Canzano: Pac-12 Commissioner talks realignment, rumors, rebuild, and strategy

Teresa Gould: "We can take some risks and do things differently.”

Oregon State and Washington State will play as a two-member conference in 2024.

Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said her two-member conference is going to be equal parts “patient and aggressive” as it plots its path.

Gould spoke in a wide-ranging interview on “Canzano & Wilner: The Podcast” this week, addressing Big 12 rumors, the possibility of private equity investment, Pac-12 Enterprises, the conference’s TV deal with The CW, and a possible plan for the 2025 football schedule.

The Pac-12 has until the summer of 2026 to reach the NCAA minimum of eight teams. What’s the most likely outcome for Washington State and Oregon State? A Pac-12 rebuild? An invitation from the Big 12? Or the ACC? And while it waits, could the conference form scheduling alliances with Power 4 members?

The Pac-12 has a football scheduling agreement with the Mountain West Conference this season. The contract includes a mutual option for the parties to extend for 2025, but WSU and OSU could explore a partnership with the Big 12 and ACC.

“We’ll continue to overturn every stone that we know of and try to create some stones we don’t know of to figure out what scenarios are possible,” Gould said in the interview.

Gould stressed the importance of the coming football season and referred to Oregon State and Washington State as “America’s teams.” She also noted that the conference is open to playing football games in “alternative” broadcast windows.

That caught my ear.

Dennis Miller, the president of The CW, told me in an exclusive interview that his network was interested in beefing up its menu of live sports programming. The Pac-12 is joining a lineup that includes NASCAR, LIV Golf, and the ACC.

Miller said: “What else will drive an audience? What could work? We have Sunday afternoons that are fairly open still on The CW, and that’s some real estate we would like to populate with high-quality programming.”

Canzano: The CW President sounds off on Pac-12

The CW will air 11 of the Pac-12’s Saturday home football games in the 2024 season. It will pair them with games from the ACC and a studio show produced in the Bay Area by Pac-12 Enterprises.

Said Gould: “Given the circumstances that we’re in, not only do I think we need to be bold, aggressive, and open-minded, but part of that is that we’re in a situation right now where we can take some risks and do things differently.”

Gould spoke for nearly an hour. Near the end of the interview, I asked her about the timeline. When does the Pac-12 need to pick a path? Washington State President Kirk Schulz has pointed to early 2025 as a possible fork in the road. There’s always a sense of urgency immediately after the football season given that athletes and recruits are facing decisions about their future.

“We have to have this balance between patience, to see what unfolds, to make sure we don’t jump too quickly but also being aggressive enough to create our own opportunities,” said Gould. “There’s no specific timeline that we’ve all agreed to but I think we all understand we have to make progress expeditiously in support of our programs.”

Watch the full interview with Gould here:

---

Thank you for reading. I appreciate all who support, subscribe, and share this independent endeavor with friends and family. If you haven’t already — please consider subscribing and/or gifting a subscription to someone who would enjoy it.

This is an independent reader-supported project, with both free and paid subscriptions. Those who opt for the paid edition are providing vital assistance to bolster my independent coverage.