Last Ride for the Pac-12: After 108 years, it appears that the end is near for the Pac-12 Conference.

I wrote a piece for this week on the league's demise, the hope for a deal with Apple TV and the future of media contracts. I scrapped it.

The story now is about the future of college football conferences or superconferences or megaconferences. That talk has been around for decades. When will the big boys break away and leave everybody else behind? We're close.

I've written about the new definition of the "Power" conferences and how we're going from the Power 5 to the Power 2. Now, the Big 12 is trying to make its case for still being a player.

Nobody took a bigger hit than the Big 12 when it lost Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC. But they've made strides in staying relevant with some good pickups.

While the Longhorns and Sooners will be out next year; BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF join the Big 12 this year. Now (at press time) you can add Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah from the Pac-12.

By the way, these conferences with the numbers behind the name should relabel themselves. It's confusing. The Big 12 is now a 16-team league. And with Oregon and Utah darting for the Big Ten with USC and UCLA from the Pac-12 (now Pac-4), the Big Ten is at 18 teams.

The SEC will be a 16-team conference next year, but will they? Florida State's folks have been outspoken about the doubt of their future home. The ACC could become the next Pac-12 if they don't secure the Seminoles and others like Miami, Clemson and North Carolina.

Those natural migrations would be to the SEC if Greg Sankey and the gang are open to it. And why not? Yes, we'll have to reshuffle the schedules again, but having those teams probably enhances the conference.

How much is too much? It does get tougher (in football terms) to put schedules together with rivarlies on a regualr basis as the numbers rise. I don't expect 24 teams, but it could rise to 18 or 20 in the SEC's case.

For the have-nots, it will be more difficult to compete at the highest level. High school recruits want to go where they're showcased and competing for titles versus the very best.

The landscape is changing. Stay tuned. There may be another rewrite in the next few days.