Big 12 Football: 5 PAC-12 teams best for conference expansion

5. The big fish/long shots

The two programs out of the PAC-12 that are like their Oklahoma and Texas to the Big 12 are the Oregon Ducks and USC Trojans. An important piece too of the PAC-12, especially with their heightened success in recent years, is the Washington Huskies. The PAC-12 would be likely to scrap and claw to do everything they can to keep Washington and Oregon together in the PAC-12 North.

However, if there is any shot that the Big 12 would be able to get USC and/or Oregon over from the PAC-12, it would obviously be worth pursuing. The only problem that could emerge there is what to do with the relations between a blue blood PAC-12 school and the current powers of the Big 12 (e.g. Oklahoma and Texas).

Oregon didn’t find all that much sustained success in the PAC-12 until the mid-to-late 2000’s. They found their mix of success, especially when former star quarterback Joey Harrington took center stage in Eugene. But nothing really brought them to national prominence like their constantly changing uniforms and partnership with Nike, and the coaching job of Chip Kelly.

And USC is one of the best and most successful programs in college football history. They have a long and storied history, and putting them in the same conference as the Longhorns would clearly have some level of appeal to the fans.

USC and Oregon might just not want to relinquish the power they carry with them in the two divisions of the PAC-12.