Syracuse and Pittsburgh are petitioning the ACC for entrance. Iowa State and Baylor are writing the Big East about joining. Texas A&M is moving to the SEC. The Big 12 is scrambling for some semblance of a structure and the Big Ten is enjoying the addition of Nebraska this year. The Pac-12 is only one of several conferences currently undergoing severe shifts (or considering them) and commissioner Larry Scott says the changes are coming even faster than predicted.
Sportswriter Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman talked with Scott today and said via Twitter, "Pac12 commish Larry Scott tells me "it looks like a faster timetable than I would have anticipated" about realignment." The Pac-12 is sitting pretty among the NCAA landscape considering it's liable to not only survive but thrive in the new power structures that seem to be coming quicker than ever.
That's because the Pac-12 could potentially add Midwestern powers like Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to its expanding structure. The talks have already begun to take place, at least in terms of the Oklahoma-based schools checking out their options. Both schools have been quite public about their open eyes toward the horizon of the future of NCAA athletics, and it wouldn't surprise anyone to see the Big 12 completely collapse. In that case. both schools would need a future home and the Pac-12 is the most likely.
Since it's coming sooner than later, expect more and more news to emerge about not only what could happen but when. Either way, it's likely the next two to three years in college athletics are going to be more about change than any other time in recent history.