Paul Finebaum sees a bleak future ahead for the Pac-12. The ESPN college football personality discussed the conference’s outlook during a recent appearance on Andrew Marchand and John Ourand’s sports media podcast.

Finebaum says the conference is still in “big trouble” even if it manages a new media rights deal with “Apple or Amazon or some cobbled-together group.” The conference is expected to invite new members once a new media rights deal is in place.

Dan Patrick recently reported that San Diego State is “still planning” on joining the Pac-12, while the conference also hopes to add SMU. Boise State and UNLV are “long shot possibilities” to join the Pac-12, per Patrick’s sources.

Finebaum, though, wonders about the 10 member schools currently committed to stay in the conference after the 2023-24 athletic season, the last for USC and UCLA before their move to the Big Ten. The ESPN host does not see why a school would stay in the Pac-12 if it had another option.

“I would want out. I would not want to be part of the Pac-12 anymore because I think their future is bleak,” Finebaum said on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast, per Awful Announcing. “And we already have an issue in college athletics where the SEC and the Big Ten have literally just left everyone else behind from a television standpoint. The race is now to be No.3; the Pac-12 has no shot at that…if you’re a member of the Pac-12, you are literally going to the dollar store looking for other schools…Why would you want to be in that league if you could get out?”

Finebaum has previously expressed that he believes multiple Pac-12 teams are targets for the Big Ten and Big 12. The full episode of The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast with Finebaum’s guest appearance can be heard here.