The Pac-6? Discussions between Big 12 and four Pac-12 members reportedly happening this week
The rumored names: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah.
A glum week gets worse for Cal fans. The disintegration of the Pac-12 continues in earnest, as the conference seems like is about to lose half its teams.
It sounds as if the Big 12 is seizing the opportunity to capitalize on the chaos and uncertainty and add in members that make sense for their larger footprint.
Rumors are meetings are underway with several members. The Arizona Wildcats are likely one of the key names, since this report originates from Jason Scheer of Wildcat Authority.
The other three appear to be the Arizona State Sun Devils, Colorado Buffaloes and the Utah Utes, based on additional reports.
With USC and UCLA on their way to the Big Ten, the Pac-12’s power is significantly diminished, particularly with negotiations for the next TV deal. According to a conversation John Canzano had with a former Fox Sports executive, the Pac-12 losing USC and UCLA reduced the conference’s bargaining power by about 40%.
So it makes sense for the Arizonas and the Mountain schools to jump ship. It’s unlikely that the Big Ten will reach out to those schools based on market sizing. Only Arizona State would be a fit from a market perspective based on Phoenix, but ASU is not an AAU research institute, which has been a Big Ten pre-requisite for entry. Utah would make sense from a football and improving brand perspective, but the market is still fairly small.
So that leaves us with the Pac-6: Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, Washington State. That is not even close to enough to maintain a competitive conference. Acquiring new teams from the Mountain West will not offset these losses.
Oregon and Washington are sitting on pins and needles, hoping the Big Ten takes their calls. It seems like they should be a natural fit, but they weren’t included in the initial run, so we’ll see.
Stanford has a bevy of options with financial independence. Do they go independent? Do they de-emphasize football and go West Coast Ivy? Or do they try to keep engaging in this arms race and profit while they still can?
You just have to feel bad for Oregon State and Washington State. If Oregon and Washington leave, they’ll try their best for the Big 12, but it’s going to be a hard sell.
And then there is Cal, our sweet, beautiful Cal. What on earth are they going to do? What is their road to staying in the power football race? The Big Ten is clearly the path to long-term success, but of all the schools that could be in contention, they have probably the weakest case to make at this time. Someone powerful (in the Big Ten, or USC/UCLA, or the state of California) is going to have to make the case.
Arizona and ASU belong in the Big 10. There is no alumni market for the Big 12 or Mountain West teams here. There is a huge, and growing Big 10 alumni network in Arizona. If it’s about having games people want to watch, then that’s the answer. These states aren’t like Midwestern states where different schools can easily drive to each other’s games. The distances are really far here. Will common sense prevail? Probably not.
Gobears49
A good topic for an article would be to ask for suggestions as to how to increase football attendance. Would get lots of comments. Then WriteForCaliofrnia could send them to Jim Knowlton and ask him to comment on them in terms of whether he would seriously consider them and give them a try. Actually, a commission should be established to discuss that topic. Maybe some of you narjetubg types could participate in that group call, maybe after work hours. I'd go for flashlight stunts for a night game, because it has probably been ages since that was done and promote it by asking parents to bring their kids. But there must be much better ideas int there than that.