The recently-announced Pac-12 addition of four teams has sparked a lot of discussion over what further teams could join that conference.
On Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame show Saturday, reporter Bruce Feldman shared some thoughts there, particularly around the Tulane Green Wave and Memphis Tigers:
Bruce Feldman on Pac-12 expansion:
“Sources tell me that the Pac-12 has some interest in Tulane & Memphis.”
“The rub with UNLV is they would have to probably take Nevada too since it’s the same school board, & that issue may make it a deterrent there.”pic.twitter.com/RBRBIFSMJf
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 14, 2024
Both of those schools could potentially be interesting for the Pac-12. Even after these recent additions of four schools to join holdover members Oregon State and Washington State, they still need two more to get to the minimum of eight for a FBS conference. But Tulane and Memphis could certainly fit there, including both media markets and on-field results (Memphis did wind up beating Florida State Saturday).
Feldman’s discussion of UNLV is also worth consideration. The Rebels have sparked a lot of comment as a further Mountain West team that could go to the Pac-12, but yes, the Nevada state legislature might want to try and force an expanding conference to take the Reno-based Wolf Pack as well.
But perhaps that could all work out; it isn’t bad for the Pac-12 to add a bunch of schools. And, as Chris Vannini of The Athletic noted Saturday around comments from Oregon State AD Scott Barnes, they do seem football-focused right now:
Barnes also said the new Pac-12 has signed a “long-term” grant of rights to stick together.
They’ll release the details soon.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) September 14, 2024
What this will actually lead to remains to be seen. But Fox did get a notable discussion on their pregame show here (thanks to their employment of a notable actual reporter in Feldman), and there will certainly be more discussion to be had down the road. And it’s interesting to see the Tigers and Green Wave specifically spotlighted there.
[Awful Announcing on X/Twitter]