Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — The pursuit to reveal information on conference expansion and television contracts has media members working overtime tapping into all imaginable sources.
For the consumer, the trick is to determine fact from fiction. Good luck figuring out the difference between the two.
Since news broke last June that UCLA and USC would leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten beginning in July 2024, hardly one day goes by without a "sources say" story on the reported latest information. At times, literally within minutes, reputable reporters have sent out tweets that specifically contradict each other's reports.
One media member reports that ESPN has stopped negotiating with Pac-12 representatives on securing a television contract. A quick refresh of Twitter finds another report empathically stating the two sides are still deep in talks to strike a deal.
Then there's the seemingly countless reports from lower-profile media folk, claiming their sources have leaked the most accurate inside scoop. They take to Twitter often enough to believe their stuff has some truth.
But buyer beware, pick and choose at your own discretion. Trying to keep up with it all is a combination of laughable and insightful, all the while making us dizzy.
The gist of it all boils down to money, as it almost always does. The Pac-12, which has been negotiating with various outlets for several months now, is trying — desperately, some would say — to match the approximately $31 million the revamped Big 12 will get from rights deals.
Depending on the source, various Pac-12 members are seriously contemplating the decision to leave for the Big 12. Colorado and Arizona are the institutions gaining the most traction.
But there's also various on-the-record remarks from several Pac-12 presidents and athletic directors indicating the solidarity among the remaining 10 members. At the same time, they realize the need to keep options open for the sake of their institution's best interests.
Suffice to say, all sorts of conversations are going on concurrently. The truth, no matter what the given source believes in the moment, is fluid until it's not.
To cite a prime example, go back more than a decade ago at the time BYU was going to bolt the Mountain West Conference to become an independent in football and place most of its other sports in the Western Athletic Conference. The plan was solidly in place right up until the Mountain West thwarted it by enticing multiple WAC programs to jump ship, thereby forcing BYU into a late decision to put the other sports in the West Coast Conference.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Problem is, it might be hard determining which one is which.
As it looks now, there's a battle between the Pac-12 and Big 12 to become recognized as the third most viable conference behind the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference. The arms race could include any number of options to gain the upper hand.
Believe it at your own risk, but at least one noted national broadcaster gives the nod to the Big 12. Tim Brando's prediction reunites BYU and Utah as conference members.
"I felt when Deion Sanders took the job at Colorado he felt like Colorado might opt for the Big 12, I really do," Brando said in an interview with the Daily Wire. "I believe that there's a very good chance that not only will the Buffaloes go to the Big 12 but so, too, will Utah and so, too, will the Arizona schools."
And there's more from Brando:
"I think there's a very good chance now solely because of the travel schedules of the non-revenue producing sports the Big Ten can expand as well and Oregon and Washington somehow find their way in there. When that happens, I don't know. If I'm (Pac-12 commissioner) George Kliavkoff, I'm really concerned."
