Oregon needs to stay. Sorry. It’s an absolute fish out of water in the SEC. It’s only mildly better in the Big Ten. Uncle Phil needs to screw his head on straight. There’s not a great answer here but we’re talking entire universities worth of athletics here, not just football. These are kids and they go to school.
I don’t care how many people say “it’s all about the money!” It sort of isn’t. Maybe at a few high-profile, Div I football and basketball schools, it is...but, beyond that, it absolutely is not. So we need to be careful.
Also, again, NCAA football is not the NFL. It’s nowhere near the caliber, so we shouldn’t approach it as if it is. If we want the NFL, watch the NFL. I don’t want to watch a younger version of the USFL. At least the USFL is effectively a professional minor league...and very few universities are gonna beat a USFL team.
No, I don’t care if the difference is $28M/yr. Sadly, for a lot of universities, that’s chump change - even some of the mid-sized ones like UO. Heck, UO’s annual budget alone is $1.1B, meaning this amounts to about 2.5% of the total. For UW, it’s WAY less - like 0.5%. All of this assumes that there is no loss in revenue from a conference move - a loss in competitiveness, a diminished brand, harder recruitment (we get lots from CA, HI, and Pacific islands), reduced merchandise and ticket sales, etc. I could easily see this netting out to half this total...which means we need to SLOW. THIS. DOWN.
First, thanks so much for you continued excellent coverage on this! I really hope George is speaking individually to each AD and school president, offering to speak to them and their key boosters, and planning to get all the ADs together to talk about how to play offense. Recruit Norte Dame, even if you strike out, it shows you aren't sitting around waiting to see what else is going to go wrong.
Dear Kate: Please stay out of this, even if you have the authority to do anything about it. Holding schools hostage to a conference by artificially tying them together, isn't a winning strategy. Although it does get you in the news.
Glad someone is awake. Keeping the conference together should be their first priority and the second is expansion or a merger. One thing is that all the Pac-12 schools should refuse to schedule UCLA or USC in any sport. Cal seems to be the loser in these scenarios and I don't think they deserve that.
Bring in Boise State at a discount. Same with San Diego State to have a toehold in So. California. Get Gonzaga for basketball. Merge with the Big 12. Isolate USC and UCLA and never play them again.
All that needs to happen is the other conferences (besides big 10 and sec) to form a college alliance with their own playoffs and championships and bowl contracts. Let the other two only play each other and why not have two college championships. No one is running the FBS anyway.
I think about this through the lens of 'what if this falls apart and USC and UCLA don't actually leave', what does the Pac-12 extract from them in terms of penalties and assurances? The Premier League was weak, imo, when they let the Super League defectors back in with just a slap on the wrist. No incentive not to try it again. How difficult can he make their lives in the meantime? I'll be interested to hear what you uncover.
As for Brown, that's kinda funny. The UO will do what's best for UO regardless of who's governor. There's way too much old money wrapped up in that institution for a governor to ignore. I'm surprised she'd even comment beyond "I'm here to help both UO and OSU in any way I can."
Yes, thank you John for your reporting on this. You're really the only one who has done a damned thing to try to save the PAC from self-destruction. I was hoping to hear that the West Coast governors and legislators would get involved in this to somehow preserve the PAC and all it stands for (After all, why should only two institutions be able to ruin it for the rest of us without so much as a conversation?). Then Kate Brown jumps comes along to only make things WORSE for UO. So much for leadership. It seems like everyone's accepted the defections as a fait accompli without any formal objection whatsoever. That just doesn't seem right.
Since both Oregon and Washington are public schools I am sure the Governor and legislature of both states will have a lot to say about them leaving Oregon State and Washington State behind. Just not going to happen I would imagine.
Big 10 teams traveling to L.A. and vice versa is difficult enough. Imaging traveling to Eugene on a regular basis. I don't see the incentive for the Big 10 to include Oregon.
It's both fascinating and nerve-racking to watch this all play out.
I don't think Kate Brown can do anything on her own to stop UO. It would require the legislature, which is currently out of session until next year. Brown could always call for a special session, but that seems unlikely to me.
Oregon needs to stay. Sorry. It’s an absolute fish out of water in the SEC. It’s only mildly better in the Big Ten. Uncle Phil needs to screw his head on straight. There’s not a great answer here but we’re talking entire universities worth of athletics here, not just football. These are kids and they go to school.
