OSU athletic director Scott Barnes talks about Pac-12 expansion

Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes described the addition of four new schools to the Pac-12 Conference as the best and highest opportunity available.

Barnes held a press conference Saturday prior to the football game against Oregon.

He spoke about the process which resulted in the conference adding Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State to the existing membership of Oregon State and Washington State.

The Pac-12 has until July 2026 to add at least two more members.

Other than that deadline, Barnes said there is no timeline for future expansion, but added, I'd like to see this move as quick as possible.

When asked if other schools have reached out about potential Pac-12 membership since the expansion was announced Thursday, Barnes said bunches.

Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes described the addition of four new schools to the Pac-12 Conference as the best and highest opportunity available.

When it comes to determining which schools are the best fit for the remaining spots, Barnes said, We'll go after the best.

"We talk a lot about brand and valuation, really important, of course, but academic and athletic success is really critical in this process.

We look at culture and geography, to a degree.

All those things, combined to sort of give us a decision matrix, if you will, of how to move forward, Barnes said.

Barnes reference to geography playing a role, but only to a certain extent, may be an indication that the Pac-12 is looking further east, to Texas or beyond, in its next round of expansion.

Here are some of the other questions Barnes addressed: How many more teams might be added? We think it's anywhere between two to make that NCAA minimum eight to the potential for four.

Will the conference continue to be known as the Pac-12 regardless of the final number of teams? We love the brand.

You know, you think about some of the other brands out there, I don't think there's one conference that actually has the same number of members that the name is.

So we want to keep the brand.

We think it's valuable and we'll lean into it.

Will the rivalry series with Oregon continue in football? Barnes is in favor of continuing to play Oregon in football and in other sports, where it makes sense.

You know, one of the challenges with conference realignment is the disassembling of regional rivalries, right? And, when you think back in college, athletic history, the popularity of college athletics was built on rivalries.

It really was.

And so from that aspect and, oh, by the way, a little bit of common sense, they are 45 minutes down the road.

To be able to play that game in every sport, where it fits ...

(Oregon athletic director) Rob (Mullens) and I have talked and well talk some more.

How hard was it to give up on the idea of joining an existing power conference? As you move through and and you start to progress and and you see where the doors are open, you just gravitate towards that.

And so as this became more apparent, it became more exciting to all of us and that was our tunnel vision.

What level of commitment is there from the new partners? Its a long-term grant of rights.

Everybody is buckled in and committed for the long term.

What are the prospects for the new media rights deal? "When you think about the foundational group that we have now and the potential of who we may add, we feel great about going out to the marketplace and commanding a really good deal." How will Oregon State adjust to the change in revenue from the former version of the Pac-12 Conference to the new version? Barnes focused on adding revenue rather than on potential budget cuts within the athletic department.

Weve got to continue to build.

...

Theres a new landscape in college athletics.

Lets put conference realignment aside, this new world that we live in demands that we reinvent ourselves in terms of revenue streams, how we conduct business, our ability to adapt to the changes.

We have challenged ourselves to really reinvent ourselves as it relates to the business enterprise and our revenue generation.

Commentary: The Pac-12 charts its course, is this good news for OSU? Les Gehrett is the sports editor and covers Oregon State football, women's basketball and gymnastics.

Follow him on X at @lgehrtet.

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