Overnight, the Pac-12 Conference voted to expand and invited Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State to join the league. By Friday morning, the deal was a done deal and the league made an official announcement.

It’s quite possible that the Pac-12 isn’t finished yet either.

After the league imploded last year and 10 different teams left the conference, Oregon State and Washington State fought for the right to keep the conference name and branding. The NCAA also granted the league a two-year grace period to remain a conference.

The grace period ends in the fall of 2026. By then, the Pac-12 must have at least eight teams to remain a football conference.

So it’s clear that the Pac-12 needs at least two more teams. And that’s where Tulane could come in.

Pete Nakos of On3.com has compiled a list of nine teams that could be of interest to the Pac-12 as it fills out its conference, and the Green Wave made the list.

The other schools were Memphis, UTSA, Cal, Stanford, UNLV, Air Force, Wyoming and New Mexico.

Cal and Stanford, of course, were longtime members of the Pac-12 that joined the ACC in August. The deal with the ACC is not financially favorable for either school. Cal and Stanford each receive only a 30% share of ACC payouts. ACC members typically receive more than $40 million a year in league payouts from television contracts and other revenue.

The other schools are a mix of American Athletic Conference programs like Tulane and other Mountain West members.

So what’s the case for Tulane to move to the Pac-12? According to Nakos, Tulane has developed into one of the top football programs in the Group of 5. The Green Wave has been in the AAC title game each of the last two years and won the crown in 2022 after clinching that title with a Cotton Bowl victory over USC.

Tulane also offers access to a new market – New Orleans. As a Designated Market Area (DMA), New Orleans is the 50th media market in the country.

The Pac-12 currently has no recruiting base in the South. Recruiting Tulane could give the league access to neighboring states, including Texas, one of the best proving grounds for high school talent in the country.

Tulane sponsors 18 NCAA sports, but the realignment will likely be in football, putting the Green Wave in a good position for potential expansion.

It is unclear how many members the Pac-12 is looking for. The Pac-12 was once called the Pac-8 before it admitted Arizona and Arizona State in 1978 and became the Pac-10. Twelve years ago, the league became the Pac-12 with the admission of Colorado and Utah.

All four of these schools are now part of the Big 12. Tulane could benefit from their departures.