My list of Potential PAC-12 expansion candidates

May 30, 2025 As of this writing, the PAC-12 needs one more football member to be recognized by the NCAA. Currently there are only two schools in the PAC-12, Oregon State and Washington State. However, the conference will have a mass expansion in 2026 as Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, and non-football Gonzaga will join. As previously mentioned, one more team will need to be added, but which team will that be? Many sportswriters are making reports and giving guesses on who that eighth football school will be. I will present my list of top ten candidates and why I feel that way. My observations will be based on markets, reports I have read and random thoughts. 1) UNLV Rebels Most of the conference changes in Division I, both large and small, have been based on market presence. For example, the Big 10 gained the Los Angeles market when it added UCLA and USC. The Atlantic Coast Conference got both the Dallas market and the Bay Area market when it added California, Stanford, and SMU. Adding UNLV will give the PAC-12 the Las Vegas market that I think it should have had years ago. Last year UNLV, along with the other remaining Mountain West Conference schools agreed not to leave the Mountain West, but now that the PAC-12 has a TV deal, potential money may speak louder than any agreement it had a year ago. To me, adding UNLV makes the most sense both geographically and economically. 2) Sacramento State Hornets Why is a FCS school number two on my list? The phrase, "Desparate times call for desparate measures" comes to mind. When Sacramento State announced that it wanted to join either the PAC-12 or Mountain West Conference, I thought there was a remote chance. However, as more schools initially rejected the PAC-12's invitation, the odds for Sacramento State to join suddenly increased. Lately, the Hornets have put their money where their mouth is, particularly in basketball. They announced that Shaquille O'Neal will be the basketball general manager and they hired Mike Bibby as head coach. The Sacramento Kings are helping out by loaning the Golden 1 Center to the Hornets until a new basketball arena can be built. The one obstacle standing in the way of the Hornets is the SEC and the Big 10 both saying that they do not want any more FCS schools added to the FBS, but if you are the PAC-12, why do you care what they want? The SEC started this realignment roller coaster by adding Oklahoma and Texas. The Big 10 poached four of the PAC-12's schools and helped put the PAC-12 in the position it is in now. I must admit that it is a good thing I am not the PAC-12 commissioner, because it would be tempting to add Sacramento State to spite the Big 10, but it may not be the best business decision. As time goes by, however, adding Sacramento State could be the only decision the conference has. 3) Nevada Wolfpack This is another school that I admit that I placed higher than I probably should have. The reason why Nevada has a higher rating on my list is because sometimes rival schools are "packaged deals". For example, when the Western Athletic Conference was courting the University of Montana for expansion, it was made known that Montana was not going anywhere without Montana State. If Nevada does go to the PAC-12, the reason will likely be that it is a packaged deal with UNLV. 4) Texas State Bobcats Texas State is the betting favorite to go to the PAC-12. With San Marcos being located outside of San Antonio, it would enable the PAC-12 to have a market in Texas. Plus, leaving the Sun Belt Conference is likely easier than leaving the American Athletic Conference, and it is definitely easier than leaving the Mountain West Conference. Texas State is not an athletic power, but the sports programs are improving. Also, recruiting will probably be easier for Texas State if it is linked to the PAC-12. 5) Tulane Green Wave Like UNLV, the major attraction that Tulane could have is the economic market. The fact that Tulane University is in New Orleans could allure fans of other teams to make the lengthy road trips. Athletically, Tulane can be a major player. The Green Wave have competed for the American Athletic Conference championship in football over the past few years and they have a major bowl game victory over USC. Finally, Tulane has been linked by several professional writers as a possible PAC-12 expansion team. 6) Memphis Tigers A lot of the things I just wrote about tulane applies to Memphis. They have also been connected by sports writers as a possible candidate for PAC-12 expansion. The difference between Memphis and Tulane is that Memphis had traditionally been more of a basketball power. 7) Rice Owls Simply speaking, Rice had two things the PAC-12 would want, location and education. Houston, Texas, with a city population of over a million people, and that is not counting the populations of the surrounding cities and towns, would provide a huge market for the PAC-12. Also, many would consider Rice to be an "Ivy League" school of the South. The PAC-12 was once not only considered to be athletically superior, but it was also educationally superior to all other conferences outside of the Ivy League. Adding Rice to the conference could help the PAC-12 educationally. Also, a move to the PAC-12 could help Rice keep some of Texas's good athletes in the state. 8) UTSA Roadrunners UTSA can get the PAC-12 the San Antonio market. Occasionally the Roadrunners will have a football team that can compete with the larger schools. 9) Stanford Cardinal/California Bears I grouped these two schools as one, because I believe that they are a packaged deal. With the mass exodus of the PAC-12 teams, I can imagine it would have to come to the point that traveling across the country constantly can no longer be feasable regardless of the TV money that comes in. While I do not see a mass return back to the PAC-12, I can see these two schools having enough of the ACC. For the next nine years the money Stanford and Cal will be receiving is low compared to the rest of the ACC. Also, the mental health of most of the athletes has to become a factor at some point. 10) North Texas Mean Green North Texas is located in Denton, Texas, which is a suburb of Dallas. It is also a favorite among sports writers to join the PAC-12. Honorable Mention St. Mary's Gaels I heard St. Mary's expressed some interest to join the PAC-12. The Gaels are often the second best basketball team in the West Coast Conference (behind Gonzaga, who will be joining the PAC-12 in 2026). St. Mary's once had a football team and a move to the PAC-12 can get the conference the Bay Area market again. In a sense of wishful thinking, maybe it could revive the football team. Simon Fraser Red Leaves Why is a division II school on here? Simon Fraser, located in Burnaby, British Columbia, is the only Canadian school in the NCAA. The PAC-12 could gain Canadian fans. It could actually be more beneficial for Simon Fraser to join. One of the reasons Simon Fraser wanted to join the NCAA was to keep Canadian athletes in Canada. For the most part, the best Canadian athletes are still leaving for the United States. It's tough to keep good athletes at a division II school. They would have better luck if they could move to division I.