And this is where the entire rumor mill is based on.

The Memphis & Boise piece is completely Twitter noise as far as I can find.

AD Hocutt says that the conference reserves the right to consider any further expansion in the context of the next media rights agreement. In short, if ESPN or Fox etc tells the Big 12 that adding specific programs increases the favorability of the contract, then the Big 12 will likely respond.

That’s it.

Is it likely that Memphis or Boise will move the needle in a couple of years? It really isn’t. Possible, but unlikely. I would think it is more plausible that USC balks at the next PAC contract negotiation and weighs doing what UT and OU did… and bolts for the B1G. In that scenario, the Big 12 would evaluate bringing in some of the remaining PAC teams and which ones make the most sense. Some on CB think this is pie in the sky… it definitely is not. The PAC football culture is dying… and the next media contract negotiation is likely to be revealing.

My answer to the question from the related thread is that the Big 12 needs to watch to see if the PAC or ACC is weakened by a shift and then see if they can capitalize on that. Adding more G5 in the current context would be a risky move.

AD Hocutt alludes to further movement changing the landscape.


“I think right now that the right number is four. … But I’m not sure that that’s the last play,” he said of the current expansion. “I think once we get to 2024, 2025, which is the end of our current television agreement, I think we’d like to reserve the right to consider further expansion again at that time. So while I believe the right number today is four, we’d like to reserve the right that at the end of this television contract to have another conversation.”