Make no mistake, the PAC-12’s disintegration is about football and a lack of a lucrative TV deal. It will have immediate downstream impacts on lacrosse.
NCAA College Lacrosse Programs will also be Moving Around
Women
The PAC-12 for the time being is a six team women’s lacrosse conference. (California, Stanford, USC, Colorado, Arizona State, and Oregon) UC Davis and San Diego State are to join next year.
Arizona State and Colorado are destined for the BIG 12. The Big 12 does not have women’s lacrosse. The University of Cincinnati is in the BIG 12 but competes in women’s lacrosse in the American Athletic Conference. The Big 12 will need three more programs to add women’s lacrosse to make a true conference. It will be interesting to see if Arizona State and Colorado seek another lacrosse conference or choose to be independent. One factor might be whether the Big 12 TV networks will show women’s lacrosse if their programs are not part of a true BIG 12 lacrosse conference.
USC and Oregon women's lacrosse are going to the Big Ten. UCLA and Washington don't play. The Big Ten already has 7 programs led by 2023 National Champion Northwestern and the powerhouse Maryland. The Trojans and Ducks will join Northwestern, Maryland, Johns Hopkins, Penn State, Michigan, Rutgers, and Ohio State. The Big Ten Network airs both men’s and women’s lacrosse. USC and Oregon should see their TV exposure increase.
In the game of conference musical chairs, the University of California and Stanford couldn’t find a chair. Even with the addition of UC Davis and San Diego State, there are not enough lacrosse teams to make a Pacific lacrosse conference, so the Bear and Cardinal lacrosse teams (and UC Davis and San Diego State) will be conference less. Wouldn't it be ironic if Colorado and Arizona State rejoined a womens lacrosse conference with some of their old conference foes to get to six members? It would make sense.
Administrators are scrambling for a football solution and then will consider the needs of other sports. There is speculation about the ACC as a landing spot for Stanford and the University of California, but we will just stay tuned for further developments.
Men
The University of Utah is moving from the Pac 12 to the Big 12, It was the lone PAC-12 University that played Varsity men’s lacrosse. Now it will be the lone Big 12 University to play Varsity men’s lacrosse. By itself again, the Utes presumably will remain in the ASUN conference. The University of Utah men's lacrosse program does not have an ideal conference home.
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