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Join Wundery Plus in the Wundery app or on Apple Podcasts. It's August 2021 and on a Zoom call PAC-12 Commissioner George Cleofkov is making the case for expansion.

Cleofkov joined the PAC-12 three weeks ago and since then the college football world's been turned upside down.

The Southeastern Conference has just persuaded Texas and Oklahoma two of the biggest colleges in the sport to join its league.

Their exit has left their current conference, the Big 12, facing oblivion.

And Klyavkof believes the Pack 12 could emerge a winner from the fallout.

So he's assembled a committee of six Pack 12 college officials to hear out his plan to add teams to the conference.

He smiles as he outlines his rationale.

In the past few days I've spoken with all the remaining schools in the big 12.

They're desperate and want to join us.

This is a rare opportunity to expand the Pact 12's footprint of the Great Plains.

Now my proposal is we take in the cream of the Big 12 Colleges, the ones that will help us reach

new markets and new fan bases.

Cleofkoff notices Carol Folt, the president of USC, unmute her microphone.

USC is one of the two most important schools in the PAC-12.

The other is UCLA. Officially every school in the

pack 12 is equal but USC and UCLA are the most popular teams by far

thanks in no small part to both schools being based in Los Angeles, the second biggest media market in America.

So when the President of USC's got something to say, the rest of the PAC-12 listen.

Cleavkov leans back in his chair.

Yes, Carol, go ahead.

Thank you.

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