Is this the end of the pac?

NoGain

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Hmm....

Big Ten West

USC
UCLA
Oregon
Washington
Nebraska
Minnesota
Iowa
Wisconsin
Illinois
Northwestern

Big Ten East

Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State
Indiana
Purdue
Penn State
Clemson
Florida State
Rutgers
Maryland

That's somewhat balanced, makes some geographic sense.
 

RiverDog

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And here's what a Big 12 Conference might look like, although they might change their name to Big 16:

Big 12 West

Arizona
Arizona State
Kansas
KSU
Iowa State
BYU
Utah
Colorado

Big 12 East

Baylor
TCU
West Virginia
Houston
UCF
Texas Tech
Cincinnati
Oklahoma State
 

sc85sis

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I just don’t see the B1G wanting Oregon. They aren’t in the top 100 academically, and they don’t come from a big TV market or recruiting area. Nebraska had those same issues but made more sense geographically and as a school with a legacy of national championships in the past.

Washington might fit in terms of academic pedigree and market size, but the current B1G commissioner has indicated recently that they aren’t looking to add any more teams right now.

I’m considering this a click bait rumor until proven otherwise.
 

Sgt. Largent

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I just don’t see the B1G wanting Oregon. They aren’t in the top 100 academically, and they don’t come from a big TV market or recruiting area. Nebraska had those same issues but made more sense geographically and as a school with a legacy of national championships in the past.

Washington might fit in terms of academic pedigree and market size, but the current B1G commissioner has indicated recently that they aren’t looking to add any more teams right now.

I’m considering this a click bait rumor until proven otherwise.


Probably all true, and when you're the last to the table you usually get the least amount to eat.

It's why Colorado bounced, they wanted to secure their piece of the pie and not be left on a sinking ship. So either Washington, Oregon and the other powers left in the Pac 12 better go find some markets to sweet talk into joining, or they better get whatever offer's left on the table from the Big 10 or Big 12.

Go get SD State and a Texas school, go get Colorado State. Go get Boise State. Figure out a way to salvage the Pac 12 so you can still keep the biggest pieces of the pie with whatever media deal you find. Because now? No media company is going to want to give the Pac 12 any deal, let along a good one when they're seeing major markets jumping ship and so much still unresolved.
 

NoGain

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College football just keeps taking its effed-up-ness to new levels of greed, disarray, and exclusivity. It's like nobody, no governing body can step in and make sense of it. It's clear as day now that the SEC and Big Ten are the only first tier, major conferences left. The Big 12 is struggling to keep up the appearance that they're still relevant as a power conference. But let's be real. Once Texas and Oklahoma left, that ended that idea. Same for the Pac 12 when USC and UCLA fled to the Big Ten, if the handwriting wasn't already on the wall. The ACC is in a slightly better position, but that could soon end if teams like Clemson, Florida State, and Miami look for and find greener pastures to roam in.

There isn't anything left that resembles the greater good in play.

As a UW fan, it seems like getting into the Big Ten conference is the only avenue left for them to sustain their relevance as a top tier football college and potential destination for top recruits over the long term.

What a mess.

We've got a really good team this year. But after this year, all bets are off. Uncertainty over the program will abound for purely structural reasons.
 

RiverDog

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I just don’t see the B1G wanting Oregon. They aren’t in the top 100 academically, and they don’t come from a big TV market or recruiting area. Nebraska had those same issues but made more sense geographically and as a school with a legacy of national championships in the past.

Washington might fit in terms of academic pedigree and market size, but the current B1G commissioner has indicated recently that they aren’t looking to add any more teams right now.

I’m considering this a click bait rumor until proven otherwise.
IMO Washington and Oregon will move together. The Big 10 isn't going to want one lone school in South Alaska. Giving them two teams in the Northwest gives them a presence in nearly all areas of the country except for the gulf coast states.
 
OP
OP
C

CPHawk

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I just don’t see the B1G wanting Oregon. They aren’t in the top 100 academically, and they don’t come from a big TV market or recruiting area. Nebraska had those same issues but made more sense geographically and as a school with a legacy of national championships in the past.

Washington might fit in terms of academic pedigree and market size, but the current B1G commissioner has indicated recently that they aren’t looking to add any more teams right now.

I’m considering this a click bait rumor until proven otherwise.
You realize UO has had far and away better TV numbers than anyone in the pac 12 for the last 15 years, right?
 

RiverDog

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I agree with the above two comments. The Northwest, although not a huge market like S. Cal, is still significant, with Seattle ranked 14th, Portland 22nd. Oregon doesn't have an NFL franchise, so college football is the only game in town. They're relatively competitive in football, with both having advanced to the CFB playoffs in the past 10 years. They are good quality programs that would fit into a conference looking to expand their influence.
 

