550 COMMENTS

  1. 1
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    Ok here is my theory on what the plan is (now). Buyout for 4 Mt West teams just dropped substantially due to pending lawsuit. USU paying their own exit fee. This frees up cash.

    Next add UNLV (that’s it for Mt West adds)

    Add Gonzaga – rumor is their media value without football is $15 million have to do it. The WCC buyout is $1-$2 million (this is the number I have seen floating around)

    Add UCONN all sports. Not sure what Big East buyout is for Bball? No FB buyout.

    Go get the best media deal we can (Amazon/TNT/CW/Apple) go around Fox and ESPN

    IF (big IF) we can put together a $12-$15 million dollar media deal together circle back to the AAC. More cash on hand and can now negotiate in good faith on buyouts. Also now the overall strength of the conference is better than it was last week.

    Add Tulane/Memphis/USF/UTSA.

    That’s 14 and call it a day. 8 west / 6 east helps with travel and only a 5year GOR. Build brands for 2030/2031 when the reset button gets pushed.

    Thoughts?

    • 4
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      Probably pretty close to the best they can do if the lawsuit cripples the MWC and frees up cash. UCONN seems out of place, not sure where they actually fit in. AAC schools may reconsider once the PAC can revisit the payout help, and Gonzaga is aboard. I would go slowly there though since those schools all think they re in line to get into the Big12 eventually. Push them to pay their way and have some skin in the game if they join.
      Any conference media deals will be where the PAC12 must differentiate from all others going forward. If the PAC survives and is to thrive, it will need to create a new “ecosystem” as a counter to what is currently happening with ESPN/FOX. And this new “ecosystem” needs to be demonstrably better, and adaptable to attract other schools, and withstand the paid critics who will dismiss it. I don’t quite know how it will look, but I’m guessing this is where the forward-thinking concepts will become more apparent. Apple/Amazon/CW/TNT/Nvidia all have the ability to jointly over-run the monopolized CFP power structure, and OSU is in the front seat of the process. Yesterday was an unpleasant day to endure, but I’m expecting that there is more to the poker game than meets the eye and Gould may have a media deal already in the late stages that is going to be the ace played at the right time for maximum effect. Hopefully.

    • Gross but on the bright side if they build that conference it will be even easier for me to stop caring. Honestly, once they struck out and had to go back to the MWC my interest went away.

      Now I’d probably be supportive of adding UNLV/Hawaii and going with a truly geographic alignment. But 14 schools is just stupid. 12 was already stupid. 14?

      Honestly, why even call them conferences at this point?

  2. 1
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    I know people want to keep it a “West conference” but media wants nationwide so all TV windows can be filled. If we want to build our brand for 2030 we need to be in a “coast to coast” conference. It sucks I hate it but if we are going to get a seat at the big boy table in 2030/2031 this is the path.

  3. Boise is leading the coin in yards per rush at 8.7 OSU is at 5.1. Our rush defense needs to get a lot better by then as well as the pass game because we aren’t going to be able to outrun Boise btw things are looking right now.

    • Also have one of the worst sack rates in the country. teamrankings.com has really good stats broken down into specific categories for anyone interested in looking up where we stand and how opponents look as well.

  4. 1
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    How’s this gonna work for baseball? As of right now only SDSU and Fresno have baseball programs.

    Pac-4? Gonna play everyone home and home 4.game series?

    • The two teams speculated to be next to join (Gonzaga and UNLV) both have baseball, so that gets you to at least six. Not ideal but maybe you could manage to build a robust non-con schedule from there?

      • If this is the new Pac in baseball…..

        OSU
        WSU
        Fresno
        SDSU
        Gonzaga
        UNLV

        There is no excuse to not win the conference every year. The RPI probably wouldn’t be very good either.

        • Play a lot of though non con series. They are already doing some of this. At least in baseball good schools are willing to play other good schools.

          • Boise St. had planned a return of baseball for the 2020 season. They had a team and uniforms and everything!!! They were going to share the Boise Hawks stadium. But, when covid hit they just decided to shutter it again. Perhaps, a return of baseball is part of the PAC12 agreement?

  5. 5
    1

    Wow, UNLV QB is redshirting the rest of the season and transferring because (he claims) he isn’t getting the NIL money he was promised.

    How would it feel to be ranked for the first time ever, then have something like that happen? You have to think in some way this will make them consider a PAC move even more.

  6. 4
    4

    If unlv and AFA wanna diddle fuck around?

    Just invite Nevada to get to 8 and be done with it.

    I could use an excuse to go to Reno every other year.

    Do it for Whiskey

  7. The combination of the UNLV committing to the MW and then not committing to the MW, the delay in their decision to either jump to the Pac or not, and now the fact that they couldn’t get their NIL crew to pay their star QB recruit – does this all mean that UNLV leadership is a disaster? I know literally zero about UNLV as a school or athletic program, but is the Pac sure they want to let this leadership group have a voting spot in this conference?

    • 1
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      Great question. There are wise guys in Vegas but they aren’t at the helm of the UNLV athletic department to be sure. And if they were, do we really want that? Is the Vegas tv market worth the potential point shaving scandal that will be all but assured? I’m cooling on UNLV. Let Gloria deal with UNLV point shaving scandals and sports bookies interfering with her conference sports.

      Hold at 7 in football until the lawsuit is negotiated and settled, then pivot back to Tulane/Memphis as #8,#9 football. Hold at 9 for a true round robin schedule.
      If you can’t get Tulane/Memphis, bring in Wyoming and UCONN football only to get to 9 (but with basketball schedule tie-ins).
      Add Gonzaga for basketball as #10.
      Go get a media deal for 5 years and crush it as the best of the rest in the 2 major sports.

    • 1
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      I dunno, there’s a lot of he said/he said in the qb thing at unlv…according to more than one report when they started having success he hired an agent and asked for more money.

  8. I’m watching an interesting video from a Memphis honk and he is raging that Memphis missed the boat badly by not joining the PAC. But he is quite informative about the general administrative mindset of Memphis. It sounds very much like a small minded OSU circa 1993, and they don’t have an on campus stadium, and a woe is me mentality that affects a lot of their decisions. It’s worth a listen.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om9x91f_IYg&t=311s

  9. 15

    Excuse my ignorance as I was mostly Los Angeles Unified School District schooled but isn’t UCONN in Massachusetts? Why in the world would they want to travel to the west coast and why in the world would we want to travel to the east coast. Would someone explain this but please use crayons.

  10. Now UNLVs starting RB is planning to leave the team over unpaid NIL.
    No wonder UNLV is holding out on both the MW and Pac12. They’re broke and need as much money as they can squeeze out of us.

  11. 1
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    Future of P12 hinges on UNLV decision. Then focus will be to win lawsuit, secure media deal, and eventually expand into Texas and AAC depending on remaining funds. Concerned UNLV has too much leverage and will need P12 to cover all costs and accept Nevada. Wildcard is UNLV to AAC. This is a real possibility. If UNLV and Nevada are added, there’s a chance P12 adds SJSU and UH in order to eliminate MWC threat. If UNLV declines, things could get extremely dicey

  12. 3
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    Week 0 for 2025 PAC12 football presented by CW features Hawaii @UCONN for a conference showcase of 2 emerging football powerhouses…a rivalry spanning 6000 miles and about 6 months in the making!

  13. UNLV plot thickens. Some sources say he didn’t get what he was promised. UNLV says his agent made demands that were interpreted as violations of NCAA rules.

    Sounds like someone made a verbal agreement they couldn’t back up.

  14. Dellenger reporting that Air Force and UNLV have decided to stay with the MW, with “significant” financial incentives coming their way.
    I guess Hawaii doesnt count as a full member being football only, so even though they have 7 teams currently, they only have 6 in the sense of needing 8 to form a conference.

    PAC12 still sits at 7. Also means that adding Hawaii doesn’t help our situation.

    https://x.com/RossDellenger/status/1839145709813006660?t=rv3ISh3IdT1jcuFjBqjgjg&s=19

    • They’re gonna have to take and pay for SJSU, UNM, or Texas State/North Texas. Something stupid like that.

      This Navigate firm sure is earning their $

    • 3
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      Sad that we are getting out bid by G5 conferences for teams that nobody should be in a bidding war over.
      So we’ve struck out with Phase 2 and Phase 3 attempts. Is it fair to be critical of this stupid multi-phase rollout yet?

      I’m with Whiskey. Go get Nevada and be done with it. MW doesn’t have bottomless pockets to keep throwing incentives at teams to stay.

      • 4
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        Nevada is off the table. All remaining MWC teams are signing tomorrow. P12 options are dwindling and there is little chance MWC will dissolve thus exit fees are getting paid and good chance poaching fee will be to. Cash P12 needs to get teams is dwindling. We continue to get played and have literally zero pull. The primary reason to add USU was to get UNLV and to ultimately dissolve MWC. The phased approach has been a disaster and Gould continues to be way over her head. Sorry but this is getting ugly guys

        • This is the time to make a move, before they sign.
          The report is that UNLV and Air Force were enticed to come back with a signing bonus. All MW are getting a bonus, but it’s weighted much more heavily towards UNLV/AirForce who are getting $25-30m to sign, while the remaining schools receive a much smaller portion.

          So go talk to either SJSU or Nevada. Ask them if they’re happy to see UNLV/AFA get giant signing bonuses while they receive far less. If SJSU or Nevada threaten to leave the MW, there’s isnt an endless supply of $25-$30m bonus offers to throw at them too.

          • If we wanted those bottom feeders, why didn’t we just offer 8-9 MWC teams in the first place and avoid all the fees. The goal was to build a good conference. Now we’re in a position to over pay for SJSU. What a joke situation.

          • The goal right now is to get to 8 teams. The Pac has 7.
            The 8th will be the most difficult to land because everybody know they’re desperate to get it. Plus it helps destabilize the MW.
            Once we’re at 8, the pressure is off and the Pac can start to get picky again.

      • We aren’t really bidding for them. That’s why. UNLV misplayed their hand by turning down the original PAC offer. Now they get nothing in the MWC.

