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Michael's avatar

If the Big 10 wants that late-night time slot that everybody seems to say ESPN values so much, they could invite 4 more west coast schools and steal that from the Pac 12 as well. I’m sure Oregon, Stanford, Washington and Cal would jump at the chance. It would give USC and UCLA a western division/pod that would greatly reduce the travel challenges the LA schools will face if the conference stays as is.

My gut tells me if that slot was really valuable, the Big 10 would be all over it. And I’m sure ESPN would be happy to pay for it. The conference would get some additional revenue for adding the 4 teams through their new agreement, and then an additional boost of revenue for the “Big 10 After Dark” product. They would then be in every television time slot on Saturday. They could even arrange for a Friday night game as well. I’m skeptical it carries as much value as has been speculated, or the Big 10 would gobble it up.

If the Pac 12 doesn’t expand, they deserve to die. They are almost certainly dead already, or will be within the next 5-10 years. And it’s a shame. But they didn’t get it done with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Texas Tech when they had the chance. That, and proper handling of the Pac-12 Networks and the conference would likely be in the spot to be the 3rd super conference that survives.

Wishing them the best, but expecting the group of decision makers that have done nothing but fall flat on their face to do what they have to do to survive seems dubious at best.

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