Pac-12 replacements for USC, UCLA are obvious and depressing

The Pac-12 is increasingly likely to replace USC and UCLA with San Diego State and SMU.

Prepare yourselves to live in a world where the San Diego State Aztecs could play the SMU Mustangs in Dallas in a Pac-12 conference game.

With USC and UCLA leaving for the Big Ten in 2024, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff has to work swiftly to keep his struggling conference alive. Although the Pac-12 is coming off its best football season in nearly a decade, it still missed out on the College Football Playoff. Not since Chris Petersen’s 2016 Washington Huskies has there been a West Coast team in the invitational.

Even if San Diego State and SMU are strategic fits for the flailing Pac-12, this is still depressing.

Pac-12 could replace USC and UCLA with San Diego State and SMU very soon

Kliavkoff was spotted recently at a Mustangs basketball game in Dallas. The optics were bad, but desperate times call for desperate measures. If Kliavkoff does not establish himself as the aggressor in this situation, more and more of his league’s teams will be poached and the Pac-12 will be no more. The Big Ten could be after Oregon and Washington, and the Big 12 could absolutely ruin them…

Even after losing Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, the Big 12 is adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF to their league, making it a 14-team conference in 2023 and a 12-teamer in 2024 after the Sooners and Longhorns leave. Although the four combined cannot even remotely equate to losing either Oklahoma or Texas, the Big 12 is approaching rapid expansion as a sign of strength.

In theory, Pac-12 schools like Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah would be incredible geographic fits in the Big 12. Utah’s in-state rival will be in the Big 12. Colorado would be returning after leaving well over a decade ago, possibly with Deion Sanders as its head coach this time around. As for the Arizona schools, it goes without saying that these programs are sleeping giants.

So to prevent those four schools in question from leaving, as well as flagships like Oregon and Washington, it makes sense financially to pursue schools in major metro areas like San Diego and Dallas-Fort Worth. From a competitive standpoint, the Aztecs and the Mustangs have what it takes to make the leap up to Power Five. Also, let’s keep in mind how wealthy SMU alumni base is.

Overall, this is all about Kliavkoff’s plan to put forth a more competitive offer to potential television partners. A 12-team league across multiple time zones is far more appealing than a 10-teamer in only two. As soon as the Pac-12 gets its media rights deals in order, we all can move forward here. College Football Playoff expansion will keep the league alive, so long as it can avoid being poached.

Nobody wants to see West Coast football die. It remains to be seen how seamless of a transition it will be for USC and UCLA in their new league. One may have an easier time of it than the other, but you can never be so sure about it. Think about how well TCU, Texas A&M and Utah assimilated into their new leagues vs. how it hard it has been for Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and West Virginia.

Strategically, it makes sense to add San Diego State and SMU, but will the jigsaw pieces even fit?

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