Every major college football conference is gearing up for media days this summer. The Pac-12 looked at the whole thing and decided to pass.

Pac-12 senior VP and deputy commissioner Rick Hart explained the thinking last month at Fresno State.

"Traditionally, you spend a lot of money, you bring everybody together for two or three days, you disrupt camp or whatever's going on," Hart said at Fresno State University. "Maybe you get 72 hours of publicity alongside all the other leagues that are doing media days. It's pretty noisy. There's a lot of static. And then everybody moves on."

That's a real point. Every conference holds media days around the same window, which means every program is competing for the same national attention at the same time. The noise cancels itself out.

The money angle matters too. "We could have. We talked about it. Those are expensive," Hart said on the Fresno State Athletics YouTube page.

For a conference that just relaunched and is trying to build a new identity from scratch, spending big on a traditional event that may not move the needle isn't an obvious call.

The Pac-12 is the only FBS conference not hosting any traditional media days or kickoff events this summer. All nine other leagues, including the Big 12, which kicks things off in Frisco, Texas, on Tuesday, are doing it the old way.

Commissioner Teresa Gould and Hart will still be in Frisco this week to meet informally with media covering the Big 12's event. Whatever money would have gone toward media days is likely being used for promotional events during the season instead.

This is the third year in a row that the Pac-12 has skipped a traditional media days format. Back in 2024, with just two teams left, the conference threw a cocktail party at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and called it "After Hours with the Beavs and Cougs." In 2025, nothing at all while the relaunch was being planned.

The last time the Pac-12 did things the traditional way was in 2023 in Las Vegas under former commissioner George Kliavkoff.

The Pac-12’s rebuild includes six brand-new football programs joining this fall

The conference is expanding from two to eight football teams this fall. Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State, and Fresno State are joining the original surviving members, Oregon State and Washington State, per Front Office Sports.

Boise State is the most recognizable name joining the relaunched Pac-12. The Broncos bring a blue turf, a passionate fanbase, and a long history of punching above their weight against Power Four competition.

Gonzaga is also joining the conference, but as a non-football member. The basketball brand they bring helps the Pac-12's overall visibility even without a football program.

For a conference trying to rebuild its reputation, adding six programs and skipping the noise of traditional media days might actually be the smartest way to let the football do the talking.

Do you think the Pac-12 made the right call skipping media days this summer? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi