(07-30-2022 08:30 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  Whatever they do, just drop number and go by the PAC (Pacific Athletic Conference)

I agree, I wish none of the conferences had numbers but the B12 kind of needs it to differentiate from the BIG. Wish the B12 changed there name to something else but won't happen.

If the Pac-12 can’t get any Big 12 schools (which would be the first choice), I think it would be SDSU and SMU as the first choices.

UNLV has the Las Vegas market, which can’t be discounted, but I’m always surprised where they are academically. They’re at #249 in the US News rankings this past year, which at that point is getting to the Boise State level (who is a better TV brand).

I love the thought of Gonzaga as a non-football member a lot here. As a pure sports fan, that would actually be a more exciting move than anything that they could do for football. It also possibly puts Arizona (who seems to like the Big 12’s basketball strength) more at ease.

(07-30-2022 08:39 PM)AztecNation Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 08:30 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  Whatever they do, just drop number and go by the PAC (Pacific Athletic Conference)

I agree, I wish none of the conferences had numbers but the B12 kind of needs it to differentiate from the BIG. Wish the B12 changed there name to something else but won't happen.

Like the "new" Southwest Conference? (They'd have to get the rights from either Rice or Texas State. I forget who currently owns the rights to the name at the moment, but I know it's between those two, which is weird considering Texas State never played a down in the SWC.)

(07-30-2022 02:49 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 01:57 PM)BeatWestern! Wrote:  Good article here by Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune on SDSU and Pac-12 expansion.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sandieg...f_amp=true

Zeigler did not quite get it right...:

Kliavkoff never said that SDSU had to be on par with the top of the conference academically and the PAC knows that TV numbers are not relevant when comparing the MWC and PAC. The Boise State-SDSU game last season on CBS got 1.95 million viewers. That was an encouraging sign. But most MWC games are on at night on FS1 or CBSSN, and the TV ratings are just not good for those games. In San Diego, SDSU would own the TV market for college football

True.

SDSU's TV viewership numbers would probably be similar to most P5 schools vs. a P5 schedule, much like Cincy's and BYU's are likely to be when they start playing eight Big 12 teams per year.

These are BYU's 2021 viewership numbers in their regular season games vs. P5 opponents:

11/27/21 (BYU/USC): 1.458 million viewers
10/30/21 (UVA/BYU): 678,000 viewers
10/23/21 (BYU/WSU): 466,000 viewers
10/16/21 (BYU/BAYLOR): 1.440 million viewers
9/18/21 (ASU/BYU): 1.498 million viewers
9/11/21 (UTAH/BYU): 1.503 million viewers
9/4/21 (BYU/ARIZONA): 933,000 viewers

average vs. P5 opponents: 1.139 million viewers per game

BYU's season average (including 5 non-P5 opponents): 714,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50



Cincinnati:

9/18/21 (CINCY/INDIANA): 1.681 million viewers
10/2/21 (CINCY/ND): 3.805 million viewers

Cincy's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 430,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50


UCF:

9/11/21 (UCF/LOUISVILLE): 1.881 million viewers

UCF's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 566,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50


Houston:

9/11/21 (TEXAS TECH/HOUSTON): 831,000 viewers

Houston's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 689,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


BYU/Cincinnati/UCF/Houston's average vs. P5 opponents: 1.470 million viewers per game.

Average viewership per game: 599,750 viewers

Summary: On average, BYU, Cincy, UCF, and Houston had a surplus of 870,250 more viewers per game vs. P5 opponents, compared to their full season average per game viewership vs. all (P5 and non-P5) opponents.


.

(07-30-2022 07:51 PM)Sactowndog Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 02:14 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 02:04 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  14 with SDSU, Boise, Col St and SMU. Give them all half shares for the first contract.

They have to be worth something collectively on the basis of inventory alone.

That boils down to two out of SDSU, Colorado State and SMU, since there's No Way in Hades that Cal and Stanford agree to Boise State.

The PAC has a huge ego problem they can’t solve. 63% of the conferences footprint resides in the State of California.

Quite. I'll note that I am not saying that Cal and Stanford are justified in their academic snobbery ... but hearing that KitKat has awarded Boise State co-state-flagship status is not going to change that.

Quote: In California, they have both schools sitting in an area that accounts for 4.2% of the state in size. The schools represent an educational systems that only admits the top 4% of Ca High School students and is by far the smallest public higher educational system in the state.

