Another possible merger has been reported as George Kliavkoff and Bob Bowlsby, the commissioners of Pac-12 and Big-12, met on Tuesday night to discuss a possible partnership. Just because this meeting took place does not necessarily mean that an official alliance will happen. Both commissioners have been vocal that they will not rule out a possible merger.
“I think, over time, the dominoes will start falling as a result of the move by Texas and Oklahoma,” Kliavkoff said. “And we’re not determined that we need to expand to thrive; we can thrive at 12. We don’t understand the paradigm that if someone else has 16, you need to have 16. It just doesn’t make sense.”
If a merger takes place that would put this new superconference at an even 20 teams. This begs the question, how would a Big-12/ Pac-12 conference look like under the “pod system”?
North- Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, Washington, Washington State
West- Cal, Colorado, Stanford, USC, UCLA,
South-Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor Texas Tech, TCU
East- Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia
This would be the best divisional layout despite some teams traveling over triple the distance than anyone else in their pod for an away contest. If the Big 12 and Pac 12 agree on this partnership, West Virginia needs to leave and join the ACC. The Mountaineers travel the most the way it is, if they have to fly over 2,000 miles possibly twice a year, that is asking a lot from a program. If they do bolt, the natural solution would be to add Boise State to the fold, which would set up this hypothetical pod system.
North- Boise State, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State
West- Cal, Stanford, UCLA, Utah, USC
South-Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Texas Tech, TCU
East- Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State
Right now there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding what the major power conferences will look like in the coming years. The only thing that is for sure is that the College Football landscape will be changed forever.