NoGain

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Have their been any big lawsuits brought against the SEC, Big Ten, or NCAA yet concerning the realignments going on? I'm not sure what the grounds for it might be, but the fates of entire conferences and universities and their programs have been put almost completely at the mercy of what boils down to a handful of people. It seems like there should be something in there to go after legally.

I mean, the federal government often steps in to block certain mergers between corporations when its determined that such a merger is creating an unfair competitive balance.

I don't know. It just seems like there's something wrong about it all, that it's becoming too monopolistic, that too much power is being allowed to consolidate into too few hands.
 

RiverDog

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Have their been any big lawsuits brought against the SEC, Big Ten, or NCAA yet concerning the realignments going on? I'm not sure what the grounds for it might be, but the fates of entire conferences and universities and their programs have been put almost completely at the mercy of what boils down to a handful of people. It seems like there should be something in there to go after legally.

I mean, the federal government often steps in to block certain mergers between corporations when its determined that such a merger is creating an unfair competitive balance.

I don't know. It just seems like there's something wrong about it all, that it's becoming too monopolistic, that too much power is being allowed to consolidate into too few hands.
Conferences aren't companies and they don't make money. Their member schools are the ones that put the revenue in the cash register. Colleges are technically not for profit; they are educational institutions, and they use any proceeds it to offset expenses, improve their facilities, etc. Most are state institutions, and any proceeds go back to the state to offset other programs and at other schools around the state, athletic and otherwise. They don't pay dividends to stockholders. They are not subject to federal antitrust laws of which you are referring to.

It sucks as I know what you're talking about, but it is completely legal and above board.
 

Sgt. Largent

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Have their been any big lawsuits brought against the SEC, Big Ten, or NCAA yet concerning the realignments going on? I'm not sure what the grounds for it might be, but the fates of entire conferences and universities and their programs have been put almost completely at the mercy of what boils down to a handful of people. It seems like there should be something in there to go after legally.

I mean, the federal government often steps in to block certain mergers between corporations when its determined that such a merger is creating an unfair competitive balance.

I don't know. It just seems like there's something wrong about it all, that it's becoming too monopolistic, that too much power is being allowed to consolidate into too few hands.

There are no anti-trust or regional laws applicable to colleges moving conferences, other than if they signed TV or media rights contracts, and since the Pac 12 dicked around too long and never signed a new media deal, universities are moving onto greener pastures.

IMO the dawn of NIL was really what ruined college sports. Just too much money dangled out by large universities and their bottomless pit of donor pockets to entice kids, and now entire universities to get with the program, or die off.

Unfortunately the Pac 12 picked the wrong time to have completely inept commissioners in place who got steamrolled when it came to all of this, and now the conference can't recover.
 

Sgt. Largent

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And once Phil Knight is gone, Oregon will fade back into consistent mediocrity. They aren't a good long-term investment.

Oregon's problem can't be solved with Knight's cash. Their media market is too small for the Big 10 or 12 to care a whole lot about making Oregon a priority over schools like UW or Arizona/ Arizona State.
 

RiverDog

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Oregon's problem can't be solved with Knight's cash. Their media market is too small for the Big 10 or 12 to care a whole lot about making Oregon a priority over schools like UW or Arizona/ Arizona State.
It isn't just the size of the market, it's the quality of that market. The LA market, for example, is huge, but they don't tune into college football games the way fans in Oregon do.

The other thing is that they don't want to bring in just one school from a geographically large and remote region. They may want to bring in Oregon with Washington as it would be a natural rivalry. If Washington joins the Big 10 alone, there won't be a single conference school within a day's drive. Washington may not want to join unless they have a dance partner.
 

Sgt. Largent

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It isn't just the size of the market, it's the quality of that market. The LA market, for example, is huge, but they don't tune into college football games the way fans in Oregon do.

The other thing is that they don't want to bring in just one school from a geographically large and remote region. They may want to bring in Oregon with Washington as it would be a natural rivalry. If Washington joins the Big 10 alone, there won't be a single conference school within a day's drive. Washington may not want to join unless they have a dance partner.

I do think Washington and Oregon are a package deal, for more than just proximity reasons. It sure feels like they still see an opportunity to be the big dogs in a power 5 conference, rather than being sloppy 3rds or 4ths in another conference getting less revenue shares.
 

RiverDog

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Arizona's Board of Regents is meeting today, so there could be an announcement about their future very soon. Although the details haven't been disclosed, apparently member schools have been advised of the terms of the new media proposal. Lots of stuff going on.
 
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