        • UNLV played their hand way better than P12. They get a huge payday by leveraging P12 offer while P12 again strikes out and continues to be turned down by G5 schools. This plays right into the narrative that we don’t belong in P4. Next week Tulane and Memphis will be getting a huge payday from AAC and other potential P12 options will be snapped up by MWC and AAC. Wouldn’t be surprised to see MWC and AAC merger. I have no faith in Gould. At least our law firm is making $$$

          • So the mwc gets a bouns but they certainly aren’t getting any more in media, intact they are probably going to get less with boise gone. Boise was the only real draw they had. Why would cbs pay for schools nobody is watching? That bouns then mostly covers Afa and unlv, the rest of those schools are fucked when 2026 media rights are negotiated.

  15. Doesn’t the MWC still need to add an additional school to get to 8? Who would that be? Seems odd that some of these schools are electing to stay with a depleted conference that isn’t even compliant for CFP purposes.

    • MW needs to add 2 actually. Because Hawaii doesnt count towards the 8 since theu’re football only.
      At this point the Pac is closer to being at the 8 required.

      • 2
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        Not sure who told you Hawai’i doesn’t count, but they certainly do.

        UCONN also would, as would any football-only add who then plants their Olympics in a conference without football. If AFA left for the AAC, they would probably park their Olympics in the Summit.

  16. 2
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    What’s the rush? Why not wait for a few more months and see who becomes available? Think Utah, BYU, Cal, Stanford. We shouldn’t be talking with Memphis State anyways, screw them.

  17. Despite having prime time competition, the Purdue game did solid ratings (better than UW and ASU, both of whom played P4 non-con games).

    WSU at a later time actually did even better ratings.

    • 4
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      CW seems to have already passed up FS1 who is still using remote commentators at games. I heard the Texas tech – Arizona State commentators were the same ones who called the Portland State – Boise State game the same day. The Big 12 really seems bush league lately. The Kansas vs TCU game this weekend is on ESPN+. If people thought the Pac 12 network was bad try having your games ‘broadcast’ by ESPN+

  18. 1
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    Maybe go get Texas St as #8 and keep fighting MWC in court over the poaching penalty.
    Bring Gonzaga in and sit tight for a while.
    Leave the rest of the MWC to flounder without the key group we already have.

    • The will have the exit fees regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit. That was around $17m per school.
      Then they tacked on an additional $11+ fee for any teams the Pac tries to poach. That’s the part the Pac is arguing as being unenforceable.

      • I know that and what people saying is that the exit fees aren’t enough to pay to keep those schools and it’s not going to be available for a long time because of the suit and that being its point.

  19. 1
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    Take hawaii and it’s over. The mwc now has to fill 2 spots and from where? New Mexico state might want it, and they would be in a position of power knowing the mwc is scrambling. The fact is the mwc is in a worse spot the the pac12 at this point.

  20. 4
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    You know who can break a grant of rights contract? A school who receives $0 compensation in the deal. I hope Barnes and Murthy are having conversations with SMU

  21. Rumor mill has it that MWC is getting signed deals with the remaining MW teams today, so they’ll all be off the table. Seems like maybe that includes Hawai’i, which is odd if they hired folks to lobby to get into the Pac…

    If that’s true, though, that the remaining MW schools are off the table, pretty slim pickings for team #8. Everyone’s got Texas State on their list, don’t know much about them. UTEP? New Mexico State seems worse than Utah State, so I really hope we don’t kick the tires there.

    There’s the thought that the Pac just waits and sees how the dust settles with the lawsuit, but I’m not really holding my breath for that. Seems like the MW is still going to get a big chunk of money, and the Utah State defection and poaching fee lawsuit don’t seem to have crippled the MWC like Gould had hoped.

  22. 7
    1

    i think it was mentioned on Joe Beaver show the other day that it sounds like our 4 new members were the ones responsible for blowing up the low-key multi-phased rollout, and now it has backfired. The 4 schools were unified in desiring to make a public announcement 2 weeks ago for hyping their local fan bases. But in the process, the PAC brass was trying to nail down the Phase 2 elements behind the scenes. In deference to the four new schools, they reluctantly went forward with the Thursday announcement and proceeded with the “Phase 2” language. Unfortunately, we may never know what the true direction was going to be and all other conferences have had time to play defense against any PAC12 advances.
    Be careful not to assign blame to Gould just yet. We are now dealing with new schools that are very excited to be part of the conference, almost too excited and it has nearly submarined us out of the gate. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

  23. 15
    1

    It’s kindof funny that 2 female conference commissioners are in the middle of a dick measuring contest. Turns out it isn’t only guys who do that.

    • Wonder how much of this approach was intentional/strategic vs how much of it was overconfidence and striking out?
      On the one hand, the Pac has whiffed on recruiting what appear to be some of their top targets.
      On the other hand, they’ve now caused one of their main competitors to use up the majority of their existing funds to secure commitments from schools we had no interest in. And with the MW still needing to recruit 2 more schools, what type of funding does that conference still have to work with? That might help us in our negotiations with our next targets, knowing the MW cannot offer a competitve deal?

      Whatever the real answer is, phase II has been far from a smoothe operation when compared to Phase I

      • Good point, NB. Whether intentional or not, the MWC is really hamstrung now from a financial standpoint. My guess is the MWC look to UTEP and Texas State, neither have a massive buyout.

        Depending on the lawsuit regarding the poaching fee, I wouldn’t be surprised to see P12 prioritize Gonzaga for basketball. If you get them locked up, it may make Memphis and Tulane take another look.

        • With the mention of a PE backer, I’m guessing they’re all being promised a lump sum now which added to the exit fees makes it financially difficult in the short term… like the MWC did with UNLV and AFA.

          Regardless, we’re just looking for a bottom-dweller at this point. Hawai’i and UCONN fit the bill, in their current states. I think Texas State can be sneaky good, a lot like Wazzu has always been in their up years. Except, if they get those up years, they’re in a talent-rich region.

          They could have a Boise trajectory in their second decade, depending on coaching stability.

          Aside from that, they’re also a huge school in a desirable market. And I hear they play some pretty good baseball. We can play some spring ball in Texas.

  24. 2
    1

    Air Force doesn’t care about being in a “Power Conference”. UNLV wants to jump directly to the B12 and think taking the big $ bag from MW is all they need to get there by 2030. Hard disagree but is what it is.

    They need to get all the Pac-7 boosters together and find the resources they need to give Memphis, Tulane, USF, and UTSA an offer they cannot refuse. Memphis AD came out and said as much as “just give us the money” in an interview today. Just focus on Memphis and the rest will follow.

    Might you lose some of them by 2030 when the super-conference merge happens? Yup. Definitely. Gotta roll the dice on that one. It’s still absolutely worth it to raise the brand of the PAC to an echelon far above the rest of the G6.

      • Oh… no….
        I see some wealthy boosters are a little upset, and he’s saying he just needs to make it make financial sense (wink,wink) to pull the trigger.

      • Either their strategy in taking such a hard lowball approach and putting them on the spot with only hours to accept or reject was gross incompetence, or part of a more nuanced long-term negotiating strategy that we can’t really grasp as fans on the outside looking in. I think most Beav fans don’t have any confidence in the former, but doesn’t mean it’s as simple as it seems.

      • 2
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        While apparently Gould was powerless to keep the 4 MWC schools from announcing and destroying Phase 2 negotiations so honestly how much should anyone trust her at this point?

        • It seems more plausible that the stayers were going to leak the moves, than the goers wanted to burst out of the closet before reaching a conference quorum. Trust the outsiders less.

    • We only offered Memphis 2.5 million in help to pay their 25 million exit fee. That seems a little low if we were serious about them coming over.

      • 1
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        Travel costs are a thing on slimmer margins.

        Some schools sounded like they didn’t like it.

        Now that they’ve had a taste of acting like tight wads and sticking their noses in the air, maybe they understand what killed the old Pac and why adopting their ways will lead to the same outcome.

        If you’re building something, and you have cost overruns, it’s better to just pay up, rather than losing time.

  25. 2
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    Sac State just announced plan for a new stadium in hope of luring a Pac 12 bid. Has local political support lined up already. Pretty good market size, what with an NBA franchise

  26. Isn’t their coach the Navy guy? I’ll go with that. & I’m not keen about begging the Texas etc. schools whilst. they raise their ante.

  27. Couple interesting thoughts:

    Canzano has an article up suggesting the PAC only sorta wanted Memphis/Tulane/UNLV and says the vote to extend an offer to Tulane/Memphis wasn’t even unanimous. He further implied given the lethargic effort used to attract UNLV/Tulane/Memphis, how much of it was just seeing if they could get someone for cheap and if not destabilize the competition a bit. AAC and MW promised a ton a $$ to schools to stick around.

    That said, I’m not sure any of it matters. The TV rights will be somewhere between $5 and $15M regardless of who we get. Lets assume we get $15M. Right now we spend about $90M on athletics with about $35M coming from media contracts. In two years when the Pac 12 money runs out, we’re gonna need a booster to commit to about $25M a year or there will be draconian budget cuts in athletics. I don’t think a move to a power conference or some breakaway group will be helped by cutting spending to G5 levels.

      • 4
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        So they would owe $22.5 mill over the next 5 years back to AAC. If they join the PAC, they will likely get at minimum $15/year. They are only getting around $7 mil/year from AAC currently. They turned down a net gain of $5.5 mil at the low end to stay.

        They were told to stay by someone. Or they can’t do simple math. Travel wouldn’t increase that much since they are in the middle of the country to begin with. South Florida may have had a more legit concern with travel costs, but I still think it is a play to hold out and see if PAC12 ups the assistance.
        Double it to $5 mil for Memphis, Tulane, UTSA and drop USF, add Texas St for cheaper than USF and see what happens.
        Then get Gonzaga, go get your new media deala nd push for at least $20-$25 mil/school in some form of an alliance between CW, Apple, TNT. But for sure steer clear of ESPN and Fox.

          • 2
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            We may get a similar deal to the Apple deal for more than $15m, if we get subscription cuts.

            Who they’ve been talking to about media rights should be a fun story, once we get to that stage.

          • I think the Apple deal is part of the clue for which schools may truly be in play. Large alumni bases with land grants and investments into football facilities etc make an Apple deal worth trying if the schools have those elements but maybe struggle for “traditional market appeal”.
            I think Texas St has to be involved and are going to be similar to UCF eventually. UCF has an enormous alum base and has parlayed football investment successfully.
            I don’t know where Tulane or Memphis fall in these categories though.

  28. 1
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    The MW teams signed an MOU last week. We saw how long that lasted as UNLV was shopping around for a new deal this week.
    What makes this newly signed MOU any different, other than the terms of the MOU are less public this time.
    They announced how they plan to split up media money, but they didn’t list the contingencies around their MOU.
    And if they can’t get 2 additional teams and a new grant of rights signed by all parties, that MOU is a meaningless piece of paper with a handful of names scribbled on it.

    • Reportedly…
      “Mountain West’s 7 schools – Air Force, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, San Jose State, UNLV & Wyoming – sign MOU to remain in league & execute Grant of Media Rights from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2032

      Revenue split:
      Air Force, UNLV 24.5%
      Nevada, UNM, SJSU, Wyoming 11.5%
      Hawai?i 5%”

      Huh?

          • If I remember right it was because the other teams didn’t like the travel more than anything specific Idaho did.

            I think it’s actually a good add for the MWC, they want to be FBS. Not an ideal PAC school but will spend to compete at the FBS level.

          • Many people forget that Utah St was also in the Sun Belt, I lived in Utah at the time and I think they were asked to leave. Probably travel related also and now we have outrageous travel in many conferences.

      • It’s an IT thing. Their SA added them, because they’re an affiliate in golf, but must have forgotten to make it page/folder specific.

        Also, Idaho’s golf course is really nice.

  29. 1
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    lol the distribution %’s in the MWC press release add up to much more than 100%. Clearly not a conference run by academic powerhouses.

  30. 2
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    New media release by Ross Delinger about SEC/Big10 upcoming exclusive meeting to discuss plans to isolate non playoff bowl games to be revamped and only create matchups between the 2 conferences, thus excluding all other conference matchups with other conferences. And all nonconference scheduling to be between the 2 conferences.
    This is essentially the beginning of their separation from the rest of the conferences. It is pretty obvious that all of Big12 posturing will not help them if the BIG10/sEC collude to shut out all competition with any other conferences. Once these discussions begin to be put into action, how will the rest of college football react?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYl_8odZsQ4

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      I think this is when Congress gets involved, the question is, have they bought enough votes yet? I wonder where OR/WA Senators would land on this? One WA Senator is a Coug.

  31. So when all of this is solidified does the P-12 Network come back in some form or is that not fiscally possible? There might be some outstanding basketball matchups if Gonzaga does end up joining.

    • Likely as a streaming/on-demand only piece of whatever media rights deal they sign with Amazon or Apple.

      Definitely not a linear TV network, they’ll probably partner with CW for that.

      • Interesting, I like how they’ve structured the revenue payouts for teams that make the playoffs or NCAA tournament. 50% goes to the team, the rest goes to the conference.
        Much different than how other conferences structure bowl payouts and tournament payouts, where it’s divided evenly among conference members. This model gives a major incentive to be a successful program.

          • Well, yeah, but the question is what value do they bring to the conference? They don’t win, they don’t provide eyeballs, so why should they, or Rutgers or Vandy, or Mississippi State or … continue to collect to the tune of multi-millions per year?

          • It is only a matter of time until the final cuts will be made to adjust the membership of SEC and Big10 back to the perceived best brands. We know who those are.
            Once that happens, the fans of those schools will howl at the change.
            ACC will be picked over first. Then there will be a fine tuning of the P2 and cut the fat of long time undesirable schools. And then they can peel away from NCAA and make their own playoffs with their 32 brands. It is grotesque and about 100 schools will be on the outside wondering what happened.
            Forward thinking and good leadership among the rest of college football conferences would be anticipating this and preparing countermeasures. Unfortunately Yornak thinks he has a chance to be #3, ACC is scrambling to stay afloat, everyone else is fighting for crumbs at the kids table.
            Safety in numbers is the best way but none will do it and ESPN will continue to degrade the competitive structures of college sports.

          • I truly do not believe this ever happens.

            Congress has gotten involved with college football before

            So have the courts

            All it will take is a simple law that sets clear guidelines and grants the NCAA power to implement them to fix everything. And most in Congress don’t represent those 32 schools.

            Not saying the SEC and B1G won’t do everything you say, I just think if they try to separate laws will be passed.

            Florida representatives might go along assuming UF and FSU are included but USC is probably the only CA school included, no chance that flies.

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            Rutgers brings the New York/Jersey TV market. That’s their value to the Big10 and what will save them in the next round of cuts.

            Jack is right. The consolidation of power/revenue will continue. The SEC/Big10 are squeezing everybody else out and then will pick up the top performers in the lower divisions by offering more revenue, and cut out the Indianas and Vandys that dont bring in much revenue.

            Best thing everybody else can do is STOP WATCHING SEC AND BIG10 GAMES!!!
            Watching them only helps speed up the process and sends a message that they are the national brands that matter

          • I think the B1G and SEC try, I just think they eventually cross enough powerful peoples redlines.

            Remember. The NFL doesn’t choose to not play on Saturday. They can’t by law. Congress has gotten involved before.

            Nearly half of all Olympic athletes from all nations train under the NCAA system, as the money moves to fewer and fewer schools these programs will fall apart as well.

  32. I don’t know why the Big 10 see themselves as equal to the SEC. The brand power and recent success of their programs pales in comparison. Only Michigan and tOSU have been top tier programs. Wisconsin and PSU have been close. MSU and Iowa flirted with it.

    Compared to Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, LSU who have all won championships in recent years, plus Tennessee, USC and Ole Miss who have been in the top 10 vicinity, there’s a huge disparity in recent success and “brand power” in football.

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      With the exception of LSU in a single year, all those schools are living in the same past that has USC, PSU, NU, and Wiscy all vying for championships.

      It’s UGA and Bama and the however many dwarves. Perception and brand awareness is a result of their TV partners beating that drum for years… during completely unrelated game they broadcast… as if they thought we cared about what they were saying about some team not on the field.

        • 1
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          It doesn’t matter five years is all that matters, prior success with different coaches or one lightning in a bottle has little bearing on today’s reality.

          • This is why CSU is with us.

            They were once contenders, and they built off it. And now the students who were there at the time are coming into their salary years. So there will be some expectations and enthusiasm not apparent to the general zeitgeist we exist in with TV controlling the narrative in favor of their properties.

  33. If we’re going to add Rice because of their “historic success”, might as well add Temple, since Pop Warner was their coach in the 30’s. Why not?

  34. All of the rumors & story lines playing out is a lot to take in.

    I wonder how challenging western conference realignment was back in the 40-60’s? >.<

  35. 1
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    Eggers talks with Casey, Canham, and Kyle Bjornstad about NIL.
    Lots there, several numbers.
    Casey says,
    “We have the environment for which players want to play…Goss Stadium is the best (facility) on the West Coast to play college baseball…If we offer a kid $100,000, LSU is going to offer him $150,000,” Casey says. “And Oregon is on an island. (The Ducks) give more than anybody. We are not trying to be Oregon. We are pretty competitive (in baseball NIL funding) with most schools, but we can’t get into the money game.”

    https://www.kerryeggers.com/stories/with-kyle-bjornstad-pat-casey-and-mitch-canham-on-dam-nation-and-the-nil-scene

    • 5
      1

      But if you’re not in the money game then you’re not in the game. That’s the reality of the current state of college sports. The best recruits are going to go where the money is. That’s going to be the only way schools like us can compete at an elite level. Pay kids a bunch of money and they don’t care what school they’re playing for. Of course at some point they’ll want to win some games, but that would come naturally with a roster full of elite recruits. Hell, if San Jose State had Oregon’s NIL funds, they would eventually make it to the playoffs and have a good chance of winning.
      So until we find a treasure chest or the Federal government steps in and forces financial parity, we won’t be competing at the elite level. It’ll even happen with baseball eventually. We’ve done pretty well riding the reputation Casey built, but even that will be torn down by NIL at some point.

      • Gotta find some more foreign players like Bazzana who can’t receive NIL and arr lazer focused on upping their draft stock.
        I wonder how many Japanese players will start getting recruited as more and more Japanese MLB players have success.
        Oregon has had a Japanese guy, Rikuu Nishida, on their roster the past couple of seasons who started out in community college.

        • Japanese players will either sign directly with MLB teams or continue to train in Japan and get posted.

          Same with Korean players. Don’t count on them. Places like Australia are strong recruiting grounds though. Maybe Taiwan too.

    • Definitely, would be a really big get for them.

      I like them for the final core of the Pac-8 too, can’t undervalue having a presence in the state of Texas.

      TSU has 40k students, space-grant, $400m endowment, R2 research activity, spending $13 million on Football, building a brand and ready and able to invest much more, situated directly between Austin and San Antonio creating a really attractive media-market.

      UTSA is a good option too, 30k students, space-grant, $300m endowment, R1 research activity, $17m on Football, ahead of TSU in brand-building but not by much, similar media-market value.

      After that I like USF, Memphis, Tulane, UTEP, New Mexico State, North Texas, Rice, Tulsa in that order, but in many ways TSU/UTSA make the most sense for the 8th full-time member because they are so aligned institution-wide with the rest of the new Pac.

      OSU
      WSU
      BSU
      FSU
      CSU
      SDSU
      USU
      *TSU/UTSA/ or USF/Memphis, Tulane, UTEP, NMSU, NT, Rice, Tulsa.

      That’s a G6 conference that would probably bring in a $10m media deal with Amazon/Apple/CW, built of large state schools with similar visions for their university and athletics, motivated to spend and build their brands, all in a mostly-regional footprint. That’s not something that even exists in the remaining Power conferences.

      USF, Memphis, Tulane would be great additions beyond that, but only if they are aligned with the rest and willing to navigate the travel and spend the $.

      Gonzaga and UCONN even as affiliate members for BB and FB makes sense too with that core.

      Perhaps OSU Baseball as affiliate members with the B12 or Indy.

      • I like TSU and UTSA too especially if you add Rice. That locks Texas down which helps with media deal and branding. Paired with Memphis, Tulane, USF, and UConn gives you 7 East plus 7 West with key markets and balanced geographic footprint. Travel would be non factor and basketball and baseball would be strong with blue blood brands. Add Gonzaga and you could have 3 five team basketball divisions. 2 divisions in baseball. Supplement regionally from WCC, B12, ACC, AAC, Sunbelt, etc. for Olympic sports. Go with linear TV (CW) plus streaming (Apple/Amazon) for select games. We want exposure vs. max media revenue. Would prefer 10m per year per school with linear as primary instead 15m with streaming as primary. Make sure media deal is done within a year. Provide slightly higher annual media distribution to secure AAC teams plus increase exit fee offer to 7m per school to get deal done. TSU, UTSA, and Gonzaga take 1-2m less in annual media distribution to fund additional revenue to AAC teams. If (huge hypothetical) media deal equals $1B for 5 years ($200m / year = $13.5m / year average per school. Being able to say $1B media deal does a lot for branding and perception. $14m/yr for Memphis, Tulane, USF. $12m for UTSA, TSU, Gonzaga. $13m for all others. This would be best case scenario IMO but probably unrealistic

        • 2
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          Rice has beaten 1 P5 program since 2013. There is no winning tradition. They can’t recruit good high school talent nor upgrade the team through portal upgrades because of the academic standards, exactly what doomed Stanford.

          They’d have to make MAJOR upgrades to their program as a condition to even be considered for membership.

          • Agree program isn’t good but helps provide recruiting access to Texas, academic prestige, media benefits. Rice has the means to improve but gives others an easy win in meantime. Got to have some games to pad Ws for contenders like B10, SEC, and B12. Strength in numbers

  36. about the pac 7 and MW

    to me the MW is dead unlees they add schools like idaho montana and N Dak st

    at this point your best choice is add unlv and nev and call it a day

    but if i ran College football for football only i wouild have this 12 team conf

    Org st wash st app st boise st colo st sdsu fresno st utah st toledo unlv neveda u conn and rice winner would get the auto bid in college football playoff every other G5 wouild have to play in FCS

  37. 1
    1

    I think they should pay unlv and get Nevada or Texas state so they have 9. This would hopefully make the mountain west dissolve and save the new pac millions so just pay unlv. Then everybody would play each other every year and get 4 non conference games like sec.

    • Yeah, the Rutgers game was supposed to be a “W” and one of the 6 needed to get bowl elligible – too bad, huh? It doesn’t get any easier here on out for them. Loved how they had to play the late slot on the east coast. Hope they continue to have fun in the Big10! Seattle will be on melt down alert…

  38. I know it’s been discussed on this board ad nauseum but as I watch Macafee stand up on the desk and scream at the top of his lungs, I can’t help but be amazed that the degree that ESPN is imploding. Like, who in god’s name would want to watch this shit at 7am? Or even at 10am on the east coast? They’ve decided to skimp on every aspect of in depth game analysis and presentation. Bill Simmons just broke this down pretty well on one of his recent podcasts. He can’t understand what their strategy could possibly be. Fire Zach Lowe who is probably the best NBA writer right before the season starts (Just one of a long list of actually talented analysts and journalists who have been let go)? Go bare bones on the actual game broadcasts with zero studio creativity or effort, along with less polished game announcers who often sound like they should be calling high school games? Spend all your money on guys like Steven A, Sharpe and Macafee? It defies all logic.

    • They realized people don’t care about it being high quality as long as they get to watch their teams and the broadcast isn’t distractingly bad. They invested big in new camera angles and stuff a few years ago and no one cared. Top talent doesn’t draw eyeballs because you can listen to/read literally anyone anywhere on the internet. There are lots of clever people with opinions out there.

      The whole ESPN model is a relic of a bygone era (like all legacy media). It’s a business and their market has reached a point where they can’t keep growing without actively interfering with the sports themselves or embracing gambling.

      • Yeah, I mean, I’m sure they’ve crunched the numbers. They’re certainly more experts than I am on what will maximize bottom line profit. Can’t help but think that it’s a short term strategy however and that it won’t necessarily be sustainable forever. The monopoly on broadcast rights for live games is certainly powerful. But I will disagree to an extent on the consumers not caring about quality. Yes, the demand for sports is inelastic to a degree. The bottom won’t fall out all at once or anything. IMO it will be a continuous erosion over time. If it’s clear that the presenter doesn’t care about the product, eventually the customer won’t either.

        • But if your team’s game is only on their channel, you won’t not watch it just because of the channel.

          Disney has been pressured to sell ESPN, too. A big part of the pre-sale process is taking whatever short-term measures you can to make the numbers look good for valuations. I doubt there’s a lot of long-term strategizing going on over there.

          • 3
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            Yeah but what ESPN seems to be ignoring is that to make money you need people to watch even when it’s not “their team”

            The NFL has this, the NBA does to an extent.

            College football has often had it but this is what I think they are killing. I’ll watch NFL games tomorrow, I won’t turn a college game on this week. That wasn’t true even last year. Don’t think I’m alone.

          • 4
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            I know I won’t listen to it. I’ll just mute it and play music.

            Can you imagine Keith Jackson spending half the broadcast talking about the SEC… while doing a Big Ten or Pac 10 game?

            If I want to hear someone pontificate about the playoffs or another conference, I will go watch a show where talking heads do that.

            This is a football game. Take your shit opinions and shove them back up your ass. Announce the game you’re watching, you wannabe announcer.

          • 9
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            Honestly. Watching a CW broadcast is refreshing. They talk about the game at hand, not to mention using drones for some unique views of the stadium etc. The product BSPN and Fox are putting out is really horrible fan experience

    • 1
      4

      Nope, Beavs can’t have nice things, ever. Anything that seemed good at the time is only and always fool’s gold for Beavs. This is the lesson of LODB. If Purdue had been a typical non-conference opponent, they would be on the rise as OSU scheduled them, and likely a guaranteed home loss for OSU. But since they are dreadful, no credit to OSU for the win.

      Rutgers is an interesting case study for the new look Big10. I’m curious if their schedule reflects a bit of an early gaming of the system now that these conferences are so big they have no way to play everyone. Rutgers doesn’t play OSU, Mich, Penn St, or Oregon this year. USC on the road in late October may be the toughest test to them having a shot at 12-0.
      Missouri would be the same thing in the SEC. They have a road game vs Alabama, home game with Oklahoma. But miss Texas, Georgia, LSU and would also help the SEC steal another bid if they get in. I’m not really giving these 2 conferences the benefit of the doubt and I figure they are already gaming the playoffs by scheduling gimmicks.

      • Of course they are.

        They’re scheduling with each other to disappear all the non-quality losses, so opinions can create “playoff” teams.

    • It’s okay.

      NIU went and beat Notre Dame, then promptly lost to Buffalo, who I stopped watching get stomped by UCONN in the 3rd quarter, so I could do some yardwork.

  39. 2
    2

    Anyone have odds on either Gould or Gloria (or both) being at the Wazzu game tonight?

    I’ve noticed the Pac has gone radio-silent the past couple days.

  40. Smith goes for it on 4th down instead of kicking FG to tie tOSU. They don’t get it because they try to run lightweight Chiles right up the middle. Typical. At least it wasn’t the kicker, I guess.

    • San Diego state has a new coach, true frosh QB, and they were shut out at home by us already. Not much to be excited about this season. What surprised me about them is they only lost to Cal 31-10, makes me wonder how our game vs Cal will go.

    • 4
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      Remember, their records doesn’t matter anymore. Only how many tv viewers are available in their area to sell advertisements. It’s the most important part of team competition now.

    • 8
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      I think WSU/BSU are losses. Run defense is suspect and Mateer can run and sling it. Boise played Yucks much better than we did and it was in Eugene.

      • Yeah but Whoregon made adjustments after the Boise game and unfortunately we faced the brunt of it.

        I’m more concerned about Wazzu. I don’t think we have the speed on defense to keep up with them.

    • He’s going to be a problem for all defenses they play. The dude has ran for almost 850 yards and averaging over 10 yards per carry. And because he doesn’t play in the SEC or Big 10 I have not heard his name mentioned in Heisman talks. He could rush for over 2K yards!

  41. 4
    2

    And in other Oregon St semi-related news. DJU trails SMU 42-16 with about 12 minutes left. Are any OSU portal transfers setting the world on fire at their new schools?

  42. Boise St pressure is relentless and impressive.
    WSU is quick at wideout but Mateer is really inconsistent, at least under constant pressure.
    Beavs may have a better shot to beat Boise St by leaning on the running game. But Beavs defense will struggle differently against both of them.

  43. 5
    1

    Jeanty is special and looks like he is playing at a different speed, balance is great and he has bounced off of the first hit only to get great gains or touchdowns on multiple runs. Fun guy to watch actually.

      • Especially in a new system. They bounced back well against Purdue. Run defense needs to get cleaned up but they have a bye week. Hopefully guys get healthy.

        • The thing about all these teams…..OSU, WSU, BSU……..none of them have much depth. Injuries will likely play the biggest role in what happens 6 or 7 weeks from now. Boise definitely has the best individual player, that’s for sure.

        • 3
          1

          While things like physical speed aren’t likely to change, development does occur mid season as film is studied and schemes become more ingrained. Experience builds throughout the season, it’s up to the coaches to see that those experiences lead to improved performance.

          All is not lost if spring camp doesn’t produce the best possible product. Or, is the mantra “most improvement occurs between week 1 and 2” just an old wives tale?

