Oregon and Washington join Big Ten, putting Pac-12 in further peril
J. Brady McCollough (LA Times) — It looks like USC and UCLA will have Pac-12 brethren joining them in the Big Ten after all.
Multiple outlets reported Friday morning that Oregon and Washington are expected to accept an invitation to join the Big Ten, bringing the conference membership to 18 schools for the 2024-25 academic year.
Yahoo Sports reported that Oregon and Washington told the Pac-12 of the impending move in a meeting that was supposed to be commissioner George Kliavkoff’s last chance to convince his members to stay together after the exits of USC and UCLA last summer and Colorado last week.
Kliavkoff reportedly presented his schools with the details of a potential media rights agreement with Apple on Tuesday. The deal would put Pac-12 games mostly on the streaming service and offer minimal linear cable and broadcast options. For schools in western time zones, that have already struggled with exposure during the past decade, that idea apparently did not sit well.
Oregon and Washington are expected to be followed out the door by Arizona, which has reportedly been approved for Big 12 membership. The pressure would then be on Arizona State and Utah to go with the Wildcats to the suddenly resurgent league.
It’s less clear what will happen to Stanford, California, Washington State and Oregon State. Unless the Pac-12 survives by finding expansion partners or entices the Mountain West with a merger, the remaining members would become the first major conference schools in the realignment era to actually lose their conference home.
Even if the Pac-12 does still exist, it certainly won’t feel like a power conference any longer.
latimes.com
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Not sure if you all watch the press scrums on YouTube, but they are worth checking out. I like everything I hear from Mason Cobb. He is going to be a huge difference maker for us.
Huge pickup for Lincoln Riley and as you say, he should make a delightful impact on USC’s 2023 D. We had absolutely nobody comparable to Cobb last season in the middle.
Cobb — “I will give us a B+ (so far in practice). Right now, overall. I think there’s a lot more we can do in these next couple of weeks to eventually be one of the top teams in the country.”
Urban Meyer to Colin Cowherd
“The most underrated people in football are the assistant coaches.”
That makes Nick Saban just a notch above whatever he already is. He loses his best assistants every year. That guy is clearly the Goat.
He fully rehabbed Lane Kiffin and Sark in the bat of an eye, sending them off to greener pastures and big paychecks.
Saban took these 6x fired losers in because they have the same agent … he saved their sorry ass careers for awhile. Kiffy hasn’t won a game in months and Suck has no chance lasting in Texas.
Does that really matter? They moved on from Saban and majorly fleeced two SEC programs for massive bucks.
If either gets tarmacked, they’ll golden parachute out to a life of leisure and riches, if that’s their chosen path, like many others. And if Clay Helton can get rehired as a HC, any coach can. Go Jimmy Sexton!
But since I like Kiffin, I’m rooting for him.
Saban won NCs with those morons Kiffy and Suck calling plays … stupidity even Pete couldn’t overcome
Of course, Saban won 5 other titles with 5 other OCs too.
Pete’s got two calls that he’ll never live down.
He kept Reggie on the bench in easily one of the most important offensive plays in Trojan history (probably #1), and he didn’t give the ball to man beast Marshawn Lynch to crash over the goal line (his specialty) for another Super Bowl win. (Lynch’s nickname at CAL was “Money”). The Seahawks have never been the same.
Definitely two of the dumber offensive football moments in football history. JMHO.
So much for George Kliavkoff’s Little League approach. Pop Warner gets a pass:
Arizona President Bobby Robbins on selling the Apple package: “We were trying to think, well, it’s going to be like selling candy bars for Little League.”
How fitting — the last-ever Pac-12 Media Preseason Poll
Stanford and Cal to the ACC seems to have legs. The only part of that negotiations that makes sens is it allows Stanford and Cal football to remain in a solid Power 5 conference. My guess is both Stanford and Cal will not join a merged Pac4 and Mountain West.
If usually mediocre STAN and often totally woeful CAL actually get an invite from the ACC and decide to take on that cruel-looking realignment task, I don’t think it will end pretty for either, which is fine with me, thank you.
I agree; it is a lousy choice, but Stanford and Cal brought it on themselves. My take is they got catch flatfooted when OR and WA received and took the B1G offer. These geniuses had no back up plan in place. So, they are now forced to choose between a really bad choice (the ACC for football) and really awful choices (merge with the MW, go independent or drop football). I am with Rialto on this one. I really do not care. I am just delighted SC has leadership in place that avoided the catastrophe that Cal and Stanford brought… Read more »
I read somewhere that the disgusted STAN AD hung up the phone on GK when he was spilling the beans about his murky non-linear streaming package with Apple-plus.
