Canzano: Plotting in Big Ten, Pac-12... and beyond
Spanning the globe...
It’s a big day for the Big Ten. The TV partners of the conference will put their heads together and start the early “draft” process for college football games for next season.
Fox, CBS, and NBC will take turns selecting which games they'll carry from the 18 conference schools. The networks will assemble the early football programming puzzle for the 2024 regular season. There’s a strategy involved — not just with the games the networks want from the Big Ten, but also with inventory from other conferences.
Retired Fox Sports Network President Bob Thompson likened the process to a game of “three-dimensional chess.”
Ohio State at Oregon? USC at Michigan? Michigan-Ohio State? Washington at Penn State? The whole thing has me wondering: Which Big Ten game will be the No. 1 pick by the networks?
Said Thompson: “Fox has the first pick and it will be Ohio State-Michigan. Always has been, always will be.”
Spanning the Globe…
• PAC-12 TV DEAL: I broke the news last week that Oregon State and Washington State have agreed to sell the media rights of their 13 combined home football games. I am told by sources that 10 games will be carried by The CW and three others by Fox.
The final stages of the negotiation involve ironing out some production details with the Pac-12 Network and figuring out how many media credentials The CW needs for game days. So why is that taking so long?
As Bob Thompson explained: “Because it’s a new deal and a partner they’ve never worked with before there’s a lot more to the last few issues.”
Fox is expected to carry the Civil War game in Corvallis, the WSU-Texas Tech game in Pullman, and the OSU-WSU game at Reser Stadium. It gives the network some additional games featuring the Big Ten and Big 12, but also puts the “Pac-12” back in partnership with Fox. An official announcement is expected anytime now.
Thompson told me he likes the deal for Oregon State and Washington State. The package comes with nationwide distribution and an emphasis on linear TV.
“I don’t know what the financials are, but I don’t think it matters,” Thompson told me. “Exposure is paramount at this point because in order for them to remain relevant should another shoe drop and begin (realignment) anew, it’s very important for them to be top of mind.”
• COLORADO HEAT CHECK: I checked in with Colorado Athletic Director Rick George, who told me the renewal rate for football season tickets is tracking at 98 percent. Single-game tickets for Deion Sanders’ second season go on sale on May 14. George expects all CU home football games will again be sold out.
• OHIO STATE OF MIND: Bill Rabinowitz covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. He joined me on Tuesday for a conversation about the upcoming football season. We talked about the addition of offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and the four incoming Pac-12 teams. Rabinowitz told me he thinks the Buckeyes’ game at Autzen Stadium is the biggest test of Ohio State’s season.
“I happen to think it’s the most difficult game of the season for Ohio State,” he told me. “It’s on the road at Oregon. They haven’t played there (since 1967). It’s still going to be early in the season. It’s a tough game. Michigan is the one game they absolutely can’t lose because you figure Michigan is going to be a little down this year… but in terms of difficulty, if you asked ‘What game is Ohio State most likely to lose?’ I’d say Oregon.”
Listen to the full talk:
• COUGAR SIGHTING: Washington State football coach Jake Dickert will be among my guests on Wednesday’s radio show (3-6p PT). He’ll join the show at 4 p.m. You can listen live in Portland (750-AM), Eugene (102.9-FM), Klamath Falls (960-AM), and Roseburg (1490-AM) or stream the show.
We’ll talk about spring football, the looming TV deal, and Dickert’s recruiting strategy in the next 6-12 months. If you have a question for Dickert, drop it in the comment section. I’ll ask him a few.
• OVER/UNDER: Win totals were posted this week by the sports books for Power 4 conference college football teams. Here are some I was interested in:
Oregon — 10.5 wins
Utah — 9.5
Washington — 7.5
Arizona — 7.5
USC — 7.5
Cal — 5.5
UCLA — 5.5
Colorado — 5.5
ASU — 4.5
Stanford — 3.5
Utah’s win total jumped off the page at me. I think the Utes are good for 10 victories. The numbers on Oregon and Washington feel about right. I lean “over” on the Ducks, who I think will win 11 games in the regular season and “under” on the Huskies, who I have down for seven victories in 2024.
