Arizona, ASU and Utah officially leave for Big 12
RIP Pac.
So the remaining Pac4 are lost at sea. I wonder if they'll try to add some teams, go independent, or be able to merge elsewhere.
Mountain West is the only thing that would make sense at this point. Yikes…
10-week 9-game season. Play each other three times per season. Catch is that no player can play a total of more than 6 of the 12 quarters. The math kids will love it!
August 4th, 2023 at 10:01 PM ^
If that isn’t sufficiently difficult, we’ll Harrison Bergeron the best players to keep it interesting. This will serve to humble the alums, because Vonnegut was a Cornell and UChicago guy.
Upvote for Harrison Bergeron reference. One of the best short stories I've ever read.
August 4th, 2023 at 10:05 PM ^
Reminds me of little league where you couldn’t play more than 12 innings in a double header.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:24 PM ^
Stanford teams have to be wtf? While football has dropped off and men's bball was just okay, almost all their other sports are top notch and now, like others have said, they're best bet is the Mountain West??
August 4th, 2023 at 10:06 PM ^
If they are as smart as they claim to be, they'd invite the 6 most lucrative schools from the Mountain West. Leave out teams like New Mexico, Wyoming...
August 4th, 2023 at 10:09 PM ^
- Stanford will try to talk/negotiate their way into the B1G.
- Cal will threaten to sue their way into the B1G.
- OSU and WSU will try to talk their way into the B1G XII.
#1 might work. #2 and #3 won't work.
An underappreciated issue is that they need to resolve this fast - everyone is leaving in 2024. Very hard to (1) re-form a conference and/or (2) create a 12-game independent schedule in that amount of time.
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My actual predictions:
- Stanford goes independent, Cal drops football.
- Stanford & Cal form a new Olympic-sports conference: they add Hawaii plus the 5 UC schools in the Big West. They might also add 4 WCC schools to go to 12.
- OSU & WSU invite 6 MWC schools (plus Hawaii for football only) - a 9/8 conference that won't be the Pac-12 but will remain viably competitive.
- The remaining MWC schools hook up with a few western C-USA schools, and maybe add a couple FCS schools.
- The eastern C-USA schools also add a couple more FCS call-ups.
- Various downstream impacts on the Big West, WCC, WAC and Southland. I could easily see the WAC finally disappearing, so if Stanford & Cal do form a new conference, the total # of D-1 conferences remains the same.
August 4th, 2023 at 10:46 PM ^
The Big Game is a big deal locally. It is one of those rivalries that may actually be the main reason a football program exists - in this case, Cal. And Cal is a proud program with some not too distant success - I dunno how everything shakes out, nothing really makes sense. But if they get rid of football, it'd leave a hole in their campus life. Their fans aren't numerous but their campus on Saturdays feels like a football school. I really hope they can keep their program.
August 4th, 2023 at 10:59 PM ^
Cal should drop down a level and join UC Davis and Cal Poly in the Big Sky Conference. I’ll say this having lived in California for 27 years, football just isn’t as big a deal out here as it is back in the Midwest.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:44 PM ^
This is true. Berkeley on a Saturday with a home football game feels like a Midwestern football town for the day.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:10 PM ^
I don't see any scenario where an athletic department in bad financial shape with a football program that draws fans *drops* that sport. Football isn't costing Cal money, it's just not bringing in as much as they need.
I mean, the scenarios from this point on are all bananas, so anything could happen. But this PAC 4 still has some properties that are, I assume, worth something as an attraction to other teams, so my guess is that if the last four teams don't get raided in the next week or so they'll go hunting for Mountain West schools or something like that. It's that or join the Mountain West; may as well have them jump ship to whatever is left of the PAC to maintain the name and whatever is left of their negotiated deals in various sports that exists. May wind up with a "Conference of Theseus" situation with Fresno State and Air Force playing a Pac 12 title game in Vegas, but there it is.
August 5th, 2023 at 12:47 AM ^
Cal, Stanford, Oregon State, Washington State, San Diego State, Nevada, Boise State, UNLV, Fresno State, Hawaii doesn’t sound like a bad PAC 10 Conference.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:27 PM ^
Stanford independent in football is okay, but what happens to the non-football sports? Almost no one is independent in non football sports.
