According to radio host Greg Swaim, Pitt, Virginia Tech, Louisville, NC State all can join the Big 12 soon after Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark pushed for expansion during the latest round of College Football Playoff negotiations.
"Yormark hints that the Big12 will be expanding...soon, and mark it down they'll all come from the ACC," Swaim said.
Heartland College Sports' Bryan Clinton believes that Yormark pushing for a look-in provision that leaves the door open for his conference to be aggressive in adding teams that are looking to leave the ACC.
"The revenue-sharing contract currently being discussed includes a look-in provision encouraged by Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark," Clinton prefaced before saying, "The provision in question concerns, you guessed it, further conference realignment. Now, Yormark could simply be using his forward-thinking mentality to ensure that all bases are covered, but the fact that he’s encouraged the provision to be added feels a bit more intentional than that.
"Is Yormark hinting at something else on the horizon, or does this all add up to a big nothing-burger while the Big Ten and SEC continue to become a bigger and bigger problem for the Big 12?"
With Utah, ASU, Arizona, and Colorado all joining the conference in 2024, the Big 12 is already going to look different. Adding teams from the northeast like Pitt will make it all but unrecognizable from the past decade of football.
Big 12 and ACC fighting to not fall behind SEC and Big Ten
The SEC and Big Ten are looking for extra College Football Playoff spots, which would increase the payouts for both conferences and essentially create a "Power Two." The Big 12 and ACC would be left as the "other two," and would be at risk of being left behind if the SEC and Big Ten branch off and create their own playoff.
Yormark is clearly trying to keep his conference relevant, but that's an uphill climb with the power moves the SEC and Big Ten have been making.