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Pac-12 could collapse with Big Ten, Big 12 poised to poach
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Pac-12 reportedly in danger of collapsing with Big Ten and Big 12 poised to poach

The Pac-12 conference is going to lose USC and UCLA to the Big Ten in 2024. With massive media rights deals at stake and the ever-growing possibility of "super-conferences" looming, there's a good chance the Big Ten isn't done poaching schools. The Big 12 is also a player to steal some schools as well.

This is all according to a report from Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, who is saying that the Big Ten is still pursuing California, Oregon, Stanford and Washington.

If the Big Ten is able to bring those four schools over, Dodd is reporting that "it would almost certainly increase the likelihood the Big 12 is able to get some combination of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah from the Pac-12, thus crushing the Pac-12 and hanging Oregon State and Washington State out to dry."

"If that [Big Ten move] happens, I think the other [four Pac-12] schools will want to jump to our league," a Big 12 source told Dodd.

Per Dodd, higher-ups in the Big Ten including school presidents and athletic directors are evaluating whether continuing to expand will be viable financially. With the SEC poised to bring in Texas and Oklahoma over the next few seasons, there's not much reason to suggest that continuing to expand wouldn't be the right move for the Big Ten — or the Big 12 for that matter.

And what of the fate of the "leftovers" in the Pac 12?

"Industry chatter has Oregon State and Washington State moving to the Mountain West if the Pac-12 collapses," Dodd reported. "At that point, the MWC would replace the Pac-12 as the largest FBS conference completely located in the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones."

With all this in mind, it's easy to predict that the NCAA landscape is almost certain to change even more over the next few years. 

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