As I continue to tediously work on my promised NFL/Fantasy Football article providing a peak at each team as we delve into preseason games (going through all the off-season transactions and potential is a bit more time consuming, okay, I’ll admit, daunting than I originally imagined, doh!), the cringe-worthy headlines cropping up day-in and day-out this past week about the dismantling of the Pac-12 Conference, I couldn’t pass up a quick breakaway to put in my amateur two cents (I think I heard some eye rolling about the additional not asked for opinion, right? Ack!)
And just like that, the Pac-12 is on the brink of collapsing, with eight of the twelve teams moving to either Big-10 or Big-12 conferences. The four remaining teams, Cal, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State are in desperate mode trying to either save their conference, or find another top NCAA Division I Conference to join, Cal and Stanford have been courting the ACC, although four of the fifteen teams have turned down the move (North Carolina, North Carolina State, Florida State and Clemson). I believe one of the primary rebuttals from the opposing ACC schools was the idea of additional unrealistic travel for athletes from coast to coast, as well as time zones, applying potential stress and time away from classes and campus activities. If one of the four opposing schools switches their vote to yes, we may have a forming APCC coming in 2024 (Atlantic-Pacific Coast Conference). The Pac-12 originally was the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) established in 1915 with four schools. It expanded to become the Pac-8 in the 1950’s, and then the Pac-10 in 1978. It became the Pac-12 in the 2010’s adding Colorado and Utah. The four teams remaining right now in the conference actually were original members of the PCC over 100 years ago. They recently hired a consultant, Oliver Luck to assist them in next moves. Right now, those options (as I feel I am repeating myself) would be to entice another strong established conference to join (Like the WCC, WAC or MWC), or move to another prominent established Division I conference, such as the ACC or SEC.
Honestly, I am not surprised at all about the disintegration of the Pac-12. The current commissioner, George Kliakoff did not do a very good job reading the room, and making better decisions regarding television revenue opportunities to boost exposure and streaming income for the schools. Creating the ‘Pac 12’ Network, then only having it available on a specific cable network was one of the daggers. Another stab in the gut was the late start times for games; a 7:30 PM start time may be on the edge of the prime time window for the West Coast, but it’s terribly late for every other time zone. I recall when I was living in Washington in the 1990’s, enjoying going to University of Washington football games with the stadium’s gorgeous backdrop on the Montlake Cut between Lake Washington and Lake Union, always beginning at 12:30 PM or 1:00 PM. There may have been a rare occasion of an ESPN featured game starting at 5:00 PM. The Pac-12 commissioner literally scratched on the eight ball. With a failing network, no television network proposals and players now getting paid with the NIL decision, the attraction for high school star recruits to consider playing for PAC-12 teams are dwindling. The athletic directors at universities representing the PAC-12 were also evaluating the realistic prospect of a lower revenue stream coming in to support their programs. Ultimately, money talks and boy did the Big-10 and Big-12 flush those options out to the teams that made in their minds, a no-brainer decision to leave for greener pastures.
Observing the strengths and power of certain conferences in the NCAA Division I Football, I will not be surprised if we see a major shift and reorganization of the division itself into 4 conferences, and splitting each one of those conferences into regions. I can see Big-12, Big-10, SEC and ACC envelope all Division I conferences from the West to East Coast. Each one of those conferences would have Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Regions. At the end of the regular season, each one of the conferences would have their own ‘Playoff’ tournament and crown a champion. The winning team from each championship would then vie for the NCAA National Championship. With the main networks already paying out to these main conferences, I truly feel this will become a realistic projection of the future of college football.