I love it. Like “selling candy bars at a Little League game.” You asked which hires were worse: Sark/Helton or Scott/K. Not close: Scott/K. It is like the PAC hired first Clay Helton and then followed up that hire with Ted Lasso. GK’s approach is so bad that Stanford and Cal have already contacted the ACC, which is true desperation! The nearest conference member is 2,000 miles away! The only other realistic option is to fire GK and try to hire someone competent. But, who would take the job now? It is almost as if they deliberately wanted to obliterate… Read more »
I guess all these Pac-12 presidents and ADs were also too stupid to simply pick up the phone, any day of any week, ask to speak to GK, and tell him they wanted a complete status report on any actual media offers, on their desk tomorrow. Just saw my dentist today, another SC grad, and he’s literally giddy that the Pac-12 looks nearly dissolved. I may have heard him singing Fight On! in his office. 😂 😂 The Pac-12 managed to create such insane ill will with so many SC fans. It’s simply a pleasure to be gone. Many of… Read more »
Ted Lasso is a way better coach that Gomer will ever be…. and Lasso is an actor playing a fictional character!
I had a real “I don’t care” moment this morning reading Wilber’s column about saving the PAC 4. There isn’t any reason to prop the conference up. The media deals prove that. Nobody wants the leftovers. I might miss Cal, but I’m a USC fan and I know in a long ago situation Cal and Stanford conspired to kick USC out of the conference. I might miss Stanford because I hate their unfounded arrogance, but I’m a USC fan and I do have humble bragging rights. Oregon State and Washington State could be big in a small conference, but I… Read more »
When the news first started (which in the beginning was only rumors) that USC was gonna join the Big-10 and the USC Media…..The LA Times AND Allen and John started to talk about things like “Super Conferences” back then I started talking to my family and friends about this and 90 % of them …..Back Then….. asked me (politely) to “Stop Talking about it because it did not sound (to them ) that this would be a say “Major Subject ” in the overall picture of College Football …..WELL for the last 3 weeks NY Sports Radio shows (Where College… Read more »
And now Pete Carroll is dismayed about the state of the college football game. He’s getting a lot of pub about his realignment concerns that the possible loss of CFB rivalries and traditions will be irreplaceable. Not everyone has been exactly receptive to his comments because five months after he joined the Seahawks, the corrupt and evidence-manipulating NCAA tried to destroy USC football with Draconian penalties after five years of underhanded investigation. But the NCAA never laid a hand on Pete as he deftly sidestepped them while planning for an eventual Super Bowl win (should have been two). Both Todd… Read more »
PC was a force of nature when he was at SC, but the way he left always left a sour aftertaste. We had to put up with the Three Stooges for our coaches (Kiffy, 7-win and Gomer) and thought we would never be in the national mix ever again.
What a difference a year makes. Thanks LR and Bone-man and Caruso!
Agreed. Pete’s sudden exit was a classic smoke-and-mirrors deal. Now you see me, now you don’t.
He denied any wrongdoing, but stayed out of any other attempts to help USC after his departure, at least based on what I know.
He left USC knowing his days of dominance here were undoubtedly over in view of what the NCAA had cooking.
I am thankful for what Pete did for SC. He may or may not have known what the NCAA was about to deliver. His last team was not that good and he knew he would have to rebuild. Why do that if you can go pro and make a fortune (at the time, I think Pete was the highest paid pro coach). In hindsight, he made the right call. And, SC was clean compared to what the SEC was doing.
Maybe karma came back and nipped Pete in the you-know-what?!
How he lost that second Super Bowl which he seemingly had in the bag is still hard for me to grasp. He sure has suffered some memorable defeats, especially when you consider what Vince Young did to Pete.
But, he had his teams in a position to have memorable losses in the biggest games of the year. I will take that any time over what we got with the Cat.
The Cat should never even be mentioned in the same sentence as Pete.
One’s a first-name-only guy. The other is named after a mysterious animal that curls on your lap or hides in the shadows. Cats and coyotes sure don’t go together, as I have unfortunately learned the hard way.
For real. We had barn cats as a kid. The ones that stuck around to adulthood by avoiding coyotes, badgers, and occasional cougar were valuable. They really didn’t like people, but kept mice away and were tougher than any dog we had.
Except in the way you just did! 😉
Don’t forget the real brains, Sosna.
I’ve been haphazardly watching some replays of USC’s 2022 season and our defense was even worse than I remembered, if that’s possible. Even 4-8 CAL put up 35 on us and 5-7 ARIZ scored 37. Just lots of wide open spaces in the Trojan secondary last season. But what really stood out to me in the ARIZ game was the play of WR Dorian Singer, along with the amazing Joe Montana-like feel for the game Caleb Williams has for throwing to his targets. We sure are lucky to have brought in Singer through the Portal. His low one-handed TD catch… Read more »
fantastic! Also, have to love the portal approach. We are getting guys who we know can play. Stars or no stars, turn on the tape and watch them play other college players.
