After months of uncertainty and waiting, things may finally be settling down for the Pac-12. Fans of the eight institutions currently on the path to be in the storied conference starting in 2026 have only had speculation and a lackluster level of detail regarding the future of their league.
On Monday, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, reported that each of the eight known future member schools — Oregon State, Washington State, Utah State, Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Colorado State and Gonzaga — had all signed the Grant of Rights and membership agreements. Dellenger said this move “is a signal that the league is finalizing a new media rights package that is expected in the coming days.”
Dellenger further reported that the media rights package could include as many as four different partners, though no specific potential media partners were named. Speculation has turned largely toward media companies such as ESPN, CBS, The CW, FOX and Turner Sports. The first three in that list are of particular note as they form the core of the one-year media deal for the current two-member Pac-12 with Oregon State and Washington State. CBS and The CW will broadcast 11 OSU and WSU football games this fall, with ESPN hosting two of them.
With a media rights deal just about in hand, the Pac-12 is expected to extend formal invitations to schools to bring the conference to the necessary minimum of eight full-member institutions to meet the FBS minimum (Gonzaga, while a member in all sports it sponsors, does not count toward the minimum as it does not sponsor football). According to college sports reporter John Canzano, Texas State and UTSA — members of Sun Belt and the AAC, respectively – are two of the top targets. Memphis is also under consideration, though significant concerns over travel costs Memphis could incur have dampened the prospects of the Tigers joining the Pac-12. But, per Canzano, the option isn’t off the table. Another often-discussed potential add, UNLV, is likely off the table due to what would now be a $36 million buyout to get the Rebels to leave the Mountain West, not including any further poaching penalties incurred because of the 2024 scheduling agreement between the Pac-12 and Mountain West.
Alongside the excitement for the conference in perhaps finally moving past a fall, winter and spring filled with uncertainty, the past few days have seen the Pac-12 at least partially return to its status as a power conference.
Once universally considered to be among the Power Five (or Autonomous Five) conferences, the Pac-12 lost that status last August when its membership dwindled to just two members, Oregon State and Washington State. However, in the wake of the House Settlement, the Pac-12 has once again found itself sitting at the big conference’s table. In the House Settlement itself, the term “Power Five” is used and not the newer term, Power Four, to reference the SEC, Big 10, ACC and Big 12. On further inspection, a lot of that could be due to the fact that the Pac-12 was named as a defendant in the case that produced this settlement, House v. NCAA, alongside the power conferences.
And yet, even in the aftermath, it seems the Pac-12 has been getting treated as though it’s part of the club. In a news conference following the approval of the House Settlement by Judge Claudia Wilken, commissioners from each of the power conferences, including Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould, were present to discuss the settlement. Furthermore, the five conferences released a joint statement regarding a bill currently being considered by Congress that would codify and solidify many of the changes being made to collegiate athletics.
Out of all these minor inclusions, the most compelling one is how the calculation of the revenue sharing cap is done. Many have reported this was going to be a percentage of the average revenue across the Power Four conferences; however, the Pac-12 has been included among the group of conferences whose average revenue will determine the revenue sharing cap.
Officially, nothing has happened to change anything regarding the Pac-12’s status as a non-P4 conference. And given the unwillingness by most in college sports to share power, influence and money, the inclusion of the Pac-12 in all of these joint statements, news conferences and some committees are likely to be merely symbolic — or, again, simply resulting from the Pac-12 being named in the lawsuit — and not indicative of a return to power conference status.
