Report: Gonzaga and Pac-12 in 'serious' talks amid conference realignment rumors | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

The Pac-12's revival may have taken another step on Monday.

According to several reports, Gonzaga and the conference are in talks about adding the Bulldogs to the Pac-12 as a basketball school, but no final agreement has been made:

Brett McMurphy Action Network had previously reported that a deal had been finalized and that the Bulldogs would receive “a full share of conference revenue” despite their non-participation in football.

However, the Pac-12 still needs two more football schools to join Oregon State, Washington State, Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State. The conference must have eight football members by 2026 to qualify for a possible automatic entry into the College Football Playoff.

The possible alignment comes after several reported Pac-12 destinations, most notably Memphis and Tulane, announced on Monday that they would remain in the American Athletic Conference:

Both the Pac-12 and AAC suffered a setback to their own expansion plans after Air Force reportedly rejoined the Mountain West Conference, according to Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger. Air Force “signed or is expected to soon sign a new grant-of-rights agreement with financial incentives,” that report said.

With Memphis, Tulane, South Florida, UTSA and Air Force now out of the Pac-12 mix, the conference may now turn to UNLV and Utah State, as both programs have “already seen the league's expansion presentation,” according to Dellenger.

The race to add or retain new football programs has been sparked by two factors: The Pac-12 is trying to reinvent itself after losing all but two members before the 2024 season, and a number of conferences are trying to strengthen themselves as much as possible since the top five conference champions will automatically be placed in the College Football Playoff.

Generally, four of those spots go to the two strongest conferences (SEC, Big Ten) and the two strongest conferences behind them (Big 12, ACC). However, with that fifth spot, conferences like the Pac-12, Mountain West and AAC would benefit from arming themselves with strong football programs to secure a playoff spot each year.

The Pac-12 has already stripped the Mountain West of its four strongest football programs, but efforts to add some of the best remaining schools to the team have so far been rebuffed.

As for Gonzaga, the Bulldogs would be a fantastic addition on the basketball side, but would do little to establish the Pac-12 as the fifth-strongest conference in the country.

ESPN's Kyle Bonagura added that there have also been preliminary discussions between the Pac-12 and Saint Mary's about a possible move that would add another strong basketball program to the conference.