The D after the Utah game (SC lost Gentry effectively for the season), the SC D was the worst I have ever seen. It is hard to beat the lousy Ds of Monte Kiffin, Todd Orlando and Clancy Pendergast, but Grinch managed that feat. Utah not only took out Gentry, it must have beat up the D AND revealed flaws in Grinch’s scheme (given his remaining available talent) that Grinch was unable to overcome. It was so bad that it is hard to trust Grinch will be able to produce even a competent D. Hopefully, LR got it right by… Read more »
Dakota Fields flips to the ducks.
Who cares … SC is loaded at db. Portal is recruiting.
Steve,
the kid is talented and it would be good to keep him home, but I totally trust LR and staff. I also like the philosophy of NIL dollars being spent on portal guys. They are a known commodity. I am beginning to really hate Oregon, mostly their arrogant fans, so it bugs me a little but I know we are going to smoke them in their own building this year.
It’s gotta happen. Now that the Ducks are following USC to the B1G, the drama may be a little less. But on second thought, I doubt it.
We need to shut up these also-ran Ducks in Eugene on Nov. 11, following a tough straight stretch against ND, UTAH, CAL and UW.
Cade McNown holds the distinction of being the only UCLA QB to go 4–0 against the Trojans. He was a brutal tormentor of USC, no doubt. But then came The Curse of Cade, which he sparked into life with his last-ditch fake pitch/naked bootleg to run it up against harmless Paul Hackett and USC in ’98. After the game, McNown blamed a Bob Toledo play call. I’m not sure how, but Hackett actually had a 2-1 record against the Bruins. Wow. I knew the Bruins have been horrible for a long time. But this chronicling of worthless Westwood football during the last 24 years… Read more »
Cade was really good … fun to watch
He was a slippery and big play demon on the field and he had USC’s number. But I do believe in the Curse of Cade. I remember watching that last run by him on TV in 1998 with a 34-17 Bruin win already in the bag and time running out. I don’t remember if anyone brought up a possible curse in the making, but Paul Hackett went nuts on the sidelines, yelling for SC defenders to smack him down. Well, since that ’98 game at the Rose Bowl, UCLA has only beaten USC six times, losing 16. That’s proof enough… Read more »
I remember most of the UCLA QBs starting with Gary Beban when Tommy Prothero was the HC of the bRUINS. I actually liked Prothero as he had good imagination on offense, like the “halfback option” pass that Greg Jones threw against SC in the 1969 classic. I will never forget “The Wild Bunch’s” Charlie Weaver “rag dolling” UCLA QB Dennis Dummitt in that ’69 game. Hardest hit I’ve ever seen in football. From where my Dad and I were sitting, you could hear that hit. A memory I will never forget!
Prothro…..
… was an extremely interesting guy and championship bridge player who carried an unopened square-shaped executive-type black briefcase with him onto the sidelines if I remember correctly. Shades of Pulp Fiction!
Cade was one of the greatest collegiate QBs I have seen in person. He was the equivalent of Caleb last year. He took a UCLA team with a lousy D and almost put them in the NC game. I love it that Brandon A (my favorite all time Bruin) decided to bring politics into the UCLA locker room just prior to the Miami game, divided the team, and Bob Toledo did not know how to handle it. A hurricane delayed the Miami game to the last game of the year and all UCLA had to to was win and it… Read more »
The Brad Melsby non-catch that day was legendary! Love the mere thought of it.
ASU’s Ray Anderson slammed for Big 12, West Virginia comments: ‘Lack of class’ Jeremy Cluff (Arizona Republic) — The Arizona State University leadership isn’t exactly making a good first impression in the Big 12. The university, which will be leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12 in 2024, is being slammed for comments made by Athletic Director Ray Anderson on Saturday. The comments? “I promise I’m not going to Morgantown,” Anderson said in reference to the home of the West Virginia Mountaineers, who are a current member of the Big 12. “I’m going to sign that to Jean Boyd (deputy AD). He… Read more »
The president of ASU is an idiot of the greatest kind. He supported tennis Larry to the end.
Report: Stanford Possibly Moving to ACC Is Subject of ‘Smoke’ After Pac-12 Defections
Timothy Rapp (B/R) — The growing list of Pac-12 defections may soon have another addition.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel appeared on The Pat McAfee Show Monday and said there’s growing buzz that Stanford could be the latest departure, with the ACC looming.
McAfee — “There has been some Stanford to the ACC smoke that has emerged.
“All four teams in the Pac-12 are still together but they are exploring other options”
bleacherreport.com
From The Clemson Wire 2 days ago, “News & Observer reporter Andrew Carter believes that a merger is now unlikely, as an ACC/Pac-12 merger would’ve cost ACC schools between $1-3 million per year in TV revenue, stating that “no remaining P12 school brought value to the league.”
But Florida St and Clemson are not happy with their TV deal and may bolt to SEC. The ACC without its 2 marquee teams doesn’t have much value either. Pac4/ACC could end up with a refrigerator full of stale leftovers.