          • 2
            3

            Again, tackling and blocking is improved in January/February when the emphasis is weight training. So either A) the talent is deficient, B) the strength/conditioning program is insufficient, or C) both. All evidence suggests A) because the veterans seem to make tackles in space and run block well.

            Midseason the focus is on studying film and executing a gameplan. The improvement comes from players being more comfortable with the scheme.

          • 3
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            Gotcha, we agree “improvement comes from players being more comfortable with the scheme.”
            That doesn’t stop when spring training ends.

          • 1
            1

            If there’s any confusion, bet it comes from slight differences in how we each define some words.
            Let’s watch and see if improvement occurs over the next several weeks, or if we have to wait till after next spring training for that to happen.

          • Tackling angles are handled in the offseason, maybe bowl season.

            Now it’s a matter of putting guys in the right spot to give them a chance to execute.

          • Guys can be in the right spot but don’t take the appropriate angle to make a solo tackle, among other things e.g. leading with wrong shoulder, bad footwork, little leg drive, wrapping arms too high

          • Those aren’t our most glaring issues this year.

            Being in the wrong spot, so arm tackling is the best we can try, has been the issue.

            We’re not seeing the things like last year with Lolo hugging someone then letting them go or Arnold popping a runner and never wrapping up. Those things might happen a little now, but that was commonplace last year.

            I agree with the fact that teaching technique is an off-season thing. But positioning players in spots where they can’t use any proper technique is our biggest issue this year.

          • From a guy that played college football, this is completely inaccurate. You get better at tackling, by tackling. Real game experience is the primary way to improve. Low team speed may be the underlying culprit for poor tackling as they are struggling to get into good position.

          • And as someone who has coached high school football and have interfaced with college coaches, it is completely accurate. You don’t teach tackling form mid season. It’s drilled into players in the off-season. If the team isn’t great at making tackles in space, the staff adjusts the scheme so that more players can rally to the ball carrier. That’s what Bray and co. does extremely well.

            If your team is taking time out of a 2-hour practice to teach tackling form mid season, your team just sucks.

  44. 1
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    Expect the 8th member to take many months. Funds are tight. P12/MWC lawsuit won’t be settled until next summer. Could be up to a year before P12 gets to 8 and a media deal is signed. If ACC falls apart in meantime, things could move quickly again but there’s no urgency given the lack of current options and funds.

    Regarding baseball schedule, surprised to see we play ducks 4 times with 3 in Eugene. I’d rather play Pilots 10 times than play ducks on the road 1 time.

    • 8
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      Pretty good opinion piece. He mentions:

      “Where I come from — as a journalist, as a union organizer — if you’re pissing off people in power, you’re probably doing something right.”

      He’s probably right. And as Barnes mentioned before all of the Phase I action happened, “chaos is our friend”
      Stability is our enemy. The more the Pac12 can rock the boat, the better. The more we moves we make, the more countermoves other conferences need to make as well. At some point, somebody will mis-step, and we have to hope that it isn’t the Pac12 that makes the mis-step and instead it’s those playing defense. Gotta keep hitting them with jabs.

      The other part that resonates, when he talks about the media mouthpieces trying to shit on what the Pac12 is doing currently:
      “It’s building a conference that gives its members a chance to survive in this current hellscape that is specifically designed to make sure they don’t.”

      He’s 100% right. The college football landscape’s lack of guardrails have developed a system that is designed to eat itself. The teams with the power to make the rules are always making the rules more difficult for those not in power to catch up. Look at the annual CFP distributions. WSU and OSU had to fight to get their annual distribution upped from $350K to $3.6M, which can’t be renegotiated for the Pac12 till 2028. That was a battle in itself. But that small victory is still nothing compared to the annual payout an SEC/B1G team gets ($21M per year) or ACC($13M) or Big12($12M). Notre Dame also will receive $12M.
      But they tried to get away with allocating $350K to WSU/OSU.
      This isn’t related to media distributions or CFP participation even. This means Vandy will receive $21M additional revenue simply because they exist in the SEC. They’ll still also receive their massive media payout and all of the bowl/CFP payouts that come with having a conference that puts half of it’s teams into the post season.
      G5 programs will continually be told “that’s cute” whenever they try to compete with the 4 privileged conferences, but the rules will always be set up to keep them down and they’ll continue to evolve in that direction.

  45. 4
    2

    beaver baseball home games 2025 (couldn’t get cut and paste to work)
    MARCH 7-9 SAN DIEGO
    MARCH 11-12 WSU
    MARCH 14-16 GRAND CANYON
    MARCH 18 RUTGERS
    APRIL 4-6 UC IRVINE
    APRIL 21-22 GONZAGA
    APRIL 29 OREGON
    MAY 7 PORTLAND
    MAY 13 PORTLAND
    MAY 15-17 LONG BEACH STATE
    that is all the home games, almost half of them are in 10 days in march. highlights of the road schedule other than the 3 preseason tournaments are
    APRIL 25-27 @ OREGON
    MAY 2-5 @ HAWAII
    29 home games in 2024, 20 in 2025. Mitch and the program did the best they could, but this independent schedule is going to damage the program.

    • This schedule is leaps and bounds better than last year’s schedule btw. Early in the year they get teams like Virginia/Oklahoma, who have very good programs for a long time and Virginia should be really good. Look at the overall schedule with Indiana/Hawaii/Nebraska, who are all on the rise. Iowa has a decent track record and will be a solid Big Ten squad. Oregon should be good. UC Irvine may be the series of the year in the west. There are some bad teams like Long Beach and Fullerton but it wouldn’t surprise me if they play 10-11 teams that make the postseason. If they handle business, they’re a national seed. Only complaint I have is not enough home games but not unsurprising.

  46. Can someone please post the complete Baseball schedule both home and away I know it may be preliminary and not to make travel plans but am interested in seeing it. Thanks

  47. 6
    2

    https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/41531125/big-ten-sec-talk-possible-scheduling-partnership

    Big12 and ACC are only fooling themselves at this point. They are going to be methodically aced out of the big boy club just like the PAC only they don’t see it yet. These 2 conferences act as if they are college football, ESPN acts like the league president, and then reports on all of it as if they aren’t the hidden hand behind it all.
    Maybe it is all a waste of time. There is no way to stem the tide of the greedy fools, and it is accelerating each year.

  48. So, what would we prefer this week?:

    Hole gets embarrassed at home by Michigan State and Judas Smith gets one of his best career wins or Hole blows MSU out of the water?

  49. 1
    4

    lol… lurking in some forums, I’ve seen GCU mentioned as a possible target for the Pac.

    Some people have been smoking some of that synthetic weed.

    Wtf are they thinking?

    • As a basketball affiliate only.

      Honestly think it’s likely they will. Have to think outside the box of a traditional athletic conference for what they may be trying to pull off.

      Scheduling alliance/partnership with Big East for Olympic sports. Gonzaga, UConn, GCU and others for affiliate or single sports, the AAC 4, etc.

      I’ve wondered if they might be leveraging UNLV by going after Nevada Reno. It fits academically with the CSUs and USUs (both really good), but they traditionally haven’t invested in football at near the same level and they need a new/revamped Stadium. Good BBall though.

      It doesn’t seem like they are in any kind of competition for the likes of Texas Stare or UTEP with the MWC, but it begs the question as to just what exactly their plan is now at this point.

      • I mean, with the revenue share model where Tournament teams 50% of the credits they earn and the rest of the conference only gets 50% distributed evenly, the terms are pretty favorable for the Gonzagas and Grand Canyons of the basketball world, if they want to bet on themselves.

      • 1
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        GCU isn’t outside the box.

        It’s just outside. It’s so far outside, it’s absolutely the most stupid thing I’ve heard in all this realignment stuff. It’s possibly one of the stupidest things I’ve heard this year, a year that includes one idiot claiming people are eating pets in Ohio.

    • Another MW update. MW is negotiating with Tarleton State(FCS) for a full member slot.

      Interesting that it’s not Texas State, but I guess they coukd be targeting both. That would be alot of Texas exposure for the MW if they get both plus UTEP.

  50. I originally predicted P12 would add Memphis, Tulane, UNLV, plus a Texas school then get Gonzaga and GCU for basketball only. After striking out on their top 3 targets and not yet seriously pursuing a Texas school, P12 added USU and will likely add GU and GCU today. Once this happens, I think P12 will patiently wait for one more add in football. I think UTSA is most likely and it could be 6+ months before they come to an agreement. I don’t think the P12 will drastically increase offer to Memphis, Tulane, or USF. Once UTSA is added and lawsuit is settled, I could see P12 going after those 3 plus UConn depending on how much $ is left to do so. P12 has zero interest in UNLV now.

  51. Gonzaga addition should be a boost to hopes for Memphis (and the others that a Memphis move would involve), as we legitimately just became a power conference in basketball.

    • Noticed the presser that Gonzaga put out today said this helps “to solidify the conference’s best-in-the-west strategy”

      First time I’ve seen a strategy put in words by the conference. Wouldnt this mean no Memphis/Tulane/UCF?
      Or are we using NBA definitions of east/west?

      • Wow, I didn’t see that. Seems to indicate they’ve moved on from Memphis and Tulane, but I’d imagine Texas is still in play.

      • NBA?

        Remember those 80s NFC West match-ups between New Orleans and Atlanta?

        Or maybe you remember those classic NL West tilts between the Dodgers and the Braves.

  52. President Lyndon Johnson went to Texas State back in the 1920’s when it was known as SW Texas State Teachers College. Love that Lyndon! All the way with LBJ! In your guts, you know he’s nuts. (Referring to Barry Goldwater)

  53. Canzano seeming to confirm GCU is on the “discussion” list. Also questions whether the MOU signed by the MW teams last week was a binding agreement or if there’s still room for MW teams, like UNLV, to wriggle out before signing with the MW (same thing I was arguing last week)
    Says he doesn’t expect the conferences next full member add to take very long, given the conferences’ desire to test the media market

    https://x.com/johncanzanobft/status/1841126078267736401

    • The mou isn’t binding according to a las vegas honk from the day they signed it. He also put out an article about reno and vegas aren’t bound together as a package deal.

