clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Conference expansion: Boise State, San Diego State were considered for Pac-12

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott mentioned Friday night that Boise State and San Diego State were considered to be added.

US PRESSWIRE

The expansion train never seems to find a clear stopping point, and on Friday night during the Pac-12 title game commissioner Larry Scott took part in a media session where conference expansion was on the agenda.

Scott said that he does not expect for the Pac-12 to actively pursue teams in the near future, but did not rule out ever expanding:

We feel great about the makeup of our conference at 12 teams. At this stage, I see no reason to go beyond 12 teams," Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said Friday before the league championship game between Stanford and UCLA. "For a lot of reasons, this is where we want to be for the foreseeable future."

Scott then responded to a question about the possible inclusion of Boise State and/or San Diego State:

"When we expanded in the past we looked at them because they are prominent schools in the West, with very strong athletics programs, in markets we are not in," Scott said. "There's a lot of criteria that we looked at last time, that I'm sure we'd look at again.

"If we were to look at expanding again, I'm sure both those schools would be on the list. But, we don't have any plans."

This has to be a positive reinforcement to know that Boise State and San Diego State legitimately have a shot at the Pac-12. The time could be in the distant future, but with the way the ACC is adding teams, it could come within five years for the Pac-12 to expand again.

Before people say that Texas or Oklahoma will be added before Boise State or San Diego State, but that is not likely going to happen for a very long time. The Big 12 had teams agree that if a team leaves the league all television revenue will stay with the Big 12, and the Big 12 can broadcast home games until the current television deal expires which is in 2025. So, teams from the Big 12 are off the table for over a decade.

That noise off in the distance is BYU fans banging their head against the wall after hearing those schools were actually under consideration, because they know BYU will never join the Pac-12.