Frankly, I don’t see why STAN is possibly barking up the ACC’s tree. The ACC has a horrible TV contract, and burdensome ironclad GOR requirements, all lasting through 2036, with all the best teams wanting to split for the SEC or B1G. STAN must view the Mountain West as simply too low rent to become partnered with. It’s that kind of hubris laid bare that has the Pac at only four teams now. Ironically, STAN has always been viewed as a school that is literally afraid of too much football success, which runs counter to their idealized concept of themselves.… Read more »
See my post below. Stanford has to land somewhere. And they will want to stay major – so the ACC makes sense, unless the Pac 4 can expand out to a new Pac 10 or 12 or 16. Not certain where Cal ends up.
Why would STAN ever sign a GOR deal with the 2,000 mile away ACC when all the best teams in the ACC already want out but are trapped by an unbreakable and insanely expensive GOR? Doesn’t make any sense to me, but the geniuses at STAN are probably way ahead of my thinking.
With the massive turmoil in CFB now, there’s all kinds of finger-pointing towards the various causes and guilty parties. Outside of basic geography, time zones, weather, lifestyle differences and distractions in the West, and some destructive individuals like Larry Scott who may as well be burned at the stake, who were the true villains? The passive, egotistical, snooty, dumb Pac-12 presidents sure didn’t help. Progress combined with change often equals pain and upheaval. Since CFB has primarily been a game of regional matchups and rivalries (except for USC/ND), undergoing such a massive geographical and financial personality change has been a… Read more »
It’s a classic example of the dawn of a new era. There are those stuck in the past and refuse to change. Then there are those that change, adapt, and recognize new opportunities. USC will still have the only two rivalries that matter. Cal-USC game used to be a bigger deal 50 years ago, not anymore.
I wonder if STAN will be able to drag the moribund Bears to wherever they go, if they leave the Pac?
I wouldn’t want that burden to be honest. CAL is insufferable with elitism and only interested in their own politics that controls everything they do. The priority CAL puts on its sports program, they would be good partners with the MWC. But again, they would be “snob members there”.
Good verbal nail in CAL’s failed elitist coffin!
It’s time they joined a conference where they can win something, instead of just asking UCLA to pay for their football shoes.
Saw a great name for the tax UCLA is having to pay Cal (and it will be the max – I think $10 million a year)- Calimony!.
CAL and UCLA deserve each other. Two peas in a pod in many ways.
I love that UCLA is strapped with Calimony, but wonder how long that will stand now that the Pac-4 is barely breathing. Seems to me like UCLA may have caught a break here, but I don’t really have a clue about that.
But I have enjoyed watching both STAN and CAL do absolutely nothing as the world has imploded around them. Interesting approach, especially since one can afford it, and the other has to beg UCLA for stay afloat money they don’t even deserve.
I don’t see much interest in the Bay Area for either team. They already have driven out the Raiders and A’s. Cal can drop football and still have the UCLA subsidy to pay off their debt. There may be more support for nonrevenue sports at Stanford than football, but they have to pay for it some how.
If CAL or STAN drops football, that’ll lead to some eternally bad developments based on other schools which have done the same, and come to severely regret it later.
Football, whether a school is good or bad at it, is like a strange, wonderful glue that can serve to bind a university and its alumni together. At least that’s my take.
This steroid-enhanced conference realignment climate we find ourselves in is testing the basic importance of CFB to the country’s very sports platform as I see things.
Allen, Zero chance either drops football. Stanford has such a large endowment and strong alumni support for Olympic and female sports that football is a necessary evil. They cannot lose 85 male scholarships without reducing female scholarships. Will not happen. Cal has the same problem – it is a powerhouse in Olympic sports, i.e. Cal won the NCAA men’s swimming championship in 2023. And Cal has a huge athletic department budget hamstrung by the way they financed the Jeff Tedford stadium remodel. Hard to remember but when Aaron Rodgers was at Cal, Cal was competing for the national championship in… Read more »
The beyond disastrous CAL stadium retro-rebuild cost is a classic example of a deal that would bankrupt anyone not printing their own money. I have a massively different view of CAL football than you. Aaron Rodgers aside, CAL football usually totally stinks, unless bottom-feeding is your thing. You probably picked the best CAL team in the last 50 years. Aside from that, they are mostly inept and live for beating USC every ten years in OT. Clay’s loss to CAL in the Coliseum 15-14 in 2018 was a freakin’ nightmare. That was one of my lowest days as a Trojan… Read more »
Cal has 13 men’s and 15 women’s sports. If they drop football they would have to drop 2-3 women’s teams or add some other men’s team. They are still getting $10 million from Ruins to pay for what’s left. The leftists would be very happy to see football go away.
Hey Allen ,hope you are having a good summer during the mayhem that is college football. I have read countless stories about the general chaos surrounding realignment as well as the demise of the Pac-12. I will miss the regional aspect of the game & the rivalries that go with it. Hopefully some of those games can be restored. At the same time I am looking forward to the new matchups. Seeing OSU, PSU, and MI should be must see tv. IMO there aren’t many white hats in this entire affair. But boy are there lots of guys in black… Read more »
Well-stated T5! Lots of truth to what you say. Like you, I’m getting up there in age now, and while I will miss some regional match-ups and traditions, I don’t see why many can’t still be maintained, as USC is even doing with ND on a cross-country basis. There’s no reason for the Apple Cup, the Civil War, or Bedlam, or many other tasty rivalries to end IMO. In fact, now we have BYU and UTAH coming back. It’ll all work out to be better in the end I think because of the increased number of better matchups between better… Read more »
And then there are the SEC teams like Alabama scheduling Chatanooga. But that is a whole different conversation.
The true villains are the one’s who hired Larry Scott and bought into his baloney. should have fired him and themselves when DIRECTV refused to include the PAC-12 network. It all went spiraling down after that and UCLA chancellor Gene Block who was the chairman of the Presidents committee on the PAC-12 operations (Larry’s boss) just rubber stamped everything Larry wanted. When you have people like that in charge, who needs enemies to sabotage any possibility of success? Block probably got F’s in any business classes he ever took.
The Pac-12 (remember those days?) was paying $696,000 per month for its San Francisco office, per John Canzano.
Can anyone imagine giving the okay for such a ridiculously obscene and inflated expense for a conference that was unable to support itself without using conference MVP USC as its literal bank.
Jam, I think it is a proven fact that those of academia do not take business classes. Those are for the little people.
Jamaica, you NAILED it. I do not blame Scott for being a conman who fleeced a set of suckers. Scott did nothing illegal. He simply told those high IQ academic idiots what they wanted to hear and they paid him a king’s ransom. I do not think ASU’s President ever figured it out.
The preseason Coaches Poll was released today. The defending champ Bulldogs received 61 of the 66 first-place votes.
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Alabama
4. Ohio State
5. LSU
6. USC
7. Penn State
8. Florida State
9. Clemson
10. Tennessee
11. Washington
12. Texas
13. Notre Dame
14. Utah
15. Oregon
16. TCU
17. Kansas State
18. Oregon State
19. Oklahoma
20. North Carolina
21. Wisconsin
22. Ole Miss
23. Tulane
24. Texas Tech
25. Texas A&M
This is a first in a decade that Clemson was not ranked in the top 4-5, simply based on their reputation. The Pac-12 is represented well going into their final get together.
Touched by Mistake
You can reverse your “thumb” just by hitting the other one, which I did for you.
The Kommisioner of the PAC4 Konference announced the 2024 schedule for the fall sports. Each team in the league will a home and home series against the other teams and 4 non league games starting with football. The hope is to lure traditional rivals back to the pac for yearly rivalry games. (Although Cal and Stanford are traditionally considered rivals) Boy George has promised better compensation to non league teams in an attempt to bring in competitive games. That’s the news I just made up, but what else can they do?
How will the conference championship be done, by division or best records. Asking for a friend.
Nice stats. Looks like the big dog is coming to the BIG! ✌🏈. Lets take care of business this season first.
John, will we have a contest again this year. Looking forward to it!
Hi Steveg: Yes, we will be having the contest again. Do you (or anyone else) have any suggestions for any improvements or changes?
Just fix it so I don’t lose and I’ll be happy! Nothing to really change, it is always fun.
What a statement of readiness for USC especially when people are trying to look this league switch as a problem for the coaches. USC has Rose Bowl victories against the best B1G teams in good weather. People are worried that cold weather will change that, but they tend to forget USC played games in the Pacific Northwest where snow also happens. My thought is, in bad weather both teams have to contend. The school with the best roster should win.
Isn’t funny that this train got rolling because the rest of the Pac12 pushed back against the idea of USC getting a larger slice of the Pac12 pie than other conference opponents that pulled in far less revenue – like Oregon State and Wazzu? In the end, you either hold the chips or you don’t — and those low-revenue schools have been playing chips they didn’t have all along. Now they can’t survive the call, and they are going to take a massive haircut in the Mountain West, or whatever new conference forms when the dust settles. The party is… Read more »
I may be wrong but the LA schools did get a larger cut for a number of years until it became the PAC-12 and then settled on equal shares? Anyway, USC never did to the PAC what Texas did to the Big 12 in taking as much as they wanted which was why Nebraska & later Colorado left. But the party was over when USC got slammed by the NCAA in penalties and the other PAC schools looked he other way or even agreed with the penalties. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you and get away with it… Read more »
Rock, this isn’t a case of video killing the radio star. This is straight up incompetence on the part of the league presidents and their puppet commissioners. They had a good thing going and they killed it. TV will probably be cast as the villain, but the lack of media savvy really shows in the decisions made by the school presidents.
Yeah, Rialto, honestly, the Pac12 death reeks of suicide. At a time when the Pac12’s bell cow was hobbled, the conference did EVERYTHING wrong almost to the point of it seeming deliberate. You can only do that so long before market forces correct you. Or, you die a painful death, a la Wazzu and the Beavers.
