2021 Make or Break Year for the PAC12? New TV Contract.

[#1Stunner]

Pac-12 football: On-field slump, upcoming media rights negotiations make 2021 a year like no other

The conference must reassert itself within the Power Five before it’s too late

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https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/01/05/pac-12-football-on-field-slump-upcoming-media-rights-negotiations-make-2021-a-year-like-no-other/

 

 

[#1Stunner]

If the PAC12 were to lose a member (USC???) and need to expand by 1-2 schools (which I don't think is very plausible, then the biggest possible beneficiaries I see are:

(1) SDSU --- to replace any loss of a California school

(2) Houston / SMU --- to give the PAC12 access to Texas and the Central Time Zone

[BacksThePack]

P12 isn't expanding to the B12 without B12 schools

[Bruininthebay]

Jon Wilner is very concerned that the Pac 12 will diminish in standing enough that he'll cover the San Jose State Spartan program and be unable to transfer to a Big 12, ACC, SEC or Big Ten market at another media organization.  Neither day has come.

The melodrama of Larry Scott will continue through 2024 because of the huge asterisk a global pandemic puts on evaluating performance.  Supposedly Mr. Scott acted well to address our internal issues with athletes.

[Jalapeno]

1 hour ago, Bruininthebay said:

Jon Wilner is very concerned that the Pac 12 will diminish in standing enough that he'll cover the San Jose State Spartan program and be unable to transfer to a Big 12, ACC, SEC or Big Ten market at another media organization.  Neither day has come.

The melodrama of Larry Scott will continue through 2024 because of the huge asterisk a global pandemic puts on evaluating performance.  Supposedly Mr. Scott acted well to address our internal issues with athletes.

Larry's contract runs through 2022.  He won't make it to 2024.

[Jalapeno]

4 hours ago, #1Stunner said:

If the PAC12 were to lose a member (USC???) and need to expand by 1-2 schools (which I don't think is very plausible, then the biggest possible beneficiaries I see are:

(1) SDSU --- to replace any loss of a California school

(2) Houston / SMU --- to give the PAC12 access to Texas and the Central Time Zone

1. Not opposed to that.

2. Pac-12 will not take private religious schools and Houston would be the school chosen in that case.  Pac-12 is basically a Pacific C-USA.

[AztecSU]

5 minutes ago, Jalapeno said:

1. Not opposed to that.

2. Pac-12 will not take private religious schools and Houston would be the school chosen in that case.  Pac-12 is basically a Pacific C-USA.

1. Never happening

2. I think B12 is more likely to poach Southern Division schools from the PAC, than the PAC is to expand without a P5 level school involved. Neither is likely. 

[masterfrog]

USA Today had an article about the failures of college football everywhere in the West today.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2021/01/11/alabama-ohio-state-shows-how-college-football-lost-west/6603653002/  No Pac 12 game has been among the top 30 rated televised games of the season for the last two years.  It appears that it may already be too late for football west of the Rockies.

[Nickp1991]

“2021 is an enormous season moving into those media rights deals, in terms of where the Pac-12 stands in the Power Five,’’ said Brock Huard, the FOX analyst and former Washington quarterback

[halfmanhalfbronco]

41 minutes ago, masterfrog said:

USA Today had an article about the failures of college football everywhere in the West today.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2021/01/11/alabama-ohio-state-shows-how-college-football-lost-west/6603653002/  No Pac 12 game has been among the top 30 rated televised games of the season for the last two years.  It appears that it may already be too late for football west of the Rockies.

 

They must not have heard that Avalos is coming home to Boise.

 

[#1Stunner]

2 hours ago, Jalapeno said:

1. Not opposed to that.

2. Pac-12 will not take private religious schools and Houston would be the school chosen in that case.  Pac-12 is basically a Pacific C-USA.

 

Good point.  I completely forgot that SMU is a religious school. 

I wonder of Colorado and Colorado fans miss the BIG12?

[Maynard Delecto]

Thanks Al.

[renoskier]

On 1/11/2021 at 3:53 PM, #1Stunner said:

 

Good point.  I completely forgot that SMU is a religious school. 

I wonder of Colorado and Colorado fans miss the BIG12?

Not this one, definitely prefer being in the PAC12.

[Jeffkills]

If Larry Scott muffs the handling of this - akin to a Hair Thomas - I can't see him retaining/extending his position with the PAC...

https://www.theringer.com/video/2020/11/4/21550321/larry-scott-is-running-the-pac-12-into-the-ground

FWIW, Hair's one hell of a handsome devil, is he not?  Also, observe his laser focus while playing Candy Crush, or whatever he does..

[Jalapeno]

On 1/11/2021 at 4:53 PM, #1Stunner said:

 

Good point.  I completely forgot that SMU is a religious school. 

I wonder of Colorado and Colorado fans miss the BIG12?

CU fans miss having a conference that had a commissioner who knew what he was doing.  It has been a long time since that happened.

[RSF]

3 hours ago, Jalapeno said:

CU fans miss having a conference that had a commissioner who knew what he was doing.  It has been a long time since that happened.

Thats funny...dont think you'll find a huge Bob Bowlsby fan club either... 

[Jalapeno]

16 hours ago, RSF said:

Thats funny...dont think you'll find a huge Bob Bowlsby fan club either... 

Big 12 fans down on their commissioner?  Perhaps they can trade with the Pac-12?

[jdgaucho]

On 1/13/2021 at 9:43 AM, Jeffkills said:

If Larry Scott muffs the handling of this - akin to a Hair Thomas - I can't see him retaining/extending his position with the PAC...

https://www.theringer.com/video/2020/11/4/21550321/larry-scott-is-running-the-pac-12-into-the-ground

FWIW, Hair's one hell of a handsome devil, is he not?  Also, observe his laser focus while playing Candy Crush, or whatever he does..

 

He's a Smash Bros. afficionado

[Bruininthebay]

The budget deficits of the athletic departments for the land grant institutions is the actual make or break issue for the Pac 12.

As of July 2020, Wazzou is projected to have a $102.7 million deficit for the 2022 budget. and Oregon State cut their athletic budget by 20% for 2021.

The strategies of the schools are different (Wazzou is putting things on a credit card while Oregon State is cutting to the bone), but they both appear to make it more difficult in future years to fund their athletic program on par with the other ten schools. 

I recognize that how to address the disparity between the athletic departments of land grant institutions and the Association of American Universities institutions is a problem between the upper middle class and the rich of an affluent conference but this dynamic is way more important to the conference than who the commissioner is.

If the Pac 12 permanently changes to a ten game conference schedule, then WSU and OSU should remain rather than adding new members.  It seems unlikely that conferences will permanently play ten games though.

If the Pac 12 returns to our traditional nine game conference schedule, UW, UO and Stanford will continue to be advantaged over other competitive Pac 12 football programs because of how division play is structured.

If the Pac 12 land grant institutions that aren't in the AAU join the MW conference, the MW would have seven land grant institutions which is more than the PAC 12 and Big 12.