      • It’s true UNLV/Reno arent bound together, but the board of regents still needs to weigh in on any conference moves for either team. It’s not strictly a school decision.

      • GCU is good at basketball and they invest in it as their baby. It is building, not poison.

        They are trying to build a hybrid conference that can de-couple fball/bball revenue streams to increase overall $. It’s a new way of looking at the old conf revenue problem.

        They have to find a way to get the AAC 4 back to the negotiating table because their media rights target (10-15m) only pans out with the CW/streaming if they can get into coast-to-coast markets.

        Adding teams like GCU/St Mary’s along with Gonzaga essentially makes it one of the best BBall conferees after the B12. Brings Memphis back to the table, which brings the other AAC schools with them. Also UCONN.

        It’s interesting that they let MWC have UTEP as they need to get a foothold in Texas if the AAC 4 are really off the table for good. UTEP to MWC leads me to believe they’re not, but wouldn’t be surprised if they have to fight over Texas State.

        • 4
          9

          I would rather have BYU in the conference than GCU.

          And if BYU was in our conference, I would probably stop watching college sports.

          • I don’t have anything against Grand Canyon but I’m not sure the value they bring.

            Certainly not a name brand in basketball.
            Been to the NCAA tournament only twice in their history.
            They had a nice season last year at 30-5 though they play in a pretty minor conference. (Tinkle might have won 20 games playing their schedule.)

            I think GCU was mentioned to Canzano by one of his “sources” and he’s been riding it for as much mileage as he can get. I could be wrong but haven’t seen the GCU thing anywhere else other than Canzano.

          • 3
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            They’re also a diploma mill under investigation constantly for fraud, because they constantly defraud their students, not to mention “teaching” them useless info which isn’t as transferable to a real university as almost any community college out there.

            People who suggest the University of Phoenix as a joke are being as deadly serious as anyone suggesting GCU, even if those who think GCU is a good idea don’t know it.

          • I agree it’s bizarre and would prefer to steer clear of the Apollo College kind of additions, just understand the strategy and why some are suggesting adds like GCU as a viable option.

            It’s surreal to think about but we live in surreal times for college athletics.

          • The only positive would be a large enrollment and online presence which would translate to their marketing department telling all their students they would be getting a “free” subscription to Amazon Prime, so they can watch their “university” compete in college sports.

            Voila! 130k subscriptions in the bag.

  54. Add Texas State and Rice. TSU is going to “get there” soon as it has really taken athletics and academics seriously since moving up a decade ago. Rice is underwhelming, but it is in Houston, has had strong baseball and has 8 Billion opportunities to improve their entire athletic department.

      • 10

        Houston Nutt reference reminds me of the greatest sports headline on all time. In the 2005 season while Nutt was the head coach at Arkansas, he replaced starting quarterback Robert Johnson with freshman Cody Dick for the game against South Carolina. Headline- Nutt replaces Johnson with Dick for Cock’s game. You can not make this stuff up

  55. PAC probably needs to add an “eastern” cluster, rather than just throwing one TX school into the mix. I could see TSU+UTSA as an option. Fun rivalry and it gets you into big markets with lots of alumni. That enables travel a little farther east. Florida is a no-go for me, though.

    • 1
      1

      I’m not opposed to adding Hawaii as a full member. Yes, they’re at a low point, but a healthy Hawaii program is good for college athletics.
      Could be the catalyst they need.

      • But how does it help the conference? Not sure that late time slot game that was very recently on Facebook Live has much media value.

        • Just thinking for regionality and recruiting. Lots of Poly athletes who might want to spend a few years on the mainland peppered with some free trips back home on occasion.
          They don’t bring much football wise currently, but neither does CSU.

    • Good for WBB, though. PAC additions aren’t helping restore the overall strength of the conference in that sport and there aren’t really any viable options to do so. Rueck is probably gone after another year or two unless we add UCONN.

    • Tinkle is probably the only person in the athletic department who is sweating about the news today. He knows he can’t hide any longer at the bottom half of a gradually declining basketball conference. Tinkle will be so overmatched it will be a pr disaster for him and OSU. His roster is actually more of a high school roster than any of us would like to admit. He has recently gone overseas to restock his yearly crop of defectors and who knows how good they will be. What I am certain of is that they will not improve as the season progresses.
      These schools are actually good in basketball, have good to great coaches, and view the NCAA as the starting point. Tinkle has just been transported into his worst nightmare. OSU will need to find a donor to get out form under Tinkle’s contract before we get to 2026 in order for the Beavs to have a fresh start with these new additions. Tinkle needs to go settle down in Montana and retire. Give us all a break from his drama filled yearly debacles.
      OSU basketball has a lot of pride and history. It is a fresh start to revive all of that while some of the old-timers are still around to see a true basketball revival in Gill. Tinkle isn’t the guy to do it though. Maybe GP next year?

      • The international recruiting strategy is actually kind of smart in the NIL era. These are guys who can’t receive NIL. You’re almost playing a different recruiting game than everyone else.

        Of course, WT has proven he isn’t a good coach so it may not matter.

        • He’s a good defensive coach. I’ll give him that.

          And maybe getting some Euros in the program means nobody has to rely on him developing any fundamentals, since it’s a little different in international ball.

          Zero expectations at this point, so we’ll see.

  56. 3
    1

    Good to add Gonzaga and lock them in before the Big12 decided to take them off the board too.

    I would expect a bit of a domino effect to begin in the next week or so as a result of Gonzaga joining. I expect this to bring AAC teams back into the conversation, and maybe UCONN.
    Regarding where Grand Canyon lands in these talks, I’m not really convinced it happens. Such a move seems to be far-fetched at this point and out of proportion for GCU.

  57. Damn, will Tinkle even want to coach in 2026, or is he that foolish to give it a try? Who do they beat in league play? Maybe Fresno at home?

  58. 7
    2

    While some people may disagree, I am super stoked that the P12 added Gonzaga. Besides UCONN, they were the best program to land even if it is for men’s BB, women’s BB and baseball. That means 5 of the 8 schools in the rebuilt P12 made the men’s tourney compared to only 4 out of 12 in the old P12. When you factor in that each unit is worth about $2M to the conference, that is pretty big. Next for Gould is to secure Texas St. to add the Texas media market for football. If we do that, we can then wait for the dominoes to fall with the impending collapse of the ACC.

  59. 7
    1

    I sort of don’t care who football team #8 is going to be. I just want the relief of knowing it’s a legit league. Gould can add from there. She’s done pretty well so far.

    • It’s pretty obvious we’ll get someone, though. As hard as they’re been courted in the past, there’s no way Gonzaga would have agreed to join if there was a risk the whole thing would fall apart.

      I think someone in the MWC is the play, given the “best in the west comment” and Gonzaga’s desire to stay regional rather than jumping to other conferences in the past. Adding eastern schools puts a strain on all non-revenue sports. MWC is anticipating that and adding schools to help offset (like Tarleton).

      Remember, we have to add an all-sports member, not just a football-only member. I can see Gonzaga preferring a Nevada school over TX, Memphis, etc., with the possibility of adding St Mary’s, as well, to boost the basketball profile.

  60. So far they’ve added schools in the west, strong in brand and on court or on field performance with athletic departments fully investing to be successful.
    I’d say USU and CSU are the 2 “prove it” schools with a bit more skepticism, but USU does make sense with mens basketball factored into everything.
    Texas St will probably be #8.
    I wonder if they go with Nevada and shut out UNLV for #9.
    Gonzaga solves the private school element.
    I think Tulane, Memphis and UNLV blew their chance.
    UCONN may be swayed to join but I think east coast is too far and makes it unlikely.

  61. 1
    5

    I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I wouldn’t be against adding Wyoming as full member #8. Loyal fans, small town folks similar to Pullman and Corvallis. Good attendance for football, better talent than, say, Utah State. Value regional matchups and developing athletes. Won’t move the needle from a media perspective, I get that, but gives you a solid full member that won’t embarrass you (like a UNLV might). You firm up your status as a valid league for NCAA purposes, and you can still go chase Memphis, UTSA, etc, if you want.

    • 3
      1

      I always root for Wyo, but I don’t think they add anything to the conference from a media standpoint, they don’t play baseball and there isn’t a lot of growth potential there.

  62. UTEP is going from a $400k media deal in CUSA to a $4M media deal in MWC.

    How game changing would it be for a program like Texas State to join the PAC? At a full share, it would likely double their current athletic revenue. UTSA would increase their revenue by 70%.

    • That all but confirmed the theory that UNLV was grasping at the one-time payment MWC offered. MWC still doesn’t have full membership so UNLV could still be in play.

  63. 2
    2

    Just rumors, but apparently a PE firm is looking at investing in the PAC with the intention of investing in the P12N infrastructure, selling rights to a streaming player (Apple, Amazon, etc.) and targeting a $18-25M per team media payout. Sounds like a pipe dream to me. Not sure how the valuation went up so quickly unless Gonzaga is somehow worth as much as half the previous 7 teams.

    PAC and Memphis are also supposedly back at the table discussing Memphis’s price. Tulane is planned as a next step.

    • 4
      2

      It’s because the valuation is accurate for streaming partners and projected engagement online, not the linear media markets where carriage fees, not eyeballs, dictate how much value an entity has.

      I’ve been saying this for the better part of a year. Streaming will change the valuations for media payouts drastically. Linear will be a dead format in a matter of a couple years. ESPN and FOX will be underwater with their current distributions, because the linear payouts will not support their current expenditures.

      In some ways, the ACC has the strongest deal, because ESPN is obliged to pay them for the linear markets well beyond those markets dying. What that does to the product quality is probably another thing. But it is what it is.

      The B1G is essentially beholden to PE now, relative to this deal. They owned half the BTN before the last round of talks. They sold 11% equity to FOX in those talks, which probably added a billion dollars to their overall deal. It and an extra game in conference play are why their deal is so much greater than the SEC’s deal… you know… creating a huge talent gap that the SEC will never be able to overcome.