On a lazy and hot Sunday afternoon in Frisco, TX. In reading the SC sites today several things stood out: First, just as GT reports below, it appears that the remaining Pac4 will attempt to some type of merger or alignment with the Mountain West. It does make a lot of sense, with the most rational solution for the Pac4 to expand by taking in six or eight members, but that will cause problems for the remaining members. My guess is given the time pressure (and I do not buy that a merger will take a lot of time), I… Read more »
Apparently the Mountain West and Pac 4 are in talks regarding a merger. A merger would be quite complicated. The issues are Football and Basketball Payouts, exit fees to leave a conference, current TV deals and the Pac12 Networks. A deal could take months. Just to put in perspective, SDSU gets $5 million a year for 3 more years in its TV deal but gets $6 million a year for 6 years for getting to the basketball finals.
One thing I haven’t heard any speculation over is what happens the Rose Bowl matchup. The P12/B10 matchup is now more dead than ever. They should just try to get the best matchup possible now, regardless of conference affiliation.
With a 12 team playoff coming, the old bowl system is over. Rose Bowl gets a quarterfinal game in 2024 and 2025 on January 1.
https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football-playoff-expanded-12-013800838.html
Gaging how teams achieve playoff status by on field performance in new system, the polls, AP and Coaches become meaningless.
The new super conferences should mandate that SEC teams must play 9 conference games. Then the playing field is level…somewhat.
And no FCS nonconference games especially in November! Alabama has Chattanooga November 18!
So a year from now the Big 10 will have 18 teams and the Big 12 will have 16 teams. Is it time for name changes? 🤔 How about the Big 12 could take back the Southwestern Conference. Big 10 could become the Northern Pacific Conference (from the now defunct railroad). Oh, and the SEC could have 18 teams in 2024 from the Atlantic coast to Austin Tx. For fun search wikipedia for “List of defunct college football conferences”. Quite a list, the Pacific 12 joins a long list and won’t be the last.
Lincoln Riley on UW/ORE to the B1G — “I just want to say, our university and our leadership made the decision to go into the future with the Big Ten after this season because it was the best thing for USC. It was not contingent on any other schools or anything else. We don’t make decisions here at USC based on anyone else. We do what’s best for our university and what’s best for our student-athletes. So my reaction today is I have no reaction. We’re trying to win the Pac-12 and then we’ll deal with the Big Ten when… Read more »
Perfect answer, laser focused. No distractions for Riley and USC Football. It’s only appropriate that we smash through our last (and maybe everyone’s) PAC12 season.
I’m sure when AD Bone was still here his views were no doubt shared with Riley about keeping the West Coast recruitment in favor of USC with Oregon not in the scenario as part of the same conference. I don’t see Eugene Oregon being in the same population league as the others. Seattle yes, LA of course. Oregon willing to come in at half the revenue and even then it’s small market pull probably wouldn’t cover that.
The most interesting sports story in 2023 has one or two final acts to play out. What happens to the four remaining teams? From a practical standpoint, they will need to get into a conference in order to schedule for 2024 (one year away). I doubt it will be possible to schedule for 2024 without a conference. SC and UCLA will have 9 B1G games and its non-conference already set. Same with Oregon and WA. Utah, AZ, ASU and CO has its non-conference games set and will have 9 B12 games. All other potential teams will likewise have their schedules… Read more »
You left out another option, they could go independent which is a possibility for Stanford. CAL being as Woke as it is unlikely to find a home…surely not in the Midwest (Heartland) or they could cancel Football.
One on this blog mentioned the Grant Money CAL & Stanford get from .GOV and other sources, I highly doubt either would be willing to share with ANY conference.
Their choices are somewhat limited.
I doubt either would humble them selfs to join the MW.
Stanford and Cal think they would be slumming it to join the MW. They think the super conferences as the nouveau riche. Their arrogance and wokeness will leave them high and dry. Stanfords claim to fame was all those Olympic sports that they excelled at. What happens to them without football to subsidize. I can see Cal going the way of the other UC schools (except the Ruins), the Athletic Dept is burning money as it is. Stanford can always play Notre Dame, Army, UConn and UMass.
Stanford could go independent in football and probably will and might try align themselves with another conference on their Olympic sports. But Cal I believe will look at dropping football. They have nothing to gain keeping it.
What a rush the last couple of days. Did anyone really expect all of this change to happen so quickly? Kind of feel bad for the Cougs and Beavers. Especially when the Beavers are state champs 2 years running. Did B1G take the wrong Oregon team? I hope they find a way to keep the Pac going. Not sure how to do it yet or if it can be done at all. I still say it all boils down to Larry Scott and the conference presidents as who destroyed the Pac-12.
