FILE – The Pac-12 logo is shown at Sun Devil Stadium during the second half of an NCAA college football game between Arizona State and Kent State in Tempe, Ariz., Aug. 29, 2019. Colorado is leaving the Pac-12 to return to the conference the Buffaloes jilted a dozen years ago, and the Big 12 celebrated the reunion with a two-word statement released through Commissioner Brett Yomark: Theyre back. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso, File)
Talks between the Big Ten and Oregon and Washington about the two schools switching conferences have become uncertain, two people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday, renewing the possibility the Pac-12 can survive after it appeared in danger of being poached into extinction.
Athletic directors in Big Ten have not fully supported the potential expansion to the Pacific Northwest, according to the people who spoke on condition of anonymity because nothing was official and both the conferences and schools were not making their decisions public.
Another person told AP that Big Ten presidents also scheduled to hold a call around the same time; that person said Washington and Oregon had not receive any formal invitation to the Big Ten.
Pac-12 leaders were meeting Friday morning to determine if the nine remaining schools would accept at potential media rights deal with Apple, according to a person familiar with that meeting.
The Big 12 has been pursuing Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to join Colorado, which announced it was leaving the Pac-12 last week. The Big Ten is already welcoming Pac-12 members USC and UCLA next year.
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