07-11-2017, 06:16 PM
I haven't posted a crazy theory in a while and I've got the itch so I was thinking about this today...
I'm not trying to piggyback on the Dude here because I think he has no clue what he's talking about, but let's assume for a moment that the financial issues and distribution difficulties of the PAC do indeed lead to trouble on the West Coast.
I do NOT think the Big 12 is going to snag PAC schools. I think perhaps the geographical limitations will prevent the B1G or the SEC from doing so either. But let's think back to the last time 2 leagues with relative proximity were both having financial issues coupled with demographic shortfalls...the Big 8 and the SWC died off and the remnants reformed as the Big 12.
What if we see something akin to this happen again?
What if ESPN decides to go all in with the PAC once the contract is up in the early 2020s with this sort of scenario in mind?
PAC drops Washington State and Oregon State
Big 12 drops Kansas State, TCU, Baylor, and West Virginia
The remnants merge with an ESPN owned 3rd Tier network that combines the existing PACN with the LHN...
The Pacific Western Conference?
West: UCLA, USC, California, Stanford, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State
East: Utah, Colorado, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Iowa State
Let's also say...
SEC adds TCU and West Virginia
ACC adds Notre Dame and Cincinnati
B1G adds UConn and Colorado State
You've got 4 separate 16 team Power conferences. For ESPN, they now exclusively own 3/4 of the Power product and virtually every growth market in the nation.
Thoughts?
I'm not trying to piggyback on the Dude here because I think he has no clue what he's talking about, but let's assume for a moment that the financial issues and distribution difficulties of the PAC do indeed lead to trouble on the West Coast.
I do NOT think the Big 12 is going to snag PAC schools. I think perhaps the geographical limitations will prevent the B1G or the SEC from doing so either. But let's think back to the last time 2 leagues with relative proximity were both having financial issues coupled with demographic shortfalls...the Big 8 and the SWC died off and the remnants reformed as the Big 12.
What if we see something akin to this happen again?
What if ESPN decides to go all in with the PAC once the contract is up in the early 2020s with this sort of scenario in mind?
PAC drops Washington State and Oregon State
Big 12 drops Kansas State, TCU, Baylor, and West Virginia
The remnants merge with an ESPN owned 3rd Tier network that combines the existing PACN with the LHN...
The Pacific Western Conference?
West: UCLA, USC, California, Stanford, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State
East: Utah, Colorado, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Iowa State
Let's also say...
SEC adds TCU and West Virginia
ACC adds Notre Dame and Cincinnati
B1G adds UConn and Colorado State
You've got 4 separate 16 team Power conferences. For ESPN, they now exclusively own 3/4 of the Power product and virtually every growth market in the nation.
Thoughts?