The early-2010s realignment cycle began in 2010 , after both the Big Ten Conference and Pacific-10 Conference ( now Pac-12 ) announced plans to expand to 12 members . Brett McMurphy , formerly of ''CBSSports.com '' and now with ''ESPN.com '' , would sum up the fallout in 2012 : It was Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany 's cow in a Chicago barn that kicked over the lantern that started the country 's conference realignment inferno . After that it was a hundred reactionary moves from other conference commissioners , shoring up their ranks , while scorching college football 's landscape . The other 10 FBS conferences may have had some hardships , but they will all survive . It 's the WAC that got burned to a crisp . During the week of June 7 , 2010 , amid rumors surrounding Boise State 's future in the WAC , the conference held a meeting of its athletic directors and university presidents in Las Vegas to discuss contingency options . The conference fully expected to lose Boise State , and according to WAC commissioner Karl Benson , there was no bitterness toward BSU by the rest of the current membership . Benson also added that the WAC was considering expanding itself , with the conference eyeing up to six current members of the second-tier Football Championship Subdivision
cow in a Chicago barn
Great Chicago Fire
2010–13 Western Athletic Conference realignment