Okay this one could take a long time. Where do we begin? Well let's begin with the PAC-12 or the PAC-2 depending on how you see it. You may be asking, "How does a conference die anyway?" Well that is a great question dear reader. You see it all came down to the almighty dollar. The PAC-12 had a TV deal under their former commissioner named Larry Scott. It was terrible. It is widely regarded as one of the worst TV Deals in history. It formed the PAC-12 Network, which many of the big cable companies did not carry or it was a premier package with your cable company behind a paywall. Now a bad TV deal did not totally end the conference, but it certainly did not help. However Scott stepped down and insert George Kliavkoff to fill his shoes as commissioner of the PAC-12. Not soon after his tenure started, Texas and Oklahoma made the stunning move to join the SEC in July of 2021. This made many universities question the future of their conference. So the Big Ten, The PAC-12, and the ACC formed The Alliance. It planned on scheduling fellow schools and helping each others conferences work together. However the moves by Texas and Oklahoma also made the PAC-12 finding a new TV Deal that much more important. However some universities were beyond questioning their future and were ready to go. Those schools were USC and UCLA. In June of 2022 they made the absolute shocking move to jump to the Big Ten. The PAC-12 had arguably lost their biggest brand, The University of Southern California Trojans.

Another problem began after ESPN gave the Big 12, who had just made some expansion moves of their own, a brand new TV deal that would run for many years to come. So ESPN had the SEC, Big 12, and ACC. They were no longer interested. FOX backed out, as they have the rights to the Big Ten and the Big 12. CBS and NBC said they would pass. So that left no one, well almost no one. Apple TV said, We are interested! The problem was, well remember how we said the PAC-12 Network was behind a paywall? Well this would basically be that, and many universities already had a sour taste in their mouth from it. Many presidents were very angry and publicly saying there was no TV deal on the horizon. So now the PAC-12 at this point in let's say Early July of 2023 at media day is going to be losing USC and UCLA. Losing one of your top brands hurts, but the conference could SURVIVE. However there were murmurs, and back channel talks about Colorado potentially returning to their home of the Big 12. However there was not many big name reporters reporting on the matter. Until it all happened. Colorado in fact decided that they were tired of waiting and did not believe it was financially smart to stay in the conference when they had a for sure thing with their old conference. This basically set a doomsday like clock for the conference. The conference leaders gave Commissioner George Kliavkoff one week to propose the new TV Deal or else.

Kliavkoff gave the presentation on August 1st, 2023. It went the way most things with the PAC-12 went, chaotic. It was all streaming based with Apple TV and with incentives based on subscriptions added to Apple TV. It was a poor idea to say the least. Could you imagine if the SEC was all on Netflix? You would probably not be a fan of it. It also was a very low amount of money compared to what other conference were getting comparably. This left most schools scrambling. However there were two big money prizes with the PAC-12's impending doom. Those two universities were Oregon, and Washington. Two schools that had already been vetted and cleared to join the Big Ten back in the Fall of 2022, but nothing ever occurred as the TV networks were not interested. However things had begin to change due to the crumbling conference. It was looking like a shoe-in for the Big Ten to land the two big fish left in the pond. The Big 12 was not too sad about it, as their commissioner, Brett Yormark was very interested by the idea of having the four corner states in his conference. The remaining schools were Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah as the conference had already landed Colorado in the four corner states.

August 3rd, 2023: Many schools start having board meetings. Washington has one, Arizona has one. Oregon had one earlier in the day. There was chatter that Arizona's board meeting was about them accepting the Big 12 invite they had received. All of them were behind private doors. However it was starting to come out late that night that there was hope that the PAC-12 could stick together and there was actual belief they would sign the contract the next morning.

August 4th, 2023: a date which will live forever in the minds of college football fans. The morning comes, there is optimism that the PAC-12 can actually get a deal done! Wow! It only took a few years. Well before the meeting, the Big Ten decided there was no way they would lose out on Oregon and Washington and would up the offer for Oregon and Washington to join the conference and FOX was all for making it happen. So Oregon and Washington did not show up to the meeting. This brings a great question for you to think about. Was Oregon and Washington ever going to sign that contract? Was it a bluff? Did the PAC-12 ever have a chance of securing those schools? This writer thinks those schools used it as a bluff, and it worked. By noon it was official, Oregon and Washington were joining the Big Ten. To the delight of Big Ten fans, and the dismay of PAC-12 fans. The Big 12 got the schools they wanted. Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah would accept invites and join the conference later that night. That left four schools: Cal, Stanford, Oregon State, and Washington State.

Cal and Stanford had desired to join the Big Ten. The problem is the Big Ten did not desire them to join their conference. While they are fine academic institutions, they bring little to no value in sports, most importantly, football. They are fantastic in Olympic sports. But nevertheless there were rumors that those two schools could join the ACC. It was laughable at first, but then it was gaining attention. SMU hopped on board with the promise they would take zero dollars worth of TV money, something unforeseen. Cal Stanford, and SMU gained traction but hit a roadblock. It seemed like a dead dream, but it slowly regained momentum and on September 1st, 2023, they were voted in by the ACC.

But we can't forget about the last two remaining schools. What happens with Oregon State and Washington State? Well it is not very clear what their next step will be. Some believe they will wait for two years, then the Mountain West will merge into the conference. Others think they could eventually get a Big 12 invite. They could also try to rebuild the PAC-12 and add schools from the American Conference alongside adding Mountain West schools. There is no denying it absolutely sucks for these two schools. They did nothing wrong, all they did was exist and they were gifted a conference with just the two of them. So now they own the conference, congratulations Beaver and Cougar fans. They have actually landed a deal with the CW to broadcast most of their games this fall. So I guess the PAC-12 finally got their TV Deal after all. The two schools are joining the WCC for most of their sports, only football will be playing Mountain West schools. The rest will be playing in the WCC outside of Oregon State baseball which will be independent.

Conference Expansion and Realignment will continue. Oregon State and Washington State may eventually find a home, or they may rebuild the conference. They will figure it out, I am sure of it. However Conference Realignment will continue. It is not coming to an end, in fact, the party is just getting started.