Canzano: Downloading on college football

Big Ten, Pac-12, Big 12, MWC, ACC, and more...

Oregon will participate in Big Ten Media Day July 23-25 in Indianapolis. (Photo: Serena Morones)

Emptying my notebook today…

• LAUGHING OUT LOUD: Teresa Gould’s opening joke about the Pac-12 serving cocktails at Football Media Day in Las Vegas on Wednesday landed well.

“Yes, we are drinking tonight during this event,” Gould announced. “And I would venture to say that if anybody has earned the right to drink, it is the Pac-12.”

Gould’s line set up Ryan Leaf a few minutes later for a line that landed even more laughs. Leaf has openly talked about his issues with alcohol, opioids, and his battle with addiction.

Quipped Leaf: “For the record, I will NOT be drinking tonight.”

Canzano: Overheard at the Pac-12's Las Vegas cocktail party...

• PAC-12 and THE CW: The CW broadcast teams for the Pac-12 games this season will be announced anytime now. I’m told it will be Ted Robinson (play-by-play) and Chase Daniel (analyst) together in the booth. JB Long (play-by-play) and Michael Bumpus (analyst) will be paired as a second broadcast team.

I previously reported that The CW is adding a studio show to highlight the ACC and Pac-12 games this season. It will be produced by Pac-12 Enterprises in the entity’s Bay Area studios. The aim is to add additional college football programming and give the games a boost.

• TRACKING THE NUMBERS: The CW’s debut ACC football game last September (Cincinnati vs. Pitt) drew 617,000 viewers. It was celebrated as a success. The top-rated game of the season on the network (Northern Alabama vs. Florida State) drew 1.33 million viewers.

Those figures may sound modest by college football standards, but the viewership got the attention of network executives, who decided to buy the Pac-12’s games. And why not? The top five broadcasts on The CW last season were all ACC football games. The highest-rated scripted TV show in 2023 on the network was an episode of “The Chosen” that drew 492,000 viewers.

The CW didn’t get any of the best ACC games in 2023. But the network drew viewers anyway. It will be interesting to see what kind of audience the football games will get in 2024 with the addition of produced studio shows and stacked broadcast windows with the ACC/Pac-12 games.

Oregon State and Washington State are optimistic that they’ll get better exposure in 2024 on The CW (available in 125 million TV households) than the Beavers and Cougars did in 2023 when they were stuck playing on the Pac-12 Network (15 million TV households).

• BIG TEN NETWORK: Former Pac-12 Network studio host and analyst Yogi Roth will be going to work for the Big Ten Network this season. He’ll serve as an analyst on Big Ten games every week and work Monday-Friday as a studio host for the network.

Roth’s early-season schedule includes Idaho-Oregon (Aug. 31), Utah State-USC (Sept. 7), and Northern Iowa-Nebraska (Sept. 14). He joins fellow Pac-12 Network host Ashley Adamson in going to work for the Big Ten Network.

Ashley Adamson: A final word as Pac-12 Network goes dark

• BIG TEN ON STAGE: Big Ten Media Day is scheduled for July 23-25 in Indianapolis. Oregon and Washington will be on stage on the final day of the three-day event.

The Ducks and Huskies have not yet seen the schedule for the event, but a source at the Big Ten headquarters told me the coaches will be on stage on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, then do a series of 1-on-1 interviews, then take the elevator to a level that sits below the football field. That’s where the conference’s Tier 1 rightsholders (i.e. Fox, CBS, and NBC) will get access to the coaches and players for interviews.

• BOWLING SEASON: The Pac-12 retained all the existing bowl affiliations for 2024 and 2025. It’s not a surprise, but the conference confirmed it officially on Friday morning. It ensures that Oregon State and Washington State have access to bowl games. It also means that the Alamo Bowl, Holiday Bowl, LA Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, Sun Bowl, and Independence Bowl will continue to partner with the Pac-12 and the 10 departing schools.

How does the money work? I asked. The conference that participates in the game retains the revenue. For example, the Big 12 will get the money for participation by Arizona, ASU, Utah, and Colorado. The ACC will get the bowl revenue if Stanford and Cal make the games. The Big Ten gets paid if USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington participate. The Pac-12 keeps the bowl revenue for the Beavers and Cougars.

• ROLL CALL: A handful of Mountain West media members were in attendance for the Pac-12’s media event on Wednesday. It made sense, given that the Pac-12 is playing some MWC games this season. Also, if it comes to a full-blown rebuild, the Pac-12 may take some or all of the Mountain West members.

I found it very interesting that Oregon State and Washington State coaches and players went to great lengths to give the MWC members respect. It was a notable shift in tone. Washington State coach Jake Dickert pointed out that Boise State was not an easier place to play than at Stanford or Cal.

“I’ve been to Fresno,” Dickert said. “It’s tough to play there. I’ve been to Boise on a Saturday night, tough to play there.”

• WHO’S YOUR CADDY?: Oregon State women’s basketball coach Scott Rueck is caddying for his son, Cole, at this week’s Scottish Open.

Cole, a junior at Boise State, is playing as an amateur. He earned an exemption for the PGA Tour event by making a seven-foot putt to win a playoff at the Genesis Collegiate Showcase in February at the Riviera Country Club.

“Cole’s got great hand-eye. He’s got great touch,” Scott Rueck told me in the spring. “We put a club in his hand when he was very young and he just loved it.”

The Scottish Open will be aired on Golf Channel and the Peacock streaming service.

• HEADS UP: Scott Rueck has added Sydney Wiese to his coaching staff. The former star player is joining Oregon State’s staff. Wiese was a four-time All-Pac-12 Team point guard and third-team All-American during her collegiate career in Corvallis. She was drafted with the No. 11 pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft.

Said Wiese: “Even as I have been away playing in different cities, living in different countries — I have never felt more at home than in Corvallis.”

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