Death spiral? I guess I'm in the minority on this. I see Cal being left out of the Big 10 a positive development. The reality is Cal football and basketball for decades, hasn't been a true contender in the Pac, with the sole exception of a couple of years which looking back were an anomaly. For the vast majority of that time Cal has been…
Death spiral? I guess I'm in the minority on this. I see Cal being left out of the Big 10 a positive development. The reality is Cal football and basketball for decades, hasn't been a true contender in the Pac, with the sole exception of a couple of years which looking back were an anomaly. For the vast majority of that time Cal has been an also-ran, or many years a doormat. For years I've wanted Cal to right-size it's program to the level of it's conference/opponents. This provides a golden opportunity to do that. I for one would love to see Cal go to the Mtn West, Ivy League, or be an Independent. Finally Cal could be competitive in its own conference and have a chance to actually win their conference and/or go to the post season on a regular basis. I would much rather be in a competitive conference of relative equals than be a whooping boy for decades to teams with a stacked deck. That is exactly what Cal would be in the Big 10, anyone who says otherwise is deluding themselves IMO.
The only downside is how the above might reduce revenue for other sports at Cal. But that will ultimately get figured out through donations (like what happened with Cal baseball). And the argument that it's better to doormat the revenue sports for cash (sacrificial lambs) to support the other sports I'm just not on board with that.
Death spiral? I guess I'm in the minority on this. I see Cal being left out of the Big 10 a positive development. The reality is Cal football and basketball for decades, hasn't been a true contender in the Pac, with the sole exception of a couple of years which looking back were an anomaly. For the vast majority of that time Cal has been an also-ran, or many years a doormat. For years I've wanted Cal to right-size it's program to the level of it's conference/opponents. This provides a golden opportunity to do that. I for one would love to see Cal go to the Mtn West, Ivy League, or be an Independent. Finally Cal could be competitive in its own conference and have a chance to actually win their conference and/or go to the post season on a regular basis. I would much rather be in a competitive conference of relative equals than be a whooping boy for decades to teams with a stacked deck. That is exactly what Cal would be in the Big 10, anyone who says otherwise is deluding themselves IMO.
The only downside is how the above might reduce revenue for other sports at Cal. But that will ultimately get figured out through donations (like what happened with Cal baseball). And the argument that it's better to doormat the revenue sports for cash (sacrificial lambs) to support the other sports I'm just not on board with that.