On Saturday, during Ohio State’s blowout win over Marshall, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt gave an interesting take regarding future conference expansion of the Pac-12.
Klatt attacked the league’s status and its new members, comparing the conference to generic medication.
“I almost said something I probably shouldn’t have,” Klatt said. “Yeah, the Pac-12 is expanding. It’s gonna be like generic. It’s like generic medication.”
News cycled ahead of Week 3 that the two remaining Pac-12 members, Oregon State and Washington State, agreed on a deal to add the likes of Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State to help reform the league.
To get officially back on track, the league needs to reach eight members by 2026. To fill the next two spots, Tulane and Memphis have both surfaced in expansion talks. In addition to the two schools, CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd revealed that the remaining seven teams in the Mountain West Conference should be viewed as targets and not immune to realignment offers.
Despite Joel Klatt’s dismay, the Pac-12 Conference appears to be on track to revive itself in the near future. Still, without key members like Washington, USC, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, and others, the league remains a shell of its former self.
As further conversations occur behind the scenes, as improbable as it seemed circa 2023, the Pac-12 appears to have found a way to survive impending doom through conference expansion.
