College football insider breaks down what's next for Pac-12 after Colorado departure

For the second time in 13 months, the Pac-12 finds itself asking “What’s next?” after a team announced its plans to leave. This time, it’s Colorado as the Buffaloes return to the Big 12 in 2024.

That leaves the Pac-12 at nine teams with USC and UCLA heading to the Big Ten next season. As the league still works through its next media rights deal, there are more questions about potential expansion, according to The Athletic’s Max Olson.

Olson addressed what could be next for the Pac-12 after losing the Buffaloes. The conference made it clear it’s prioritizing its media rights deal over expansion in a Thursday night statement, but Olson said the league’s thinking about expansion could be changing just a week after Pac-12 Media Day.

“They’ve got to figure out, can they get on the same page about expansion?” Olson said on The Paul Finebaum Show Friday. “I think, certainly, losing Colorado — it was interesting, once again, the Pac-12’s statement last night. They stuck to their plan that they need to get a media rights deal first and then, talk about expansion. I think a week ago, the vibe was that some of the schools in the Pac-12 were not interested in adding new members. Certainly, the conversation’s a little bit different today.”

While there are a couple potential targets out there, it might not be so easy for the Pac-12 to land the biggest. San Diego State announced its intention to leave the Mountain West, but it looks like it will remain a member now that the exit fee is set to increase. SMU has also been reported as a target, and Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff was on campus in February, as On The Pony Express’ Billy Embody reported at the time.

That’s why Olson said other Group of 5 teams could come up as potential options. The key, though, is getting officials to agree on expansion and avoid another missed opportunity.

“When it comes to San Diego State, I think that’s an expensive move for San Diego State at this point with the way things have played out over the past month,” Olson said. “Certainly, SMU’s been on the radar. You kind of wonder what other Group of 5 schools make sense for [the] Pac-12 and can, really, they get their presidents all on board with making those decisions?

“I mean, two years ago, the Pac-12 could’ve swiped schools from the Big 12 and they just couldn’t talk themselves into it or couldn’t get enough votes to make that happen. So curious to see kind of what’s the reaction here in terms of who they need to add to fill out this conference and have enough inventory?”

One of the biggest issues the Pac-12 could face, though, is more teams leaving. On3’s Eric Prisbell reported Arizona is another likely target for the Big 12 as it tries to get back to 14 teams in 2024 once Oklahoma and Texas leave for the SEC. That’s why all eyes remain on the media rights deal, which Kliavkoff has promised is coming for some time now.