The flurry of moves last week in the college sports landscape greatly expanded the future outlooks for two Power 5 conferences while signaling the end of another.
After patiently waiting for a new media deal as their fellow P5 conferences secured theirs, a few Pac-12 members took matters into their own hands.
Colorado returned to the Big 12, Oregon and Washington bounced to the Big 10, and Arizona, Arizona State and Utah joined Colorado in the Big 12.
The recent flurry of moves was actually initiated last year when then-Big 10 Commissioner Kevin Warren shocked the industry by prying USC and UCLA away from the Pac-12. Those additions helped seal the conference’s astounding seven-year, $7 billion+ media rights deal, which enabled the Big 10 to leapfrog the SEC and become the most powerful conference in college sports.
The Big 10 said it was done adding members, but smart people knew that wasn’t the case.
The explosive growth of college football and conference media rights demanded more, and the Big 10 and Big 12 were happy to oblige.
After Warren left to become the President and CEO of the Chicago Bears, the Big 12 hired Brett Yormark and the Big 10 eventually hired Tony Petitti.
And both men have been on the road ever since, leading to the Pac-12 becoming the Pac-4, and starting in 2024 the Big 12 becoming the Big 16 and the Big 10 the Big 18.
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