Waiting for the next shoe to drop
It has been about a week or so since the announcement came out that UCLA and USC were leaving the Pac-12 Conference and heading to the Big Ten.
I don’t know why I have become obsessed with the conference changes this time. When Texas and OU left the Big 12 and bolted for the Southeastern Conference, I barely paid attention.
Not this time. I can’t read enough about who is going where and what conferences are going to survive when the dust finally settles from this round of realignment.
Right now, we have Power Five Conferences which are the SEC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, the Pac-12 and the ACC. The SEC and the Big Ten have set themselves apart at this time gathering 16 teams each. The three remaining conferences are now fighting to see who is going survive.
The wrinkle in all of this is Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish are an independent and not tied to any football conference. They are the team that the two big conferences (the Big Ten and Big 12) want to land. If the Big Ten lands them, they might take Oregon and Washington out of the Pac-12 to keep building.
The fight right now is between the Pac-12 and the Big 12 to see which conference can land teams from the other to keep pace with the big two. The latest news has the Big 12 in discussion with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. There is also talk of adding Oregon and Washington if they don’t go to the Big 10.
The Pac-12 is fighting to keep everyone and possibly to add teams to stay alive, while there are also rumors of the SEC looking to take some teams from the ACC to keep adding to their super conference.
Personally, I would like to see what a Big 12/Pac 12 combined conference would look like.
Be seated and buckle your seatbelts there is much turbulence ahead.
As always stay safe and healthy.