Report: Big 12 will look to poach remaining Pac-12 schools following UCLA, USC departures

With USC and UCLA announcing plans to leave the Pac-12, it’s officially open season on the league’s remaining member schools.

According to a report from The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, the Big 12 will look to add Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado to its conference. The hope, according to McMurphy, is to get to 16 schools to equal membership in the SEC and Big Ten.

USC & UCLA move to Big Ten should be completed by Friday & Big Ten may not stop at 16, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. Big 12 may get aggressive & look to add Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado & Utah. “We’re headed to super conferences,” source saidhttps://t.co/um8DBJVJ9s

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) June 30, 2022

A year ago, the Big 12 learned that it would soon be losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC. It responded by securing additions from American Athletic Conference schools UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati as well as BYU.

If the league were to add the four corner schools from the Pac-12, it could put together a league footprint that stretches across three time zones.

Such a move would offer a few reunions. It would bring BYU and Utah under the same conference flag again for the first time since 2010. It would also bring Colorado back to the league it left prior to the 2011 season.

From McMurphy’s report:

With USC and UCLA giving the Big Ten 16 members and Oklahoma and Texas giving the SEC 16 schools, one possibility is the Big 12 to also get to 16 schools, a source said.

…

“The Big 12 has never been aggressive (in conference realignment), but they should contact those four Pac-12 schools and tell them, ‘Come on board because there’s nothing left in the Pac-12,’” a source said.