Conflicting reports emerge about Cal, Stanford and the Big 12
If the ACC invites don't come, the California Golden Bears and Stanford Cardinal need a second option. Could the Big 12 extend an invite to Cal, Stanford, Washington State and Oregon State?
The Big 12 has really not come up in our discussions about future homes for the California Golden Bears. Now they’re coming up as a possibility as terms get ironed out for an ACC invite.
As Cal and Stanford attempt to finalize a deal with the ACC, the Big 12 has surfaced as another potential landing spot. In that scenario the remaining Pac 12 schools (including Oregon State and Washington State) could also join the Big 12.
However, Brett McMurphy of Action Network seems to indicate this hasn’t been seriously discussed.
Despite various reports to the contrary, Big 12 has not had conversations w/any of the Pac-4 schools & has no intention in engaging w/those schools, multiple Big 12 sources told @ActionNetworkHQ
As we’ve discussed before, Cal and Stanford do not seem particularly keen on a conference with a vastly different cultural and political profile to what the Pac-12 conference members valued. Baylor and BYU come particularly to mind. The academic profile is also the lowest of all the remaining conference, so you have to imagine Cal and Stanford administrators are not too keen.
There is definite donor concerns as a result. Ending up in the Big 12 could see donor attrition at a time when Cal athletics needs every dollar they can find.
But there are positives to the Big 12. For one, travel. Playing five to six football games on the East Coast will force Cal and Stanford to log the most frequent flyer miles of any Power 5 school, trekking back to the ACC every week. That is a logistical nightmare to work out.
However, if Oregon State and Washington State are also invited (which hasn’t been previously reported), suddenly Cal and Stanford would be joining a Big 12 that would have eight Pac-12 teams in it. That would mean seven former potential conference matchups if there are divisions, so only maybe a handful of new Big 12 games. The changes would be far minimal from a football perspective, alleviating travel concerns that are certainly coming up regarding the ACC.
There also might be some behind the scenes dealings regarding ESPN, who along with FOX have been guiding realignment. Bob Thompson, former Fox Sports TV executive, explains the logic.
ACC is $72m. Big 12 would be 66.6% of $31.7m x 4 schools or $84.5m. If you assume the $10m x 2 if OSU/WSU go to AAC then ESPN actually spends $7.5m less per year in total if the four go to Big 12. In other words, just an additional $12.5m to secure both OSU and WSU. Good buy.
Additionally, even a reduced Big 12 share would likely generate more bottom-line revenue for Cal
ESPN definitely does not want to get shut out of the late night market as they’d like to keep their Pac-12 After Dark program going. ESPN also is the primary rights holder of the ACC and might not want to upset Florida State and Clemson anymore so that they consider exiting earlier.
Getting Oregon State and Washington State bundled with Cal/Stanford at a discount along with the new Big 12 members Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State will provide them with that inventory, while avoiding have to shell out an additional $72 million to the ACC to add Cal, Stanford and SMU.
It’s also possible that this is a leverage play being put out by Cal and Stanford to pressure the ACC into a final vote earlier, and potentially milk more favorable terms than the very reduced revenue share being rumored for Cal the last few days.
Still, it all hinges on an ACC vote being conducted this week and at least one of the no votes switching to yes. The longer this drags out, the more likely Cal and Stanford are going to have to consider alternative options like the Big 12.
Would you rather see Cal in the ACC or Big 12?
I vote Big 12. Tired of hearing about cultural differences. They are all good schools...maybe not elite, but, at this point, who gives a crap. Mark Madsen is Mormon; Tom Holmoe is Mormon; Nate Longshore is Mormon. I bet most of the good Poly players we have had are Mormon. Get over yourselves. I would much rather play BYU than most of the teams in the ACC. I have different beliefs than my Mormon friends but they are still my friends and they love college sports...and they are civil too. It would be fun to play schools like Texas Tech and Kansas State. Kansas in basketball? Sign me up for that one. Plus, we get ASU, UofA, Utah, Colorado (and maybe Oregon State and Wazzu) back on the schedule. This is a no brainer and we should have been pushing for this all along rather than farting around with the ACC. Not happy with how the Big XX meddled with the Pac, but it's survival at this point. And for the skeptical Big XX fans, let's engage and let me convince you that adding the four Pac survivors would make for a deep and exciting league.
"Cal athletics needs every dollar they can get" - this crisis lands squarely at the feet of Mike Williams, Clueless Carol Christ, and Empty Suit Jim Knowlton--- these amateurs ignored / mismanaged Cal athletics and let them deteriorate to the point that Cal has very little currency in the world of intercollegiate athletics - even now, Cal is riding on Stanford's coattails (and better be gripping hard, white knuckled hard) - once Cal does settle into a new conference (unlike Stanford, Cal can't opt to go the independent route), you can bet there will be a clarion call to all alums to ante up - we're going to be dunned to cover for the endless, costly mistakes made by this trio of naif amateurs - for me to commit anything, I want the three dolts to be punished - I realize there are no stocks in any public park in Berkeley, but their "crimes" must be acknowledged in some way - Fire Clueless Carol at once (I don't care if she's got a week left, she needs to know that she screwed up) - Fire Empty Suit Jim immediately with no severance and contest his pension due to the women's swimming fiasco. Make his life miserable. - Williams? Somehow someone needs to rub his nose deep down in the shitpile he helped to create. I guess I'm too Old Testament, but these three dolts shouldn't be allowed to skate off into the sunset and live happily ever after. We're all suffering now and these oblivious perps need to suffer along with the rest of us. - Finally, the regents need to be made aware that their affirmations of the leadership nominees led directly to failures. They need to know that when it comes to leadership of a complicated institution like Cal, merit needs emphasis and prime consideration, not diversity just for diversity's sake.