College Football Realignment: Pac-12 Stays Put, Will Big 12 Save Itself?

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott announced Tuesday that his conference will stay as is, meaning the Big 12 won't be completely dismantled. 

So will the Big 12 save itself before the top schools find another home? 

Scott felt the Pac-12 didn't need to expand any further, but the main reason was because he couldn't get Texas to agree to equal revenue sharing. 

Here's Scott's statement, per ESPN:

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'After careful review we have determined that it is in the best interests of our member institutions, student-athletes and fans to remain a 12-team conference,' Scott said in a statement.

'While we have great respect for all of the institutions that have contacted us, and certain expansion proposals were financially attractive, we have a strong conference structure and culture of equality that we are committed to preserve.'

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The Pac-12 was vying for Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, but it just didn't work out.

Now the Big 12 has a chance to stay alive, but they need to act quickly. They should have added teams after Colorado and Nebraska left a year ago, and because they didn't it almost cost them their elite programs.

The Big 12 was slow to take action, and they lost out on TCU, which may not be the best around, but they would have served an equal if not better replacement than the descending Colorado program. 

There's still a chance these top Big 12 schools look to other conferences because let's face it, college football realignment is inevitable.

So much so that schools we never thought would be on the move have already found a new home.  

The ACC is now at 14 members, and they're still trying to work out a way to add two more teams, which would make them the first super conference. 

If you had told me a month or so ago that the ACC would be the first super conference I never would have believed you. 

All the talk about schools jumping ship and finding new homes forced the ACC to make their own moves, and now they might be ahead of everyone else. 

As for the Big 12, according to ESPN's Andy Katz, the conference will look to BYU, Louisville and West Virginia to find a 10th member or maybe even back to 12.

Katz says that, "If the Big 12 stays with its original targets, then BYU would be first up followed by Louisville and/or West Virginia." 

The only way that happens is if the Big 12 stays together. Since their top programs didn't leave for the Pac-12, it's very like that Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Iowa State will drop their threat to sue on the SEC and let Texas A&M free. 

A small domino effect would then occur as the SEC would move quickly to find a 14th member, and although it was rumored that Missouri would be headed to the SEC should the Big 12 collapse, it doesn't look like that will happen now.

Pete Thamel of The New York Times:

According to the USA Today, the Big East members met on Tuesday and it is believed the remaining schools will stay together. 

This would mean no Louisville or WVU to the Big 12 or the SEC. However, anything is possible, meaning that should a lucrative offer come their way, these schools might be on the move. 

Despite the Pac-12's decision to stay put, it's very clear that conference realignment is far from over. The Big 12 should be able to save itself, but at this point it's hard to tell because of they reacted last year after schools left them.

Personally, I'm glad the Big 12 didn't collapse yesterday because the elite Big 12 schools they would have gained aren't near the pacific, and I'm a firm believer that geography is important and should still be relevant when expanding conferences.  

If the Big 12 plays it smart, they'll act fast to at least find a 10th member to prevent Texas from departing because wherever the Longhorns go, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are very likely to follow.