Aftershocks Expected: UCLA and USC’s Move and the Subsequent Questions

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Competition seasons are done. Conference meetings across all major athletic conferences have wrapped. The head coaching, athletic director and conference commissioner vacancies have just about all been filled. And yet no conference realignment decisions have been announced, despite over a year’s worth of rumors and innuendo.

When UCLA and USC announced their departure from the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten, it was supposed to send aftershocks through Power 5 and Group of 5 conferences alike. Who will take their places in the Pac-12? How will the Pac-12 sustain its presence in Southern California? Will the Pac-12 expand its geographic reach in the same vein as the Big Ten (i.e. UCLA and USC) and Big 12 (i.e. Central Florida, Houston, Cincinnati and BYU)? Who are the main candidates to fill the Bruin and Trojan-sized holes that remain in the Pac-12?

Rumors and Complications: San Diego State and SMU in Focus

San Diego State and SMU have long been rumored to be on the Pac-12’s wishlist. But if expansion doesn’t happen soon, things get complicated.

San Diego State, upon exiting the Mountain West, would have to pay a $17-million exit fee. On July 1, that exit fee doubles.

In an interview with The San Diego Union Tribune on May 26, SDSU athletic director J.D. Wicker stated: “We can’t pay the (extra amount). Everyone is aware of that, so we’re continuing to have conversations about that”.

On the SMU side of things, things have been relatively quiet since the Pac-12 commission visited the Dallas campus back in March.

Critical Conference Realignment Decisions Ahead: The Role of Television Rights and June 30 Deadline

Next steps will undoubtedly rest on when the Pac-12 can finalize its new television rights deal and how the conference realignment decisions will allocate its revenue to each school. Can the Pac-12 broker a strong enough television rights deal to keep its current members and can it do it quickly enough to recruit SMU and SDSU?

One thing seems sure. June 30 is the next date to watch.