The Pac-12 Conference is now down to just four teams after Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah all left in the span of just a couple of weeks. The future of the conference is murky, at best, and there have even been talks of a Pac-12-Mountain West merger. Now, the American Athletic Conference (AAC) is reportedly interested in the remaining programs, per Eric Prisbell of On3.

‘The American Athletic Conference is interested in adding any or all of the four remaining Pac-12 Conference schools, sources with direct knowledge of the league’s strategy told On3 on Monday.'

The AAC lost a few teams recently as well, so they are looking to bulk up the conference, and adding the remaining Pac-12 programs could help. Here's what one source stated, per Prisbell: “We would be a good landing spot for those schools given our existing ESPN deal, which has a strong linear component, along with our major cities and institutional profiles.”

Related NewsArticle continues below
USC basketball: Why Trojans are a sleeper in Pac-12 Conference Tournament
Teresa Gould named new Pac-12 commissioner as George Kliavkoff tenure comes to an end
Pac-12 begins process of removing George Kliavkoff as commissioner
Colorado football, schools leaving Pac-12 will still play in conference bowls

The Pac-12 saw Deion Sanders and Colorado begin the exodus, then Washington and Oregon leave for the Big Ten. The Pac-12 media rights deal never came to fruition, and now there is no idea what happens to the conference. As far as a move to the AAC, that would be a major blow to George Kliavkoff and the conference, but combining together is the only possible outcome with just four programs remaining.

Oregon State was rumored to join the Big 12, although those dreams were put to bed recently. Nonetheless, a potential AAC-Pac-12 merger could be in the works. Who would've seen that coming a few weeks ago?