August 4th, 2023 at 10:17 PM ^
Maybe Stanford with its allure could go independent? I think they could pull it off since they are still a brand name, still have a protected game with ND, and will be able to draw suitors for games on a yearly basis. Cal does not have that same luxury. Oregon State and Wazzu? They don’t have any real brand recognition unless you’re a college football junkie with nothing better to do than watch a game between some has been / never was programs at 11:30 on a Saturday night.
They have to be Mountain West or bust.
My guess is Wazzu and OSU come to the MWC with their tails tucked between their legs, and Cal either tries to go independent, tries to strong-arm their way into the B1G based on how they tried to sabotage the USC-UCLA deal last year, or they potentially just fold up shop and shut down the football program.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:09 PM ^
Poor Beaver/Cougar fans. How brutal must it be to see your in-state rival join one of the big two while you're downgraded to a G5 conference?
Could you imagine Sparty reactions if they got dropped to G5 status while Michigan joins the SDCH (Super Duper Conference of the Haves)?
August 4th, 2023 at 10:07 PM ^
Is it officially official from an official from the official offices, officially speaking?
/did I do that right???
August 4th, 2023 at 10:16 PM ^
The resurrection of the big 12
The big 12 has 9 lives
August 4th, 2023 at 10:29 PM ^
Is this still a power 5 conference? It feels like only a slight step up from the MAC. I can’t see them pulling a big TV deal at all.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:07 PM ^
They’ve put a team in the National Championship game more recently than the B1G, ACC, or Pac-12 🤷♂️
I think he was speaking of the teams left in the Pac-12
August 4th, 2023 at 11:41 PM ^
The only thing that defines a "power" conference is to be above enough of the other conferences. At this point, the only ones above the Big XII are Big Ten, SEC and ACC - by default that makes them a "power". Also, they still have recognized autonomy by the NCAA which should not be underestimated (as does the PAC, even with four remaining members at the moment... which may give them enough appeal to recruit new schools to keep the conference alive... if they choose to go that route).
August 4th, 2023 at 11:46 PM ^
What is this "recognized autonomy" you speak of? Is it something not all FBS conferences have?
August 5th, 2023 at 12:51 AM ^
I think it’s related to guaranteed spots in New Years 6 Bowls, which are meaningless at this point.
August 5th, 2023 at 12:09 PM ^
https://www.lawinsport.com/topics/item/what-does-autonomy-for-the-power-5-mean-for-the-ncaa
the universities voted to approve legislation granting autonomy to the five biggest and wealthiest college-sports conferences (the Power Five): the Atlantic Coast (ACC), Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-12 (Pac 12), and Southeastern (SEC). As a result, the Power Five conferences will now be able to enact legislation granting athletes’ financial benefits in addition the ones they already receive.
...
Dissatisfied with the old system, the 65 schools from the Power-Five conferences threatened to withdraw from the NCAA (and potentially take all the organization’s television and other revenue with them) if they were not granted greater autonomy and flexibility to make decisions involving athletes, finances and the running of big-time college sports.
In short, the ncaa has far less ability to place financial limits and conditions upon the finances of the "autonomous" conferences, which can be very significant.
Even though the PAC is mostly dead, it might still be appealing enough for some other schools to join the remaining four (Wazzo, OrSt, Cal and Stan) to be included as "PAC" teams to keep the conference alive and the money flowing - even it it is less than what the PAC had previously.
Hard to say for certain if that will happen, but it is possible.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:20 PM ^
Godammit. I just subscribed to apple TV+ and ordered an Apple watch.
What a horrible decision.
It’ll be easier to watch MLS and Messi…
August 4th, 2023 at 11:42 PM ^
The new big Xii looks like a fun group to watch. Should be pretty competitive top to bottom.
Give me Cal and Stanford I'm the B1G and only make Michigan go west once a year and I'm fine with it. I wanna watch the Wolverines from tightwad hill one time.
Wishing the Beavs and Wazzu best of luck in the MW. They are on the level of Boise Fresno and CSU but at least they will keep playing and maybe even get a playoff spot if they win that thing.
Look at it this way, we’re two schools away from having the 2PAC California Love Conference.
Times, they are a changing. It is sad for the student athletes though. I’d hate for my players to take the plane rides across country so often. I wonder if the home field advantage will get a slight bump with all the flying factored in.
So what happens with all of the bowl tie-ins and playoff contracts the PAC has? Do they all get ripped up and renegotiated? The PAC 4 can no longer be considered a P5 conference - by any stretch of the imagination. That has to have more consequences than forcing the Left Over 4 to find something else...