Pac-12 insider suggests San Diego State, SMU as potential targets for expansion

In 2024, the Pac-12 is taking a big hit as USC and UCLA leave for the Big Ten. That means the league won’t have a presence in Southern California as it works out its next media rights deal, and a Pac-12 insider suggested a potential replacement — if another conference doesn’t strike first.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News pitched San Diego State as a potential target for the Pac-12 if it decides to expand from 10 teams. In fact, he said the Aztecs should be the top school for the conference to go after.

However, Wilner noted the Big 12 could be interested in adding the Southern California market to its arsenal, which is why he said it’s that much more important for the Pac-12 to get into the San Diego market.

“I think San Diego State’s probably No. 1 because it’s a pretty good media market and also, the Pac-12 needs to have a campus in Southern California,” Wilner said on The Paul Finebaum Show on Friday. “That is the prime recruiting territory. If they don’t invite San Diego State, the Big 12 probably will. Brett Yormark’s made no secret about trying to get schools in the Pacific time zone.

“So, if San Diego State’s out there and available, the Big 12’s going to take them. That would leave two Big Ten teams in L.A. and a Big 12 team in San Diego, and that would not be good for Pac-12 recruiting in Southern California. I think San Diego State is pretty much a must-add.”

If the Pac-12 was to add San Diego State, though, the conference would be at 11 teams. Even though it plans to do away with divisions in the future, Wilner said the league could still look to add a 12th team to the mix. That’s when he threw out another G5 school as a target: SMU.

“My guess is if they went with a 12th — and they don’t have to add a 12th, I don’t think, because if you don’t have football divisions, you could play with an odd number. But if they do add a 12th, I think SMU might be at the top of the list,” Wilner said. “Because I think that they would like to get into Dallas for recruiting and also for the media market just to kind of expand the conference footprint.”

Jon Wilner: Staying at 12 teams could help the Pac-12 by adding inventory, competition

Although San Diego State and SMU might not replace the pedigree USC and UCLA brought, Wilner said there’s still a reason the conference could go after them for another reason. Remember, the media rights deal is still in the works, and the networks could want 12 teams for Friday night games.

Add in the idea of different competition and inventory, and Wilner thinks the league could opt to stay at 12 teams even though it’s losing two high-profile members — a different direction than the Big 12 went when it prepared to lose Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC.

“One thing it does is it gives you inventory because if you’ve got more teams, you can play more games that satisfy the media partners’ need for programming,” Wilner said. “I think that that’s certainly part of it, especially if there’s a desire on the part of ESPN or Amazon to have Pac-12 games every Friday night at 9 or 10:00 Eastern when there’s no competition, they need schools.

“If you’ve only got 10, then everybody’s playing more frequently on Friday night, for example. If you’ve got 12, you can spread it out more. So I think part of it is just the inventory play, strength in numbers. Look, San Diego State, they’ve got a better basketball program than a lot of schools in the Pac-12, and I think the conference feels like both of those schools meet the criteria academically [and] can eventually become more competitive, up to a Power 5 level.”