Despite rumors of the Big 12 rising from the ashes and remaining intact, it appears the Pac-12 could soon become the Pac-14 or Pac-16, with a vote coming as early as the end of the week. With the Big 12 falling apart, the Pac-12 stands to benefit, perhaps adding marquee teams as it swoops to clean up the mess. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are the rumored targets right now, with Texas and Texas Tech perhaps following along later.
A vote on expansion by the Pac-12 presidents, the first step in the process, could come as soon as this week, with nine votes needed to approve the idea.
Pac-12 officials tell AP vote by presidents on whether to expand expected by end of wk. Majority+ will be needed to grow
Of course, it's just a vote, and the Pac-12 could say "thanks, but no thanks." Or perhaps not. If it does come to a vote, the conference will have already made the decision to expansion, according to Bryan Fischer.
Pac-12 source on presidents vote this week: "Larry (Scott) wouldn't call a vote if he didn't know the outcome beforehand."
The voting aspect of this all is interesting, and funny in a way. Previously, the Pac-10 needed eight votes to make major decisions, and it was typically USC and UCLA forming a voting bloc, with one other school -- reportedly Washington -- jumping in on the no when it came to splitting TV revenue. It made sense at the time.
Now, with the newly-expanded Pac-12, it takes nine votes to approve major moves, meaning four schools would have to dig in and shoot down an idea. It's less likely such a voting bloc exists now, and all 12 schools seem to be working in harmony at the moment -- a far cry from other conferences around the country.
Forming a consensus wouldn't seem to be difficult, and if Larry Scott can convince the membership that adding more schools would result in a bigger revenue pie, and more money along the way, there's no reason the Pac-12 won't expand.
We'll be back with more on conference realignment as it becomes available here. For all your Pac-12 news needs, head over to Pacific Takes. Be sure to visit our local college blogs: CougCenter, for Washington State fans, and UW Dawg Pound, for Washington fans.