Yes, arrogance and an over inflated opinion of its worth got Scott hired and he took advantage by slowly milking the league of its financial stability along with those same Presidents & BOD’s thinking they don’t have to invest in building their football programs enough and play inferior football. These administrators only cared about holding their hands out for what money they could grab and not be honest in “you get what you put into it” policy. George really never had a chance to bail out the conference. The PAC 12 administrators sabotaged its sports future.
The Big 12 has already officially expanded to include ARIZ, ASU and UTAH.
Pac-12 is now the Pac-4 and needs to join the Mountain West or AAC.
When my wife and I moved from the west coast to Indy 3 years ago to be near children I thought I was leaving USC and Oregon behind. One son graduated from USC and I lived near Oregon for 20 years. The pac 12 network is good but nothing like watching the games in person. LOL…… now between Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, ND, Michigan, Mich St, Oh St, Northwestern…..all within reasonable driving distance of 2-3 hours or less…..I’ll see just as many good games involving USC and Oregon as you folks in LA…….at a big midwest style discount. By the way…..snow… Read more »
At some point I might be sentimental about pac12 going away, but right now I’m just glad we are on the right side of the implosion.
I think I’ve already been through the sentimental stage. But I do still feel sorry for both WSU and OSU because I believe they did the best with what they had in view of their more remote locations and size. STAN and CAL can fend for themselves as far as I’m concerned.
I go to 1-2 Coug games a year, and most likely will continue to. It will be strange to see Colorado St, UNLV, air force, etc instead of Pac12 schools. One of the best games I’ve ever been to was a Carson Palmer OT loss to Gesser and the Cougs. Cougs went to rose bowl and we smashed Iowa in orange bowl.
Remember the days of 1998 when WSU lost to MICH in a great Rose Bowl game, 21-16. Ryan Leaf was looking pretty good before he crashed and burned in the NFL, and several times thereafter.
Oregon and Washington are lucky the Big 10 took them but it’s not surprising they did. As an SC alum, I was hoping it was going to be just us and UCLA but I’m fine with Oregon and Washington joining us.
I see ASU and Utah going to the Big 12 .
Cal, Stanford, WSU, and Oregon State should join the Mountain West. That’s not a bad conference given the level of play from these schools in recent years.
Interesting to watch this all play out.
Stewart Mandel again — “The whole thing is sad, surreal and just downright bizarre. Arizona State and Utah clearly don’t want to go to the Big 12. Oregon, according to multiple people with knowledge of its deliberations, loved the idea of trying to become the top dog in a smaller conference. Now it’s going to be one of 18 and have to compete for Playoff berths with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, USC and others. “But in the end, all of them felt they had no choice. And now Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State are left behind. “The Pac-12, like the Southwest Conference, the WAC… Read more »
Why ORE and UW? And Why Now? Stewart Mandel (The Athletic) — “I had been told, before the TV deal disappointed everyone, that Oregon was actually very excited about being possibly the top dog in a small conference because we’re going to a CFP format where if you win the Pac-12, you’re going to the Playoff. Obviously, circumstances changed and it became a little more of a tough decision, but I think long term if your choice is one of the two most thriving conferences in college sports versus one that’s hanging on by a thin, thin, thin thread, you want… Read more »
Report: ARIZ, ASU and UTAH Will Definitely Join the Big 12 In 2024 In Next 24 Hours Pending Approval Adam Wells (B/R) — The disintegration of the Pac-12 could be getting closer with Arizona, Arizona State and Utah set to be the latest schools to leave the conference. Per Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah will join the conference pending “formal approval in the next 24 hours. This comes on the heels of the Big Ten formally accepting Oregon and Washington into the conference in a vote Friday afternoon. This has been a monumental two weeks for the Pac-12,… Read more »
What conference? The Pac? is DOA!
At the conclusion of the ‘23 season the PAC will no longer exist.
four schools do not make a conference.
Utah and ASU have formally applied to join the Big 12. The Big 12 is holding a conference call tonight to discuss. Arizona has been accepted by the Big 12 but the Arizona Regents (who supervise both ASU and UA) have not given their blessings as of yet. It is understood that the Board of Regents want both schools in the Big 12 together. This is forcing the Big 12 to consider Utah as well since this would keep the number of teams an even number, which makes scheduling easier. Apparently BYU does not have the cache that they thought… Read more »
I read where the ASU president was a huge supporter of Larry Scott, so now he is dragging his feet admitting he has to follow AZ to the Big12.
A BYU v Utah conference game/rivalry/playoff spot? What’s not to like?
Funny how this is all working out, with some definite silver linings as always.
The B1G’s gonna have to get used to it
Johnny Manziel tried to kill himself, but the gun misfired… Johnny Manziel says in new Netflix documentary he bought a gun and attempted suicide in 2016. The episode comes out Aug. 8 and dives into the world of “Johnny Football” — from Manziel’s meteoric rise at Texas A&M where he won the Heisman Trophy in 2012 to being drafted No. 22 overall by the Browns in 2014 to his eventual fall from grace that included multiple arrests and his eventual 2016 release. Manziel — “I had planned to do everything I wanted to do at that point in my life,… Read more »
I’m up here in WSU country and listening to local sports talk. Little hope of WSU staying in a power 5 conference. Only hope seems to be a merger with ACC.
