Thamel’s realignment buzz: What’s next for Pac-12, Big 12 and

• Pete Thamel, ESPNAug 3, 2023, 04:00 PM ET

There stand out forces threatening to pull apart the Pac-12, which is gazing at the reality that the 2023-24 season may be its last after more than a century of existence.A couple of months ago, landing a stout television offer and banding together for the future would have been considered a Houdini act for Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff. And while that remains true, at this point it would likewise require some 11th-hour theatrics.Outside of Colorado

, the sensation in the Pac-12 has remained the same for months: The choice of the Pac-12 presidents is to remain in a West Coast league.But is the TV

deal Kliavkoff presented– mostly Apple with ambiguous financials since of the unidentified rewards– enough? The only certainty as of Thursday morning is whatever is fluid.

“Hopefully there’s resolution in the next 24 hr,” said a market source. “However I truthfully do not understand where that resolution is going to be.”

Editor’s Picks

2 Associated

The Pac-12 presidents are expected to reunite on Friday to go over the deal again. Myriad alternatives are possible by then.The powers at work here need to be considered in separate tiers. The very first and greatest is the Big 10, which sources tell ESPN had a president’s conference on Thursday early morning that licensed commissioner Tony Petitti to explore growth and bring back more details on Oregon and Washington. No vote was taken, nor has actually a deal been made. The league is still running with a hesitancy to totally gut the Pac-12 a year after taking USC and UCLA.If the Big Ten ends up making those schools a deal

, which is anticipated to be low, and it’s accepted by both, then there will be some clarity– everything will likely break down for the Pac-12. Those are the forces of conference gravity: You can’t take on the Power Two.Oregon is now deemed charting the course for the Pac-12’s future

. If the Ducks are comfortable with a Huge Ten deal, Washington would follow. However there’s also a chance Oregon might be comfortable with the uncertainty of the Pac-12’s offer, sit tight, and attempt to dominate the Pac-12. Still, the Big Ten is ultimately an objective for both Oregon and Washington

. And a temporal financial stage for a multi-generational decision would seem to make good sense. But they might stay in a more geographically practical league and delight in clearer access to the College Football Playoff. And there remain forces working versus Oregon and Washington’s additions, both from the West Coast and the heartland.There’s a sense the Big Ten’s decision might be connected to what the 3 remaining

Four-Corner Schools– Arizona, Arizona State and Utah– wind up doing. However there’s likewise the concept those schools want to wait and see what Oregon and Washington wind up doing.The fascinating dynamic of hoping someone else goes very first highlights one of the concerns that has loomed here– nobody is eager to end on the Pac-12. But everyone is also scrambling so they do not get left. That leaves a landscape filled with paranoia, fake hustle, lies and hopes. Sounds collegial, huh?Here are the three most significant questions– on everything from Arizona’s next relocate to the Big Ten’s pursuit of Oregon and Washington to the Pac-12’s path to

survival– in a week of possibly landscape-altering news.