I don’t care how many people say “it’s all about the money!” It sort of isn’t. Maybe at a few high-profile, Div I football and basketball schools, it is...but, beyond that, it absolutely is not. So we need to be careful.
Also, again, NCAA football is not the NFL. It’s nowhere near the caliber, so we shouldn’t approach it as if it is. If we want the NFL, watch the NFL. I don’t want to watch a younger version of the USFL. At least the USFL is effectively a professional minor league...and very few universities are gonna beat a USFL team.
No, I don’t care if the difference is $28M/yr. Sadly, for a lot of universities, that’s chump change - even some of the mid-sized ones like UO. Heck, UO’s annual budget alone is $1.1B, meaning this amounts to about 2.5% of the total. For UW, it’s WAY less - like 0.5%. All of this assumes that there is no loss in revenue from a conference move - a loss in competitiveness, a diminished brand, harder recruitment (we get lots from CA, HI, and Pacific islands), reduced merchandise and ticket sales, etc. I could easily see this netting out to half this total...which means we need to SLOW. THIS. DOWN.
Seriously.
Thanks for your reporting on this, John.
Kate Brown needs to stay in her lane. 💯
First, thanks so much for you continued excellent coverage on this! I really hope George is speaking individually to each AD and school president, offering to speak to them and their key boosters, and planning to get all the ADs together to talk about how to play offense. Recruit Norte Dame, even if you strike out, it shows you aren't sitting around waiting to see what else is going to go wrong.
Dear Kate: Please stay out of this, even if you have the authority to do anything about it. Holding schools hostage to a conference by artificially tying them together, isn't a winning strategy. Although it does get you in the news.
Glad someone is awake. Keeping the conference together should be their first priority and the second is expansion or a merger. One thing is that all the Pac-12 schools should refuse to schedule UCLA or USC in any sport. Cal seems to be the loser in these scenarios and I don't think they deserve that.
Bring in Boise State at a discount. Same with San Diego State to have a toehold in So. California. Get Gonzaga for basketball. Merge with the Big 12. Isolate USC and UCLA and never play them again.
All that needs to happen is the other conferences (besides big 10 and sec) to form a college alliance with their own playoffs and championships and bowl contracts. Let the other two only play each other and why not have two college championships. No one is running the FBS anyway.
"'George is kicking ass,' caught my eye..."
I think about this through the lens of 'what if this falls apart and USC and UCLA don't actually leave', what does the Pac-12 extract from them in terms of penalties and assurances? The Premier League was weak, imo, when they let the Super League defectors back in with just a slap on the wrist. No incentive not to try it again. How difficult can he make their lives in the meantime? I'll be interested to hear what you uncover.
As for Brown, that's kinda funny. The UO will do what's best for UO regardless of who's governor. There's way too much old money wrapped up in that institution for a governor to ignore. I'm surprised she'd even comment beyond "I'm here to help both UO and OSU in any way I can."
Yes, thank you John for your reporting on this. You're really the only one who has done a damned thing to try to save the PAC from self-destruction. I was hoping to hear that the West Coast governors and legislators would get involved in this to somehow preserve the PAC and all it stands for (After all, why should only two institutions be able to ruin it for the rest of us without so much as a conversation?). Then Kate Brown jumps comes along to only make things WORSE for UO. So much for leadership. It seems like everyone's accepted the defections as a fait accompli without any formal objection whatsoever. That just doesn't seem right.
Since both Oregon and Washington are public schools I am sure the Governor and legislature of both states will have a lot to say about them leaving Oregon State and Washington State behind. Just not going to happen I would imagine.
Big 10 teams traveling to L.A. and vice versa is difficult enough. Imaging traveling to Eugene on a regular basis. I don't see the incentive for the Big 10 to include Oregon.
Thank you for the update. it is so refreshing to hear some real news, John
Oh to have been a fly on the wall when GK heard the news. Seems like a gentle but intense dude. Don't sleep on him.
Thank you for continual due diligence! 😎
It's both fascinating and nerve-racking to watch this all play out.
I don't think Kate Brown can do anything on her own to stop UO. It would require the legislature, which is currently out of session until next year. Brown could always call for a special session, but that seems unlikely to me.
I am sooooo disappointed at the thought of Oregon defecting. Nothing stays the same, especially in sports. MONEY Dictates EVERYTHING. Disgusting.