PHOENIX — The pieces of the conference realignment puzzle could again be moving quickly.
The boards of regents for Arizona's two biggest universities and the University of Washington scheduled special meetings for Thursday night amid speculation that more Pac-12 schools could leave the flailing conference.
The Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees Arizona and Arizona State, will hold a closed executive session to look at possible legal advice and discussion regarding university athletics. Washington regents called a special meeting to discuss present pending or potential litigation with counsel.
Arizona is in talks to join the Big 12, a person with direct knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because neither the school nor the conference were prepared to finalize an invitation to the Wildcats.
The person added that Arizona State was not as far along in the process, which could slow down Arizona’s final decision because the Tucson-based school would prefer to be in sync with its rivals from Tempe.
Southern California and UCLA are headed to the Big Ten next year, the same time Colorado is leaving the West Coast’s largest and most storied conference for the Big 12.
That leaves the Pac-12 with nine schools — for now — and no media rights deal beyond the upcoming school year with the Big Ten again eyeing the troubled league. None of the other remaining schools have scheduled regent or trustee meetings — yet.
Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff presented details of a media rights deal to league stakeholders on Tuesday, but no vote was held. ESPN reported the deal would make Apple TV the conference’s primary home and not a more well-known traditional network like ESPN or Fox.
The carrot may not have been big enough.
More schools could be headed out the door, potentially pulling apart the “Conference of Champions" — a league with roots dating to 1915 — at the seams.
A group of Big Ten presidents has started discussing the possibility of adding more West Coast schools if the Pac-12 continues to crumble, with Oregon and Washington as the primary targets.
The Big 12 has targeted the Pac-12's corner schools — Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State — as Kliavkoff has gone through a protracted bid to secure a media rights deal.
Now one corner is gone, two may have a foot out the door already and the conference that touts sports alumni like Jackie Robinson, John Elway and Jackie Joyner-Kersee could be in trouble.
