Canzano: 'It's decision time' -- Memphis, Tulane, and South Florida on Pac-12 clock
Decision expected on Monday.
Leaders at Memphis, Tulane, and South Florida are weighing an offer to join the Pac-12 Conference and will decide on Monday.
“Today is the day to make a decision,” a source told this publication.
The Pac-12 has grown to six members and could expand to as many as nine by the end of business on Monday. Should those three American Athletic Conference schools decide not to join, the Pac-12 is expected to pivot and look westward to form a more geographically aligned conference.
What I’ve learned:
• Leaders of the trio of American Athletic Conference schools have the terms needed to make a decision. Included are media-rights contract projections for what would be a nine-member conference. A decision is expected on Monday.
• The Pac-12 is asking prospective members to sign a five-year Grant of Rights. That time frame is intentionally lined up with the media deals of other conferences. In that respect, the Pac-12 is being honest about its intention — it wants members to be in position for whatever comes next.
• A prime selling point from the new-world Pac-12 is a path to the College Football Playoff. That comes with the ability to negotiate larger playoff distributions in subsequent years. The top five ranked conference champions receive automatic berths. Said one source: “This is a chance to have a seat at the table. It’s an escape chute that may not come along again.”
• Leaders at Memphis, Tulane, and South Florida are weighing their options and talking with their consultants. Some questions: Are they willing to sit and wait for an offer from a ‘P4’ conference that may not materialize in the next five years? Is access to the CFP enough to make what looks like a ‘last chance’ move with the Pac-12? Are the conference exit fees worth what they’d make up in media-rights dollars?
• Campus presidents aren’t typically risk-takers. But this new-world Pac-12 would have a puncher’s chance to disrupt the College Football Playoff. That nine-member Pac-12 would be immediately positioned as the clear No. 5 football conference.
• A source at UNLV told this publication that it has a call scheduled with the Pac-12 on Monday afternoon. The Rebels may be rooting for Memphis, Tulane, and South Florida to turn down the Pac-12.
• University of Texas-San Antonio is not on the clock on Monday, per a source. But UTSA isn’t off the table. It could emerge later as a Pac-12 target.
• Utah State has been aggressive and proactive in recent days. It’s why the school has surfaced in media reports. Campus leaders have engaged with the Pac-12, and high-level donors at that school tell me they’d be willing to pay fees associated with a move to the Pac-12.
• Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez is throwing a wrinkle into the Pac-12’s plans, however. She’s not dumb. Nevarez has asked her schools for a re-commitment to the conference and, per one source, “is throwing money at them trying to keep them.”
• Multiple scenarios remain in play for the Pac-12. One source referred to it as “a cascading order of offers.” One of the contingencies includes Gonzaga being offered membership to the Pac-12. I’m told that still could happen even if Memphis, Tulane, and South Florida join. Stay tuned.
• What’s evident is there are several ways this still could play out. Memphis, Tulane, and South Florida bring more football viewership and higher media value but also higher travel expenses vs. simply adding two or three more schools in the western part of the country.
“There’s a benefit and risk to both,” one involved source told me on Monday.
Memphis, Tulane, and South Florida received the terms from the Pac-12 at 9 a.m. PT on Monday.
Said one source: “It’s decision time.”
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John, you might be one of the few news sources and storytellers left.
Congratulations on the hard work and great effort.
I think you’re in a class by yourself.
Not really a fan of the east coast move. I understand the dollar potential with media and I guess that's what a move like this is all about, but still...