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The Pac-4, or what is left of the Pac-12, is trying everything to stay afloat. Finally recognizing its egregious leadership failure, the conference hired Oliver Luck as a consultant last week. To put it simply, Luck's job is to assess the Pac-12's alternatives in light of its diminished power and retaining strengths.
Luck, who was a contender for Pac-12 commissioner last year, is a seasoned administrator in college football. His extensive background includes time as the athletic director at West Virginia and as an NCAA executive. He was also the commissioner of the XFL prior to its bankruptcy during the COVID-19 pandemic. He recently oversaw the merger of the Atlantic Sun Conference and the Western Athletic Conference, resulting in the formation of the United Athletic Conference.
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According to sources, Luck has wasted no time in getting to work on restoring the Pac-4. One of the first steps being taken to get the conference out of its rut is to compile a list of potential expansion candidates.
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Jim Williams, a college football columnist, posted his view on X: “Oliver Luck will be starting the process of working on what teams should be added to the PAC 4 from the American and the Mountain. A list of about 12 teams will be reviewed. This DOES NOT mean a partnership or merger is off the table. It just means they have a process in place.”
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Luck's job is just getting started, and the list of potential members is purely exploratory. Regardless, the Pac-4's sights appear to be set on the Mountain West and the American Athletic Conference. This is significant since rumors of a Pac-12 merger always involve these two leagues.
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Which strategy would be best for the Pac-12? Luck was brought in to make that decision. However, we can speculate. As appealing as a merger with the American or the Mountain West may sound, there is an advantage to gathering handpicked teams for expansion.
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The Pac-12 gets to choose their favorite teams from both leagues (or from beyond). This is in contrast to having to compromise on the composition of the consolidated conference. But Luck is no stranger to mergers, and his United Athletic Conference expertise may come in assistance.
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This league may end up with $280 million each year, and $14 million per club, if distributed equally, would still make them the lowest-paid Power Five conference by far. However, that would be more than quadruple the $5.94 million per year that each American Conference team currently earns.
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The league offices have gained a lot of fantastic amount of brain trust as a result of this merger. Due to travel constraints, there may be something similar to divisional play in other conferences when they opt to play one or two nondivisional games during the season.
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Money doubling is usually a wonderful thing, but that is just a hypothetical amount. However, the current media rights agreement would almost certainly be significantly increased. A coast-to-coast superconference might build a name for itself.
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