8-5-23 Bo ~ Host of Football Talk
The beginning of the end started last year when USC and UCLA decided to take their programs out of the Pac 12 and head to the Big Ten. A move that takes place at the end of this season to avoid any TV contract refund requirements. This was not enough to kill the conference but with the Pac 12 being the only conference that doesn't have a TV contract after next season and a resolution doesn't look to be on the horizon those schools decided to head to a conference that is growing and future money already in the books.
Then Dion becomes the coach in Colorado and through a complete rebuilding of the program, his biggest change came last week with the official announcement of Colorado officially going back to the Big 12. Although Colorado hasn't really been good since over the last decade, having Primetime at the helm will make some of those contract talks more enticing for Apple TV who was the front runner in these conversations to potentially add some money to their offer in order to get closer to what the Pac 12 was looking for.
This bring us to Friday the 3rd and what is likely to be the final nail in the coffin for the Pac 12 when the University of Washington and Oregon also announced they will also be leaving for the Big Ten.
"The Big Ten is a thriving Conference with strong athletic and academic traditions, we are excited and confident about competing at the highest level on a national stage." UW Athletic Director Ana Mari Cauce said in a statement. She went on to say, "My top priority must be to do what's best out student-athletes and out University. This will help us ensure a strong future for our athletics program"
The meeting that was supposed to instill confidence in the future of the Pac 12 clearly didn't have enough answers to have two of the four charter schools that launched the Pacific Coast Conference 108 years ago to pack up and head out the door. So much so, it is reported that they are potentially going to be doing it for somewhere around half the money of what the other schools are going to receive from their lucrative TV deal that could reach 65 million per school. Even half of this number is about where Apple TV's top off was reported to be, at roughly 31 million but has also been reported as low as 20 to 25. That offer is set to expire at the end of the school year after only presenting this on Tuesday is what can really only be seen from the outside as a failure of leadership from Pac 12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff.
After this announcement it's reported the Big 12 is looking to collect more of the conference as well, with Arizona, ASU and Utah to follow Colorado with the other schools already pulling out
Is there a way back for the Pac 12? Sure but it'll never look the way it used to. Maybe WSU and Oregon State stay. They may combine with the Mountain West Conference whose best football program is Boise State. This will make their schedules tough to have a real shot at a title game falling way short on talent from the rest of the power five conferences. As you know record doesn't get you in the playoffs on it's own there is voting based on competition so even if a school like WSU who has had some great teams through the years only Notable games will be Oregon state which has a program that is getting better and potentially Boise if they merge or Stanford if they don't, that'll be tough to get the required votes even if they go undefeated.
Based on this last week and the uncertainty of direction, the remaining 4 schools will likely want to move on as well because with the announced departures, the under valued (based on the other conferences) Apple contact may very well be pulled of the table with 8 of the 12 schools set to depart next year. Wherever Washington State University ends up, whether they follow the UW to the Big ten, stay in the Pac 12 or head somewhere else, hopefully they can keep the tradition of the Apple Cup as the last game of the year. That being said the Big 10 will grow to 18 schools and there may just not be enough weeks on the schedule to accommodate the 114 game history between the two schools.
Some traditions will be lost but some new ones will be forged, so although the memories of my first Pac 10 games will be cemented in history, we will get to create more as new members of the Big ten and Big 12. Enjoy what looks to be the final season of the Pac 12 and get ready for a Power 4 layout just in time for the new 12 team playoff system
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