Colorado feels like it can get to six wins and bowl eligibility next season, but there’s some risk. Given all the turnover, the program has some culture questions. That has bettors on the fence. UCLA is an “under” 5.5 wins for me next season. There’s just too much chaos and the Big Ten isn’t going to be kind to the Bruins. I like both Arizona State (4.5) and Stanford (3.5) as “over” bets next season. Tell me in the comment section which win totals jumped out at you.
• UTAH UP-RISING: Cam Rising, 24, will play his seventh season of college football in 2024. I keep thinking about Pac-12 Media Day last summer in Las Vegas. I watched Rising, who was coming off a significant knee surgery, play pickleball during a break in the event. He and USC quarterback Caleb Williams picked up paddles and mixed it up on a nearby court, playfully hitting the ball back and forth. At the time, I took it as a sign that Rising was going to be available for Kyle Whittingham’s program.
Rising didn’t play a single snap in 2023. And now, he’s back in 2024. On that note, Rising looked great and played well in the spring game. No questions about his knees. Utah fans instead left the event wondering who will be the back-up QB, RB, etc. That must feel nice (and new).
• STANFORD OPENS ITS ARMS: Stanford men’s basketball coach Kyle Smith got a solid win in the transfer portal by adding Oziyah Sellers (USC transfer) to the roster. Sellers is Stanford’s first undergraduate transfer since Andrew Zimmerman (2009).
The Cardinal had one graduate transfer in each of the last two seasons. Michael Jones came from Davidson and Jared Bynum from Providence, but getting the first undergraduate in this wild west of a transfer-portal era was an interesting pivot for Stanford.
I reached out to Smith to ask him how things were going this week. He said: “Getting there... getting a few more pieces in here.”
Smith was an easy pick as the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for his work at Washington State last season. At Stanford, Smith is building around 7-foot-1 post player Maxime Reynaud. Landing Sellers, who shot 42.9 percent from beyond the three-point arc last season, fits that plan.
• BONDS OR OHTANI?: Have you heard of Rintaro Sasaki? He was the top high school baseball player in Japan. He turned his back on the Nippon Professional Baseball draft and enrolled at Stanford. He’s drawn comparisons to Shohei Ohtani, in part because they attended the same high school in Japan. Others swear Sasaki’s swing and power to all fields reminds them of Barry Bonds.
The left-handed hitting slugger enrolled in courses, moved into the dorms, and is now practicing with the Stanford baseball team (video). Sasaki, who stands six feet tall and weighs 250 pounds, will play next season. After three college seasons, he’ll be eligible for the MLB Draft.
Sasaki’s decision to take himself off the draft board in his native country has some good strategy behind it. If he was drafted, the Japanese club could have held his rights for nine years.
• GOLDEN IDEA: I wrote a heart-warming column over the weekend about the football camp that Cal linebacker Myles Williams co-founded. The “Golden Buddies” football camp places special-needs and typical kids alongside each other. I caught up with Williams this week in a 1-on-1 talk.
Williams is still recovering from an MCL tear suffered in the Independence Bowl in December. He didn’t play in the Cal spring game. I asked him about Cal’s departure to the ACC next season. The Bears open ACC play next season at Florida State on Sept. 21.
Said Williams: “We’re pumped to get to the ACC, see different teams. It’s exciting. We’re physically growing and mentally growing… whoever it is, whether it’s Florida State or NC State… we go out there week by week, game plan for whoever we’re playing.”
• PORTLAND STATE HIRE: Portland State Athletic Director John Johnson stepped down last month, citing family reasons. The Vikings are in search of their next athletic department leader.
I’d encourage PSU President Ann Cudd to skip hiring a search firm and instead put together a select panel of local boosters, donors, executives, and alumni who know and understand the school. Portland State is a unique animal. A search firm operating in some faraway state and conducting a pile of other searches isn’t going to easily grasp the school’s unique circumstances and find the best pool of candidates.
Let’s see. No home football stadium. Commuter campus. Tricky resources and a lack of historical support. This is a job for someone who understands Portland, knows the Big Sky Conference, and knows where the money is buried locally. I suppose the university could pay an outside firm $50,000 to throw together a pool of candidates, but a local hiring committee is a smarter and more economical option.
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John: Ohio State played at Autzen one time. As I recall. it was 30-0 and we ran out of bourbon by halftime.
Yeps, regarding PSU. It is a unique animal. And deserves more financial support for it athletics programs. There has to be a few almost Phil Knights out there who feel the same way. Has to be.