Pac-12, as Expected, Announces They Are Not Pursuing Expansion at This Time

STILLWATER – No surprise and Pokes Report had been reporting our sources were telling us this would be the case, but the Pac-12, fresh off entering into a handshake agreement and somewhat ambiguous alliance with the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten, broke the news a day early and put it out on Twitter their focus group advised, and their conference decided not to pursue expansion at this time.

"Following consultation with our Presidents, Chancellors and Athletic Directors, the Pac-12 Conference has made the decision to not pursue expansion of our membership at this time," the statement said. "This decision was made following extensive internal discussion and analysis and is based on the current competitive strength and cohesiveness of our 12 universities. It is also grounded in our confidence in our ability as a conference to best support our student-athletes and to grow and thrive both academically and athletically."

Our sources informed us that a couple of schools, especially USC did not want Oklahoma State in the Pac-12. There was discussion about the travel and academics, but the real issue was USC didn’t want Oklahoma State with their power of their football program. The Pac-12 needs a football infusion, but some schools aren’t sure they want it.

Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics

Dr. Shrum met multiple times with Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff.

Pokes Report knows that Oklahoma State President Dr. Kayse Shrum had several meetings, believed to be one in-person and two lengthy phone conversations with Pac-12 new commissioner George Kliavkoff. We also know Kliavkoff met over two days with Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, but that did not lead to anything including the Big 12 being involved in the formation of the alliance.

This does not mean the Pac-12 won’t revisit expansion as they have until 2024 before they see the end of their current television and multi-media rights agreement with ESPN/ABC and FOX. The conference badly needs to revamp and clean up production and distribution of their third-tier platform, the Pac-12 Network.

What does this mean for the Big 12? For now, it means the remaining eight teams need to continue to look out for themselves but stay committed to each other to keep both Texas and Oklahoma in the conference as long as possible and if need be, all the way until the end of the 2024-25 school year which will conclude the Big 12 television and multi-media rights contract with ESPN/ABC and FOX. Either that or stay together so that if Texas and Oklahoma leave early, they are forced to pay the exit fees and give up their television revenue regardless of the conference they happen to be playing in.