The Pac-12 doesn't make sense for USF in realignment, and that's no fake

A tweet about USF jumped off the screen, and it was one of those “wow” moments. But just for a moment because it pays to read the fine print.

It said USF was joining Memphis, Tulane, and UTSA on a move to the Pac-12 Conference. If you didn’t pay attention to the spelling, it looked like it was from The Athletic – an extremely reputable site.

But actually, it was a misdirection play from the Althletic, which describes itself as “Your #1 least trusted account in sports Parody account of The Athletic.”

Someone got their jollies from that, I guess, because it is true that the Pac-12 appears to have serious interest in Memphis, Tulane, and possibly – maybe, sort of – UTSA. And it would make sense for the conference to check out USF -- and vice versa.

The actual Athletic site noted in a non-fake story about Pac realignment, “USF is now a member of the Association of American Universities, a prestigious academic group, with working plans for an on-campus stadium, but it may just be too far away on the map.”

That may be the key.

Never say never, but I’m not buying the notion of USF signing on for regular 3,000-mile plane rides for its soccer, golf, tennis, track, and volleyball teams. It just doesn’t make sense, financially or logistically.

The Pac is fighting for survival after UCLA and Southern Cal departures to the Big Ten triggered mass defections. It added four Mountain West schools to bring the conference to six members but needs two more to meet NCAA minimum requirements.

The fact that Cal and Stanford agreed to join the Atlantic Coast Conference is something to consider. Those are two brainy institutions, and if they decided long plane rides, an exit fee, and a discounted media deal aren’t dealbreakers, maybe they’re onto something.

As a man once said, though, show me the money.

Until the rebuilt Pac gets a media deal that is substantially better than the AAC, USF should stay on its current path forward and play the long game. The college sports industry is changing daily, and there’s no way yet to predict what will happen when conference media deals expire at the end of the decade.

There’s also the not-insignificant matter of the AAC’s $25 million exit fee. It will have to be a major conference upgrade for USF to pony up that much cash.

That doesn’t sound like the Pac-12, and that's no fake.