Report: Big 12 'has no intention' of adding remaining Pac-12 members

Despite the Big 12 reportedly emerging as a spot for Cal, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State, Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported the opposite.

The Big 12, which expanded with the additions of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State this summer, won’t pursue two more Pac-12 schools for further expansion. Oklahoma and Texas will move to the SEC in 2024, giving the Big 12 a totally new look.

The conference also expanded prior to this year by adding new members UCF, Houston, BYU and Cincinnati.

“Despite various reports to the contrary, Big 12 has not had conversations w/any of the Pac-4 schools & has no intention in engaging w/those schools, multiple Big 12 sources told Action Network HQ,” McMurphy wrote on Twitter.

The four remaining schools out west have a murky future at the moment with no concrete plan in place. Cal and Stanford were initially linked to the ACC, along with SMU.

The original Big 12 report centered around the conference sapping the remaining Pac-12 schools, according to Mike Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle.

“As Cal and Stanford attempt to finalize a deal with the ACC, the Big 12 has surfaced as another potential landing spot,” Silver said via Twitter. “In that scenario the remaining Pac 12 schools (including Oregon State and Washington State) could also join the Big 12.”

Big 12 says no to remaining Pac-12 schools?

Even so, the ACC is still not out of the equation. In fact, they still may be considered the favorites to land Cal and Stanford. In that scenario, Oregon State and Washington State would still be left without a home. SMU is most likely in favor the the ACC move happening as well.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel said Week 1 could be a possible deadline for the ACC to make a decision on expansion. Of course, the most important factor in the decision is how the finances line up.

“Those conversations are ongoing right now,” Thamel said Friday on College Football Live. “The athletic directors from the ACC met last night. They had a phone call and they will meet again. There has been no meeting determined as of yet. But I imagine these conversations are going to spill into next week. A week from today, I feel like there’s a soft deadline of Week 1 and the season starting. We’ll have some clarity on that. There’s still some optimism, there’s still feels like there’s some momentum for this to happen.

“It comes down to money, like most things in realignment, and how that money that SMU and ‘Cal-ford,’ as they’re called — Cal and Stanford — end up getting divided up in a success pool amongst the current ACC teams.”