Memphis snubs Pac-12 deal, AD Ed Scott prioritizes future over conference expansion

The Pac-12 will remain a seven-school conference for now after Memphis decided to stay in the American Athletic Conference.

Memphis was among Pac-12's primary targets for expansion after Mountain West mainstays Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State accepted the invitations to join Washington State and Oregon State to rebuild Pac-12.

However, Tigers athletics director Ed Scott turned down the offer due to a perceived negative effect on its Olympic sports and to its students.

"I think sometimes, we get enamored by the new, and we want to take a bad deal. That deal was not a good deal for the University of Memphis, it certainly wasn’t a good deal for our athletic department and most importantly, it was a really, really bad deal for our Olympic sports," Scott said (per On3.com).

The university sports official pointed to the program's future as a major factor in declining the invitation to join the storied conference. He emphasized that Memphis' student-athletes were taken into consideration in making such decision.

“When I hear people say, ‘I’m not gonna buy tickets. I’m not gonna support programs,’ you’re not really hurting me. You’re hurting the student-athletes and you’re hurting the people that are on the field playing. And that’s really, really important for me," Scott said.

"That was not a, ‘No, we’re not ever going anywhere.’ That was based on the offer that was presented in front of us, that we’re not taking that offer because we don’t think less of ourselves," he added.

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Memphis joins USF, Tulane, and UTSA in declining the Pac-12 offer

Memphis is not the only AAC-affiliated program targeted by Pac-12. Tigers' co-members USF, Tulane and UTSA were also invited to join the Pac-12, but the three schools decided to remain loyal to the AAC.

"While we acknowledge receiving interest in our institutions from other conferences, we firmly believe that it is in our individual and collective best interests to uphold our commitment to each other," the schools said in a statement (per ESPN).

Last season, Memphis, coached by former NBA point guard Penny Hardaway, went 22-10 (11-7 AAC) and missed the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers will have a busy non-conference schedule in the 2024-25 college basketball season, beginning with two exhibition games against North Carolina (Oct. 15) and Final Four qualifier Alabama.

They open the regular season on Nov. 4 against Missouri at the FedEx Forum. Memphis will go to Hawaii to take part in the Maui Invitational and are slated to meet defending back-to-back national champion UConn.

The Tigers will also test the mettle of ACC schools Clemson (Dec. 4) and Virginia (Dec. 18) and SEC programs Mississippi State (Dec. 21) and Ole Miss (Dec. 28).

They will open their AAC regular season slate with a visit to Florida Atlantic on Jan. 2. The AAC Tournament will be held on March 12-16.