Another amazing wrinkle.
Since FSU, MIA and CLEM all desperately want out of the ACC, how would that possibly work? Also, instead of giving itself an easier road to the playoffs, WSU’s path would even become more difficult.
I think whatever’s left of the Pac and MWC should immed combine and form the Mountain Pac.
One group of 5 school is going to get in the playoff every year with the expansion. Maybe the PacWest can position themselves as the best group of 5 conference. Adding the remains Pac12 would up its brand. Seems like only possibility.
You think Stan and Cal will get into the B1G?
Maybe, at little to no media share. Neither should care with their huge endowments, especially Stanford. If I were AD of either school I would ask to be let it with just a tiny media share. Better to be in big 10 for 5 million than in the mountain west for the same share.
STAN just issued a statement on X that they are analyzing all options.
STAN comes up as a possible independent in lots of conversations. I have no idea if this is actually financially viable for them, regardless of their wealth.
While Notre Dame has ties with the ACC for non-football sports, there doesn’t appear to be a conference out there for STAN that makes sense for all but football to join.
Ya wonder, what have they been doing the last 6 months. They don’t have something figured out yet? With all their brains? ha
Notre Dame reportedly remains uninterested in joining Big Ten amidst potential further expansion
Robert Bondy (Spartan’s Wire) — It’s been a wild 24 hours of potential conference expansion for the Big Ten — but one thing remains the same: Notre Dame doesn’t want to join the league.
ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel reported on Thursday that “any potential changes in the Big Ten are not expected to impact Notre Dame’s view on independence.” So that would mean that the Big Ten shouldn’t plan on Notre Dame changing its mind anytime soon.
yahoo.com
Love the pic, good work.
What They Are Saying The Athletic — Washington State University president Kirk Schulz and WSU director of athletics Pat Chun released the following statement Friday afternoon: “We are disappointed with the recent decisions by some of our Pac-12 peers. While we had hoped that our membership would remain together, this outcome was always a possibility, and we have been working diligently to determine what is next for Washington State Athletics. We’ve prepared for numerous scenarios, including our current situation. With exceptional student-athletes, a strong Cougar tradition and incredible support from our fans, donors and alumni, we will chart the best… Read more »
I wish I had posted this information. But my point was that the top 25 isn’t big enough for USC’s tag along. (Which makes me smile)
Big10 schedule is going to be crazy. This year Mich, Ohio St, Penn St, USC, Wash in top 10. Wisc, Oregon in top 25. Iowa and the gutties knocking on the door.
So the T shirt, USC Pac12 Farewell Tour, that I got is not so special. Who knew in 3 months every team in the conference will be doing a farewell tour!
USC was at least the undisputed leader of the revolt. History will always remember us this way. Small solace I suppose.
It’s also clear that the horrific illegal sanctions USC was saddled with over Bush’s parents and their rent agreement with a felonious agent eventually led to the merciless destruction of the Pac, which always cheered USC’s demise. Karma baby!
Absolutely, Allen. And if there is a headstone somewhere that says “PAC-12,” I will be happy and proud to piss on that grave!
The whole collapse of the Pac is just an amazing example of institutions carelessly aligned and led in ways that eventually undermine their entire existence, quite fast I might add. Boy, did the House of Cards ever come down quickly at the end! All it needed was a trigger point. The Pac literally killed itself. USC just pulled that trigger. Looking around the web, I get the impression heavy-monied STAN isn’t happy with this situation at all. Yet STAN loved that USC got taken to the cleaners by the NCAA. Sorry Cardinal. It didn’t have to be this way, and… Read more »
I got one to that I was going to wear to the Oregon / Utah game.
these shirts are running very small too.
I bought a PAC-12 shirt with all 12 schools on it. Collectors item already.
Well, it appears that the Pac is now done. Canzano wrote that the Apple offer expires today. Every report is that AZ, OR and WA have all exited. Leaving the Pac 6 of Utah, ASU, Washington State, Oregon State, Cal and Stanford. I doubt such a conference is viable. So, the guy who was primarily behind the hiring and retention of Larry Scott, the ASU president Crow, gets to keep his job despite having led the conference to extinction. Assuming the reports are accurate, I think Utah either gets in the B12 or goes independent; Stanford will go independent, and… Read more »
Not a bad idea about STAN and CAL joining the IVY. I have no idea if that’s possible, but does anyone know what either even really wants to do at this stage? It’s always been a mysterious aspect of this entire Pac explosion.
Things are happening so fast at this stage that little would surprise me. UTAH does what now?
The Fate of Cal and Stanford will be interesting. I have a feeling they will think they are too good for a Mountain West merger. Ivy league sounds more their speed.
I have heard Utah is going Big12 which is great for them. That idiot at ASU needs fired like right now.