Indeed. You get to be "elite" by being elitist, and while it may guarantee the esteem of upper middle class Chinese parents who can afford to send their progeny to get a "Top Ten in the World" brand degree ... it doesn't guarantee the affection of the people of the state of California.

Quote: And somehow they think the residents of this state give a **** about the PAC-12. They don’t and will soon care even less. They could fix it by adding a couple Cal State Schools in underrepresented areas of the state. But they won’t. Instead they will tell the majority of residents who graduated from Cal States they aren’t good enough to associate with them in a sports conference no less.

Yes. It could well take one of the two getting the Big Ten life preserver and the other one realizing that it is going to be left behind in what is left of the PAC{+} for the left-behind to finally see sense and support SDSU ... but even there, "seeing sense" might involve being outvoted and having to choose between staying in the PAC with "lesser" California schools, or else going Independent.

_____________________
{+ Note that only one getting into the Big Ten has to be considered as a possible scenario, since they are not even the most valuable PAC schools for the Big Ten after USC and UCLA leaves, and either one gives Big Ten schools exposure in the Bay area. As far as adding a pair of West Coast schools that are, for example, higher ranked on the AWRU than the existing Big Ten schools, Stanford and Washington is a smarter add than Stanford and Cal.}

(07-30-2022 09:10 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  I love the thought of Gonzaga as a non-football member a lot here. As a pure sports fan, that would actually be a more exciting move than anything that they could do for football.

Agree that adding Gonzaga would be a good move. In addition, the PAC could add Hawaii, Air Force, or Boise State football. Boise State might prefer a full membership, but they would probably accept a FB-only invitation to join the PAC.

Adding San Diego State (all-sports), Gonzaga BB, and Boise State FB would go a long way toward offsetting the loss of USC or UCLA.

.

(07-30-2022 10:05 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 09:10 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  I love the thought of Gonzaga as a non-football member a lot here. As a pure sports fan, that would actually be a more exciting move than anything that they could do for football.

Agree that adding Gonzaga would be a good move. In addition, the PAC could add Hawaii, Air Force, or Boise State football. Boise State might prefer a full membership, but they would probably accept a FB-only invitation to join the PAC.

Adding San Diego State (all-sports), Gonzaga BB, and Boise State FB would go a long way toward offsetting the loss of USC or UCLA.

Gonzaga doesn't have the academic profile.

They'd work at the MWC level but not in a P5.

Gonzaga is 79th (higher than some others listed here) in U.S. News and World Report.

RICE #17

Hawaii #162

SDSU #67

Boise St. below 300

Fresno St. #213

(07-30-2022 07:55 PM)Poster Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 07:10 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 06:28 PM)Poster Wrote:  I think one thing that always gets forgotten in these Boise State to PAC talks is that Boise State was FCS until something like 1996. Nobody ever seems to mention that, but I suspect that might be more of a negative on them getting a PAC invite than people realize.

TCU, as a contrast, actually was an SWC member (albeit a very unsuccessful one) at the same time that Boise State was in FCS.

TCU won a couple national titles back when Boise was a new Junior College in the 1930s.

Yeah, well I was referring to how TCU was for the last 30 years of the SWC. The annual TCU-Rice game often determining who went 1-7 in conference play and who went 0-8.

Well I was also agreeing with you that TCU had been around a LOT longer.

(07-30-2022 08:18 PM)Poster Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 03:12 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 03:03 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 02:58 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 02:49 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  Zeigler did not quite get it right:
"We will look at media value, athletic strength, academic and cultural fit, and geography from a recruiting and student-athlete experience standpoint," said Kiavkoff.

Zeigler: "He outlined four criteria: media rights value, competitive strength, academic fit and geography. He declined to discuss specific expansion targets, but he didn’t have to. San Diego State doesn’t check all four boxes — its TV numbers aren’t eye-popping and its academics, though improving, are not yet on par with the top of the conference — but it checks enough of them to clearly separate from college football’s next echelon."

Kliavkoff never said that SDSU had to be on par with the top of the conference academically and the PAC knows that TV numbers are not relevant when comparing the MWC and PAC. The Boise State-SDSU game last season on CBS got 1.95 million viewers. That was an encouraging sign. But most MWC games are on at night on FS1 or CBSSN, and the TV ratings are just not good for those games. In San Diego, SDSU would own the TV market for college football.

Boise State's ratings against UCF, BYU, Oklahoma State and San Diego State that drew more than a million Boise State is clearly the top runner to the P5. Their viewership was better than Arizona, California, Oregon State and Colorado, and close to Arizona State. Move them in the PAC 12? They could easily past Arizona State and Washington State.

Academically Boise is now "ok" because of their co-flagship status in Idaho.

Something Fresno and Gonzaga can't even get close to touching.

That has no value.

USNWR isn't great, but just for illustration, Fresno is #213 and Boise is in the "also rans," #s 299-391. Washington St. is the bottom of the Pac at #179.

They seriously rank that far in UNSWR nowadays? I remember when they ranked at most 200 schools, and possibly only 150 or 175.

They used to ignore you if you were a national school below 200 or so. Now they rank to about 298 and then group the last 100 together.

(07-30-2022 10:23 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 10:05 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 09:10 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  I love the thought of Gonzaga as a non-football member a lot here. As a pure sports fan, that would actually be a more exciting move than anything that they could do for football.

Agree that adding Gonzaga would be a good move. In addition, the PAC could add Hawaii, Air Force, or Boise State football. Boise State might prefer a full membership, but they would probably accept a FB-only invitation to join the PAC.

Adding San Diego State (all-sports), Gonzaga BB, and Boise State FB would go a long way toward offsetting the loss of USC or UCLA.

Gonzaga doesn't have the academic profile.

They'd work at the MWC level but not in a P5.

True, but none of the MWC teams, nor SMU matches the full PAC level academic profile, but "beggars can't be choosers," and as the Union-Tribune article points out, given the position they're in, the PAC may have little choice but to add the schools (including SDSU) that meet the most criteria on their checklist.

While the PAC remainers would certainly prefer to add schools with loftier academic credentials, P5 FB & MBB programs generate significant income, and if they want to maintain their lucrative PAC revenue stream, they might have to add a couple of schools with lower academic standards.

Broadcasting revenue is important because it can have a beneficial effect on student tuition and fees. Refusing to admit schools such as SDSU and Gonzaga could have an adverse financial affect on their students from this perspective.

.

(07-30-2022 08:30 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  Whatever they do, just drop number and go by the PAC (Pacific Athletic Conference)

They should realize, numbers change. At least the Big 12 is mathematically correct for now. Big 10 is + 6. Atlantic 10 is + 5 or 6 or 7 or who knows this week.

(07-30-2022 10:43 PM)TOPSTRAIGHT Wrote:  Gonzaga is 79th (higher than some others listed here) in U.S. News and World Report.

RICE #17

Hawaii #162

SDSU #67

Boise St. below 300

Fresno St. #213

UNLV #249

Colorado St. #67

SMU #68

(07-30-2022 08:30 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  Whatever they do, just drop number and go by the PAC (Pacific Athletic Conference)

A PAC-12 President last month literally called the league "the Pacific Athletic Conference" even though it's never been called that.

(07-30-2022 09:15 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 02:49 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 01:57 PM)BeatWestern! Wrote:  Good article here by Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune on SDSU and Pac-12 expansion.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sandieg...f_amp=true

Zeigler did not quite get it right...:

Kliavkoff never said that SDSU had to be on par with the top of the conference academically and the PAC knows that TV numbers are not relevant when comparing the MWC and PAC. The Boise State-SDSU game last season on CBS got 1.95 million viewers. That was an encouraging sign. But most MWC games are on at night on FS1 or CBSSN, and the TV ratings are just not good for those games. In San Diego, SDSU would own the TV market for college football

True.

SDSU's TV viewership numbers would probably be similar to most P5 schools vs. a P5 schedule, much like Cincy's and BYU's are likely to be when they start playing eight Big 12 teams per year.

These are BYU's 2021 viewership numbers in their regular season games vs. P5 opponents:

11/27/21 (BYU/USC): 1.458 million viewers
10/30/21 (UVA/BYU): 678,000 viewers
10/23/21 (BYU/WSU): 466,000 viewers
10/16/21 (BYU/BAYLOR): 1.440 million viewers
9/18/21 (ASU/BYU): 1.498 million viewers
9/11/21 (UTAH/BYU): 1.503 million viewers
9/4/21 (BYU/ARIZONA): 933,000 viewers

average vs. P5 opponents: 1.139 million viewers per game

BYU's season average (including 5 non-P5 opponents): 714,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50



Cincinnati:

9/18/21 (CINCY/INDIANA): 1.681 million viewers
10/2/21 (CINCY/ND): 3.805 million viewers

Cincy's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 430,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50


UCF:

9/11/21 (UCF/LOUISVILLE): 1.881 million viewers

UCF's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 566,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50


Houston:

9/11/21 (TEXAS TECH/HOUSTON): 831,000 viewers

Houston's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 689,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


BYU/Cincinnati/UCF/Houston's average vs. P5 opponents: 1.470 million viewers per game.

Average viewership per game: 599,750 viewers

Summary: On average, BYU, Cincy, UCF, and Houston had a surplus of 870,250 more viewers per game vs. P5 opponents, compared to their full season average per game viewership vs. all (P5 and non-P5) opponents.


.

That Baylor guy's study had a limited sample, but it showed SDSU being 8th out of 14 western major G5s (MWC + Tulsa + SMU). UNLV was dead last (which is pretty believable-they have been really bad). Boise was below all the Pac schools but not by far. It was a good gap to Tulsa, SMU and Fresno. Then a bit of a gap to the rest.

If the PAC is "truly" putting academics as the first or second factor then I would think anyone 200--300 would be OFF the list of candidates.

(07-30-2022 10:58 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 09:15 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 02:49 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 01:57 PM)BeatWestern! Wrote:  Good article here by Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune on SDSU and Pac-12 expansion.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sandieg...f_amp=true

Zeigler did not quite get it right...:

Kliavkoff never said that SDSU had to be on par with the top of the conference academically and the PAC knows that TV numbers are not relevant when comparing the MWC and PAC. The Boise State-SDSU game last season on CBS got 1.95 million viewers. That was an encouraging sign. But most MWC games are on at night on FS1 or CBSSN, and the TV ratings are just not good for those games. In San Diego, SDSU would own the TV market for college football

True.

SDSU's TV viewership numbers would probably be similar to most P5 schools vs. a P5 schedule, much like Cincy's and BYU's are likely to be when they start playing eight Big 12 teams per year.

These are BYU's 2021 viewership numbers in their regular season games vs. P5 opponents:

11/27/21 (BYU/USC): 1.458 million viewers
10/30/21 (UVA/BYU): 678,000 viewers
10/23/21 (BYU/WSU): 466,000 viewers
10/16/21 (BYU/BAYLOR): 1.440 million viewers
9/18/21 (ASU/BYU): 1.498 million viewers
9/11/21 (UTAH/BYU): 1.503 million viewers
9/4/21 (BYU/ARIZONA): 933,000 viewers

average vs. P5 opponents: 1.139 million viewers per game

BYU's season average (including 5 non-P5 opponents): 714,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50



Cincinnati:

9/18/21 (CINCY/INDIANA): 1.681 million viewers
10/2/21 (CINCY/ND): 3.805 million viewers

Cincy's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 430,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50


UCF:

9/11/21 (UCF/LOUISVILLE): 1.881 million viewers

UCF's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 566,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50


Houston:

9/11/21 (TEXAS TECH/HOUSTON): 831,000 viewers

Houston's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 689,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


BYU/Cincinnati/UCF/Houston's average vs. P5 opponents: 1.470 million viewers per game.

Average viewership per game: 599,750 viewers

Summary: On average, BYU, Cincy, UCF, and Houston had a surplus of 870,250 more viewers per game vs. P5 opponents, compared to their full season average per game viewership vs. all (P5 and non-P5) opponents.


.

That Baylor guy's study had a limited sample, but it showed SDSU being 8th out of 14 western major G5s (MWC + Tulsa + SMU). UNLV was dead last (which is pretty believable-they have been really bad). Boise was below all the Pac schools but not by far. It was a good gap to Tulsa, SMU and Fresno. Then a bit of a gap to the rest.

True, but if they start playing teams such as Oregon, Washington, Sanford, Cal, Arizona, ASU, Utah, and Colorado every year, the chances are that SDSU's average viewership will be in the "million-plus-viewers-per-game" range, regardless.

.

There’s a much greater chance of there not even being a PAC in the next two years. Much higher probability that Washington state and Oregon State are absorbed by the MWC.

(07-30-2022 11:02 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 10:58 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 09:15 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 02:49 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(07-30-2022 01:57 PM)BeatWestern! Wrote:  Good article here by Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune on SDSU and Pac-12 expansion.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sandieg...f_amp=true

Zeigler did not quite get it right...:

Kliavkoff never said that SDSU had to be on par with the top of the conference academically and the PAC knows that TV numbers are not relevant when comparing the MWC and PAC. The Boise State-SDSU game last season on CBS got 1.95 million viewers. That was an encouraging sign. But most MWC games are on at night on FS1 or CBSSN, and the TV ratings are just not good for those games. In San Diego, SDSU would own the TV market for college football

True.

SDSU's TV viewership numbers would probably be similar to most P5 schools vs. a P5 schedule, much like Cincy's and BYU's are likely to be when they start playing eight Big 12 teams per year.

These are BYU's 2021 viewership numbers in their regular season games vs. P5 opponents:

11/27/21 (BYU/USC): 1.458 million viewers
10/30/21 (UVA/BYU): 678,000 viewers
10/23/21 (BYU/WSU): 466,000 viewers
10/16/21 (BYU/BAYLOR): 1.440 million viewers
9/18/21 (ASU/BYU): 1.498 million viewers
9/11/21 (UTAH/BYU): 1.503 million viewers
9/4/21 (BYU/ARIZONA): 933,000 viewers

average vs. P5 opponents: 1.139 million viewers per game

BYU's season average (including 5 non-P5 opponents): 714,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50



Cincinnati:

9/18/21 (CINCY/INDIANA): 1.681 million viewers
10/2/21 (CINCY/ND): 3.805 million viewers

Cincy's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 430,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50


UCF:

9/11/21 (UCF/LOUISVILLE): 1.881 million viewers

UCF's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 566,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50


Houston:

9/11/21 (TEXAS TECH/HOUSTON): 831,000 viewers

Houston's season average (mostly non-P5 opponents): 689,000 viewers

https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-bring-in-the-most-tv-viewers-efc03c689e50

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


BYU/Cincinnati/UCF/Houston's average vs. P5 opponents: 1.470 million viewers per game.

Average viewership per game: 599,750 viewers

Summary: On average, BYU, Cincy, UCF, and Houston had a surplus of 870,250 more viewers per game vs. P5 opponents, compared to their full season average per game viewership vs. all (P5 and non-P5) opponents.


.

That Baylor guy's study had a limited sample, but it showed SDSU being 8th out of 14 western major G5s (MWC + Tulsa + SMU). UNLV was dead last (which is pretty believable-they have been really bad). Boise was below all the Pac schools but not by far. It was a good gap to Tulsa, SMU and Fresno. Then a bit of a gap to the rest.

True, but if SDSU starts playing teams such as Oregon, Washington, Sanford, Cal, Arizona, ASU, Utah, and Colorado every year, the chances are that their average viewership will be in the "million-plus-viewers-per-game" range, regardless.

.

If they are below Tulsa, SMU, Fresno, Air Force, Utah St. (forget who #7 was), then I'm not so sure of that.

(07-30-2022 08:02 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  If I were San Diego State, I wouldn't be particularly worried about a PAC offer if I knew the Big 12 was also interested.

The PAC would be the better option in a vacuum, but the league is on fragile ground. Whether some of those schools end up in the Big 12 or not doesn't even matter...some of them will inevitably end up in the Big Ten which means a couple more might go independent.

The Big 12, strangely enough, has better long term prospects so I would lean towards that league...especially given that it has alternative recruiting grounds and access to CTZ/ETZ markets. People are forgetting part of the reason USC and UCLA are getting out of dodge. It's the money at the center, but that's the symptom. There are several reasons why the PAC is unstructurally sound in the modern era of college sports and so there was never going to be a monetary leveling of the playing field. People assumed the PAC might not get raided simply because of the geographical distances to the big time moneymakers. Well, that turned out not to be an issue.

Also, one thing people forget in all this huffing and puffing back and forth. It wasn't really that long ago that the PAC 10 tried to kill off the Big 12. Have we all forgotten the concerted effort to take Texas and friends? Obviously it fell through, but they did get Colorado at that time and aided in the destabilization of the Big 12. And I'm sure they tried to get Texas after that situation unfolded. I'm also sure there were current members of the Big 12 that were rebuffed when they reached out for a landing spot.

So when PAC 12 leaders start sniping at the Big 12 reps, let's not think the Big 12 leaders have forgotten the last 10-15 years of politics and upheaval. If the Big 12 has an opportunity to finish off the PAC, I don't see a reason they wouldn't take it unless they figure it doesn't benefit them to do so.

They said that about the Big 12 on fragile grounds last year, and boom they invited 4. Big 12 better be worried if the PAC 12 could take 2 to 6 from them.