    • I know its just rumors but when I read the $18M-$25M per team, I read one time pay out based on the value of the P12N infrastructure and future earnings. I wouldn’t think Gonzaga had anything to do with it.

      That said did I misunderstand, is that a targeted per year payout for some percentage of ownership in the Network along with with media rights for the conference?

      A PE investment in a the network or potentially the conference is interesting. What happens if there’s another round of realignment and the conference blows up in 5 years. Who pays back the PE investment?

      And again rumors….

      • That’s an annual payout. They’re trying to stay close to competitive with the P4 conferences.

        This is one instance where a PE investment in college sports might actually make sense. With the network and brand, we essentially have distressed assets that need investment to improve their value.

        As far as liquidation contingency, I’m sure there will be a complex contract around this thing. Some combination of exit fees for departing teams and assumed risk by the PE firm. That said, we’re targeting a 5-year media deal and that’s a pretty typical PE investment timeline. They’ll be looking to exit with the next round of media deals. Live sports TV production assets should hold their value pretty well (I think the cited number during the PAC breakup was $100M or something like that). The rest is all pretty risky.

  64. San Jose State may have found a sneaky way to go undefeated in volleyball this year. A news story reported that one of their volleyball players is a biological male who identifies as a woman.
    Since then, a few mountain west teams habe deicded to forfeit their games with SJSU. Wyoming is the latest to back out. Each forfeit is another W for SJSU, which is currently 9-0

    https://x.com/WyoNationDotCom/status/1841229439830802728?t=5LlS0A2xkVt0QaxseL5Cdw&s=19

    • 8
      9

      I thought Jack said that the transgender issue wasn’t a thing in major college sports. This must be a fake news article. No way schools are playing males on female teams in order to gain a competitive advantage.

          • 5
            7

            You’re claim is they are doing it for a “competitive advantage”

            You make that claim despite having zero evidence of that being the “why”

            Maybe they just think this transperson should be allowed to live by their identity? Something you disagree with but has NOTHING to do with gaining a “competitive advantage”

            Your assumptions aren’t facts.

          • Either is a possibility. I don’t think it really matters and I doubt you’d find evidence whether it was purposeful or not. The key discussion point is that there is a competitive advantage as noted below (whether intended or not).

          • If they are skilled enough to make any NCAA roster, it isn’t simply about being allowed to “live by their identity”. Any athlete that is skilled enough to compete in NCAA sports is already in the top echelon of athletic ability. Your argument assumes it is some type of altruistic endeavor which is dishonest on its face. You don’t think the coaching staff views the roster spot as an important spot for a competitive advantage? I’d say you are either naive in the consideration or somewhat deceptive in how you wish things are perceived.
            My argument would be chromosomes determine which team you compete on. Externals and pronouns don’t change the science of xy chromosomes.

          • 1
            3

            Are you assuming they are skilled enough to make it to the NCAA as male athletes?

            OR

            Are you assuming coaches are recruiting males for a competitive advantage?

            You have zero evidence for either assumption but which are you making?

            Your last sentence is a different argument but leads to a question, if a person with XY Chromosomes has female on their birth certificate and doesn’t even know until they are offered a volleyball scholarship should they also be banned? Google Swyers Syndrome. You might learn “the science” isn’t as simple as you like to pretend it is.

          • Why do you now make a distinction of male/female when asking about skill level? I am making the observation that it isn’t simply an altruistic endeavor which is how you framed it. If a male athlete is skilled enough to compete as a female, but isn’t skilled enough to compete as a male, then you make my argument for me. It becomes an incentive to gain a scholarship, compete as a female, and gain a competitive advantage all in one.

            Do coaches recruit for altruistic reasons at all? In the current political climate of the topic, some coaches may not be concerned and may actually get some “bonus points” for recruiting and “breaking barriers” just as you stipulate. I am saying “Why would coaches recruit any athlete if they aren’t seeking an eventual competitive advantage?”

            Swyers Syndrome- “a rare genetice condition…” The exception proves the rule. The “rare” genetic condition only begs the question- What is the norm? There is a norm that should be honored XX and XY for those not affected by the “rare genetic disorder” That is the point.

          • 2
            11

            So a great female volleyball player whom has played female volleyball from ages 4-18 with the dream of going to college on a volleyball scholarship, she has no idea she has XY chromosomes, but fuck her dream because she has a “rare genetic condition”?

            Yeah, I disagree.

            FYI, every transperson is “an exception that proves the rule” because science isn’t as black and white on this subject as you want to pretend it is.

          • 1
            2

            Not my argument at all.

            My argument is that the science isn’t black and white like you want to pretend it is. Swyer’s Syndrome isn’t the only “exception to the rule”

          • Ok I’ll try another form of science for you.
            The average speed of a spike for women NCAA volleyball is 50 mph on the high end, professional women’s players can approach 70 mph.
            The average speed of a spike for men NCAA volleyball is 70 mph on the high end, Olympic men’s volleyball players can approach 80 mph.
            Is it a safety issue if the male athletes are capable of hitting the ball at a 25%-30% harder rate?

            Jack made it out to be a lack of competitiveness, and cowardice. Youngorst declared it isn’t about science but about living out their identity. I think Mammoth has the key issue that Boise St actually stated and should likely be the reason for most schools to cancel. It is a definite competitive advantage if you have an athlete who can hiot the ball 30% harder on any given play, and isn’t actually female. In past generations, this was called “cheating”.
            When I played little league baseball at 12, we had to present our birth certificates to verify our age, in order to reassure parents that the kids who were bigger and more advanced in their growth weren’t simply older. The advantages were apparent when that one kid could throw 75 mph at 12 years old. But he was just like us, only he had grown faster. We just needed to grow as well and the field would be leveled.
            But this gap in the volleyball world doesn’t get closed until other schools find their transgender equalizer who also hits the ball at 80 mph. So as the degrading of rules occurs, more males will be brought into female athletics and eventually what happens to female athletics? It is gone. How is this not simple to see? The singular female with Swyer’s Syndrome, is a minute issue when compared to the greater concern for women’s sports overall.

            Youngorst has an opinion, Fine. Jack has an opinion. Fine. But I can’t agree with them on this.

          • 3
            8

            So if a biological woman is strong enough to approach those male numbers they should be banned from competing too?

            For safety?

            And you refused to answer yet brought it up again. A kid with Swyer’s Syndrome will be female on their birth certificate. Can they compete as women or ban them? Answer the question if you want to go to the birth certificate you better be ready to go to the birth certificate.

            Your greater concern has NOTHING to do with safety. If if did you’d want overly talented biological woman banned too. For safety.

          • 3
            6

            And you have my argument wrong, my argument is about the science. You deny the science.

            Science recognizes that intersex humans exist. You’re making the non-scientific argument.

          • okay… just read two studies on spike speed rates.

            Interestingly, the success in women’s volleyball does not come with spike speed rates, and it is actually less efficient for men, as speed increases.

            But jump height for women does increase efficiency, where it remains pretty static for men.

        • 3
          4

          “Brooke estimates that Fleming’s spikes were traveling upward of 80 mph, which was faster than she had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball,” the complaint said. “The girls were doing everything they could to dodge Fleming’s spikes but still could not fully protect themselves.”

          • 3
            5

            Makes me wonder why we had mixed intramurals… with women who played in HS but weren’t good enough for college… but they were diving at spikes hit by men… not trying to get away.

            Have volleyball players gone soft?

          • Man, I’m old, but I don’t remember volleyball rules…CAN you spike a ball AT an opposing player? That would seem to be illegal.

      • 5
        9

        It’s not a thing. Some schools aren’t competitive.

        And you have no evidence this player is on the team for a “competitive advantage”

        The other teams refusing to play isn’t SJST’s problem.

    • 1
      1

      I get not playing in a contact sport where you could get hurt but it is volleyball. I guess they don’t want to play because of fairness though? How good is the person anyway?

    • For the sake of equality we shouldn’t have “men” and “women” sports. Just one team with the best athletes, regardless of what sex they are.

    • 10
      0

      There is a reason why we have gender segregated sports. Males have a biological advantage with respect to many sports, just by virtue of being male. We also separate by age for the same reason. I don’t pretend to know how to handle this situation, but there should be much more thought and care put into it outside of it should never or always be permitted. Obviously, there are many other factors that provide groups of folks more or less of advantage (wealth, genetics, motivation, etc…) so it will be impossible to create a truly level playing field.

      • 2
        1

        There is more thought to it.

        These athletes give blood draws for testing on hormone levels and have to be within normal female levels to compete.

        Hell, we made women do this in the Olympics and internationally sanctioned events, until recently. So it’s not like we as a society are really doing anything differently than in the past.

    • 5
      2

      Yuck. LSU is my most hated team outside of Fuskies/Nike. Looks like it will be a battle in baseball recruiting going forward.

    • 9
      1

      “…If we offer a kid $100,000, LSU is going to offer him $150,000,” per Pat Casey as quoted by Eggers in a piece linked here back on 9/27.
      So, despite the warts, Casey is not only a HOF baseball coach but also has ability to see the future?

        • speaking of…

          OSU…Aaaaaaazzzz…aTm…lsu…

          Doesn’t really speak to me as a leader.

          I know there are people here in love with the guy, and I would trade him for the doorman, but he doesn’t really seem to be in the profession for ‘the kids’ or ‘loyalty’ or whatever.

          • He’s a major douche, I don’t think anyone contests that do they? I don’t think he’d be a good head coach but he is a great pitching coach.

          • Well, I’ve met him and can confirm, major douche, but got the same vibe from the doorman, so…

            Anyhoo, didn’t yeskie leave osu because he didn’t get the top job? Or am I remembering that wrong?

