of the ten remaining schools.
The Big 12 has been connected to San Diego State as well and could consider adding them if the Pac-12 isn't able to make things work before the deadline, although McLaughlin doesn't think that is a sure thing the way many others do.
Conversation around other potential Pac-12 additions, like SMU, Tulane, Memphis, UNLV, or Boise State has been rather tepid, and until the Pac-12 reveals a media deal and officially invites San Diego State it's hard to picture how the rest of the dominos are going to fall in what has been a very long, drawn out process for commissioner George Kliavkoff.