Report: Big 12 To Meet With Pac-12 To Discuss Potential Schedule Alliance, Merger
Aug 3, 2021, 11:50 AM
(Photos courtesy of Getty Images and Pac-12)
(Photos courtesy of Getty Images and Pac-12)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – According to multiple reports, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby is meeting with Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff on Tuesday.
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Max Olson of The Athletic is reporting that the Big 12 is meeting with the Pac-12 to discuss the possibility of a scheduling alliance, potential merger or other options for the two conferences to work together.
Sources: Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby is meeting with Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff today to discuss the possibility of a scheduling alliance, merger or other options for their conferences to strategically work together.⁰ https://t.co/i3MFeMj9Ua
— Max Olson (@max_olson) August 3, 2021
This comes after the news that Texas and Oklahoma will leave the Big 12 in 2025 and will join the SEC. With the Big 12 losing their two biggest programs, they are in somewhat scramble mode to keep the conference relevant and are exploring all options at this point.
George Kliavkoff has told the media multiple times, including Pac-12 Football Media Day last week in Hollywood, California that he isn’t pursuing expansion at this point but is picking up his phone and listening to all of the offers.
“I’d like to quickly address some of the significant recent developments related to college athletics,” Kliavkoff said at Media Day. “If the media reports turn out to be true, we believe the move by Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 to the SEC strengthens our unique position as the only Power 5 conference with teams in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.
“We have a stable, highly successful, and well positioned membership with a high bar to entry,” Kliavkoff added. “Given our investments in football and men’s basketball, our historic domination of other sports, we do not think expansion is required to continue to compete and thrive. That said, the fallout from Texas and Oklahoma gives us an opportunity to once again consider expansion. We had already had significant inbound interest from many schools. We will work with our presidents and chancellors to evaluate these opportunities. We expect these decisions to take some time and we will not be sharing any further information today about ongoing expansion discussions.”
This was before OU and Texas officially submitted their request to leave the Big 12.
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.