            Also, 4 jobs in almost as many years says something

  65. 2
    1

    PFF Unit Ratings for OSU vs CSU:

    Offense
    Passing- adv OSU
    Receiving- adv OSU
    Rush- adv OSU
    Pass Blocking- adv OSU
    Run Blocking- adv OSU

    Defense
    Run defense- adv CSU
    Pass Rush- adv OSU
    Coverage- adv OSU
    Tackling- adv CSU

    CSU has wins over Northern Colorado and winless UTEP. They got stomped by Texas and put up a decent defensive effort in a 28-9 loss to Colorado.

    On offense, they have a pretty good OL and a good running back. The passing game, led by former OSU recruiting target Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, is bad.

    Defensively, they’re a poor tackling team (though better than OSU) and don’t have much pass rush to speak of. They’ve been solid against the run all season. This may be a game where our passing game has to actually make a difference.

    Their resume so far this season isn’t great, but they match up well against us. I’m going with a “closer than it should be” 10-point OSU win.

  66. Digging deeper on the topic of McCoy and our passing game:

    -McCoy ranks 4th amongst Power Conference QB’s in % of “short passes.” 52% of his attempts have been under 10 yards
    -He’s tied for second in the country in lowest number of Turnover Worthy Plays (only one in four games)
    -Though only 8% of his attempts have been deep passes (20+ yards), he’s in the top quartile in deep ball accuracy. He’s only thrown 7 passes over 20 yards, 2 were completed and 2 were dropped

  67. 5
    1

    Alan Thayer on JoeBeaver show today said some interesting things regarding anti-trust lawsuits and the law firm retained by the PAC for processing that type of litigation.
    It is almost a blend between pushing back at the MWC on obvious “under duress” contract law, and maybe a broader salvo towards the BIG10/SEC. He stated that perhaps the long play is underway to hold some accountability over those conferences more so than the media outlets behind them, since anti-trust may be more directed at conferences shutting out others.
    Maybe the pause is to let some of the rebuild implications soak in from a potential litigation perspective. I wonder if they had simply brought in Memphis if the regional arguments undermines the anti-trust positioning a bit, but the actual rebuild establishes some of that argument as well.

  68. 7
    4

    Hear me out.

    Florida State and Clemson have laid the groundwork for a suit against improper or exorbitant exit fees. And a GOR has never been certified by the courts as legal in any precedent.

    What does this mean?

    This means Cal can be bought back to the West Coast.

    Their addition–or re-addition–to the Pac would elevate the media payout slightly. I expect the total to surprise a lot of people, because there really are a lot of suitors looking for the easy revenue live sports brings.

    So if the payout comes close to what Cal is getting from the ACC, and they can jettison travel for their biggest non-football sports, maybe someone can buy them out of their deal with the ACC… maybe someone with some stupid money gifted them by idiots.

    On top of that similar revenue stream from coming back to the conference they helped to start, they get Calimony.

    They would be a bigger fish in a slightly smaller pond that doesn’t involve all the dumb travel.

    Sorry… just spit-balling about the Pac idea about buying back UCLA.

  69. 1
    1

    Where do we stand on tonight’s game?
    Mole man vs Hole…man.
    Maintain course and root against 0regon?
    Take the enemy of my enemy approach and hope Sparty gets destroyed?
    or Ignore it and hope a meteor strikes?

    • 3
      1

      I’ve been ignoring all college football outside of the Beavs and Wazzu, it has been tough because college football had been my favorite sport my entire life.

      My cousin is a coach at Centenary University in Louisiana, DIII school in their first official year of having a football program, so watched a couple of their games also.

    • 4
      1

      Fox/espn dont want my views, so I’m not giving it too them. Be principaled, I haven’t watched a college game outside the beavers this season and don’t plan to start. I have seen some highlights posted on facebook and read articles but thats it. Normally I’d watch all day. It’s refreshing to be honest, I’m getting ahead of prepping for winter around my house.

    • Ducks win, but look crappy against a team they’re favored by 20 pts over? Lose a few spots in the rankings and Smith still leaves town with an L.?

  70. Let Cal return with full shares & full voting rights. Welcome UCLA back, but they get 3/4 share and only 1/2 voting rights for the next 2 years as a probationary period, since they were the first to leave.
    What is more likely to happen of the following options:
    1) Cal returns
    2) Utah returns
    3) UCLA returns
    4) Notre Dame joins
    5) Rice joins
    6) Texas St joins
    7) UNLV joins
    8) UCONN invited and joins in all sports
    9) Memphis joins all sports
    10) Memphis/Tulane join together all sports
    11) PAC dismantles AAC with an entire eastern block of schools joining Memphis, Tulane, USF, UTSA
    12) PAC invites 1 more and stays at 8 football schools
    13) PAC expands to 16 football schools across 4 timezones, taking in from AAC, Sunbelt, independents
    14) Sac St invited and joins
    15) Hawaii invited and joins

    • The easy choice is find a media deal then go look for a school who wants to join. We know sac state is trying their hardest with a ton of donations coming in. Its not a sexy grab but use them as the backup plan in case you can’t convince anyone else to come.
      Who knows what the media thinks were worth, maybe we get a bunch of applications to join once the media deal is presented.

      • Sac State brings the added cachet of having “State” in the name. This is a requirement for Pac football schools, right? (At least that’s the current state of the Pac . . .)

      • I have to think they already have a proposal from one or more media partners already. I’m sure there are contingencies for number of teams joining and their markets.

        If they didn’t have any type of media proposal, then I don’t see how they would have convinced the initial 5 teams to jump ship. They aren’t going to do that simply on a handshake and good faith with the Pac2.

        It could be that there are a lot of back and forth negotiations with potential teams and the media partner(s) and the Pac2 acting as the middleman.

        • Yeah, but Gonzaga probably changes the game. If a certain basketball-focused school wanted to understand what the view was of the valuation with Gonzaga in the fold, it’s worth getting a second opinion.

          That said, those kind of evaluations can happen fairly quickly. It’s stupid to think it would take “months.”

          • Yeah.

            It has to be the conversation about which bids to negotiate, or all at once, that will take a week or two. The original numbers given were probably correct, and there are enough interested parties to drive the price up from there.

            That coupled with the Zags AD talking about the Pac 12 and Gould being visionary has me wondering what’s cooking.

          • Barnes talking about “innovative” value extraction from media rights makes me think they’re splitting things between multiple partners somehow and that involves a football/basketball split due to the basketball side being more nationally prominent than football is relative to their sports. The language he used sounds a whole lot like what was used to describe the original Apple proposal to the PAC12 which the stupid, nasty Traitorous 10 balked at.

            That also opens the door to members belonging for certain sports, but not all sports to be part of those particular packages, which allows you to pull in the best of the best for each sport. As an example, Gonzaga ought to benefit from being a premier basketball program without being tied to WCC weakness in other sports. I’m sure their media income is going to go up exponentially in the PAC.

    • 1
      2

      Maybe a controversial opinion, but OSU baseball is like the Gonzaga of baseball (and really even bigger). We added solid football and basketball programs, now it’s time to look out for our crown jewel and add solid baseball programs. The strength of the current PAC is really bad (mostly due to geography).

      Go get Tulane and Rice locked up for all sports. Go get the best UC/CSU schools from the Big West and call it a day.

      Also, don’t BSU and CSU have to add baseball programs to be “full” members?

      • 3
        1

        Santa Barbara and Irvine seem like no-brainers as members on some level. Academics, basketball/baseball strength and geographic footprint all play in their favor.

      • Tulane and Rice really haven’t been factors in college baseball in quite a while. The top 4 I’d want for baseball is Irvine/Santa Barbara/Southern Miss and Dallas Baptist(baseball only.) Irvine is a really solid basketball program and very good baseball program. UC Santa Barbara is consistently a top 20 baseball team and just hosted a regional and Dallas Baptist is a quality baseball program. Southern Miss has been consistently close to breaking through for a potential CWS berth. Add those 4 and with Oregon State, you have 5 top 25 caliber teams and a better league than in past Pac-12 baseball seasons without hurting the quality of the basketball league. Ideally probably would like one more school in the southwest like Texas State or UTSA to ease some of the travel burden for DBU and Southern Miss in this scenario.

  71. 4
    1

    When the ten schools left weren’t the fans and schools saying they were tired of the Friday games and late start times? Seems like they are all playing those same time slots and the Beavers are mostly prime time on CW.

    • 2
      1

      Just wait. The “innovative value creation” of the new PAC12 will bring back Thursday and Friday games. There’s a reason all the power conferences do it and the PAC12 is still fishing in the same lake. The annoying thing is that more games on weekdays just dilutes ratings for those games, making them less profitable while still being a frustration for fans.

      • Idk.

        Foregoing full houses and all the business that happens on a Saturday just for a little TV pay seems like something we can’t really afford.

        We know the fanbases of these teams will tune in, and that should be enough to warrant placing a couple key match ups on CW, then parking the rest on a streaming platform… maybe some on Turner, since they still own a small stake in CW.

      • 5
        1

        Talent is one thing, but McCoy is so damn savvy. Doesn’t turn the ball over. Makes great decisions. Puts himself aside for the goals of the team. Chiles is a turnover machine.

  72. 1
    1

    I do find it funny when I hear Duck fan on the radio convinced that Lanning has been waiting to “open up the playbook” until the Ohio State game. I think they lose by two touchdowns. Now Chip Kelley may have been saving something special for the game….

    • I’m sure they will have something new saved up but their two biggest issues are a mediocre O-Line and a QB that isn’t elite. He’s a decently accurate passer but makes terrible decisions at times and isn’t a threat to run at all. Unless that’s the big surprise in store for the Buckeye’s haha. Ducks have a good defense and a meh offense. They’re about #15 in the country I’d say.

        • Point taken haha although I suspect that has more to do with the Beavs’ deficiencies unfortunately. Gabriel isn’t slow or anything but for whatever reason he doesn’t usually look to run and doesn’t appear to have great instincts about how and when to deploy it.

  73. Watching Navy and they are running a pretty effective option based offense.
    Is Gundy ahead of the curve by reintroducing an option element? It seems like teams don’t see it much so they aren’t sure how to react to it like 15-20 years ago.
    I’d imagine these things are cyclical and what used to be quite effective could be effective again right?

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