Members

https://www.sportico.com/leagues/college-sports/2024/pac-12-trademark-applications-pac-8-pac-14-1234821537/

The PAC12 is keeping its options open to edit the number in its name to represent the actual number of members. They are also keeping the option of dropping the number to just THE PAC.

Here is last weeks poll results on the issue. https://www.reddit.com/r/Pac12/s/Tb7bXvvO7h

My favorite comment will get video clip evidence on My page about the prank.

Anybody know anything about this Aggie source?

https://x.com/BradenTClark/status/1870487827550724441?t=VzeHOBGgkPikqbPeCIDieQ&s=19

18-20 mill media deal?

SMC & N Texas?

20 BB conf games?

9-10 FB conf games?

Media deal number is huge if true.

(The preface that will likely be ignored because reddit. I'm not asking who you WANT. I'm asking you, what schools you believe have any semi - realistic, even if extremely unlikely odds of ending up in this confernce a few years from now?)

Ya. Title. I love this kind of discussion, even though I expect the third of the comments to be "MEMPHIS, TULANE, TXST WHY WOULD WE WANT ANYBODY ELSE" despite that not at all being the question.

Note I said still in the running. So where you decide to make a cutoff is up to you, but one has to imagine there are contingency plans and contingency plans for those contingency plans.

So have at it. You wanna throw Notre Dame on there? Ohio State? UMass? Go for it.

I see it like this (odds of it happening)

(3 to 1): Texas State

(1 to 1): Memphis, Tulane

(1 to 5): North Texas, UTSA, UNLV, South Florida

(1 to 14): Wyoming, New Mexico, San Jose State, Rice, UConn

(1 to 19): Nevada

(1 to 24): Cal, Stanford, Louisiana, Air Force

(1 to 49): Sacremento State, Tulsa, Appalachian State, East Carolina

(1 to 99): Utah, Montana, Montana State

(1 to 500+): New Mexico State

https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2024/12/what-are-oregon-oregon-states-athletic-departments-worth-and-where-do-they-rank-nationally.html Some data folks put together valuations for college athletic departments, but only the top 75. The new Pac has four in the top 75, with Wazzu the top, followed by OSU, SDSU, and Boise State. As the article points out, WSU, OSU, and SDSU all rank above Arizona State.

I don't understand why so many ppl seem to hate it. I get that it sucks to lose your school's marquee players but I feel more often than not teams at the G5 level improve more in the portal than not, at least Fresno State typically has. I think WSU was better this year with Mateer than they were with Ward as well.

https://x.com/johncanzanobft/status/1869439142100341200?s=46&t=qwoy3jQLjUVMaVlrvz-rVg

Dickert tells Canzano he left because Wazzu board of regents were threatening more budget cuts to the athletic department - while every other member of the new Pac-12 was increasing their budget quotes below -

“With Schulz operating as a lame-duck president, oversight of the budget has fallen to the Board of Regents at Washington State. Leslie Brunelli, the school’s chief financial officer, is technically in charge of the budget, but campus insiders tell me the regents are dictating the finances.

You’re free to rip him. But I now think he simply left for Wake Forest because he got tired of swimming against a strong financial current in Pullman.“

https://x.com/max_olson/status/1869537737864515856

https://x.com/MattBrownEP/status/1869471929566167380

"FWIW, lots of lawyer people are telling me to keep an eye on this case…the crew suing the MWC has a real shot at getting some of these fees thrown out or knocked down…"

Matt Brown runs Extra Points, which follows off the field college sports, mostly the business side.

https://extrapoints.substack.com/about

Everyone knows who we want. But at some point, do we need to discuss these as alternative options?

UNLV is the top school remaining, but they already said no and got paid a lot to do it. They also just lost their two best coaches.

Memphis & Tulane are gems but also already said no and are not a geographic fit.

North Texas is a program on the rise with great enrollment in a decent market. Rice is an elite academic institution with a huge endowment and a big city but middling athletic department. Texas State and UTSA are very mid as options, providing decent markets and decent but improving athletic departments.

New Mexico is the flagship university of a western state with a strong history in basketball that is getting back to those heights and just made a second straight excellent hire in football. Tulsa is a strong academic school and a former WAC member who themselves just made an interesting hire.

After that, the next best school I guess is Nevada? Or Montana.

So, do Tulsa or New Mexico need to be considered as potential options? Obviously more of a desperation move than a desired move but both have some potential.

godeacs.com

It is official now. I guess we know another reason Mateer decided not to stay.

I was thinking about a particular line in the recent interview with Pac-12 commissioner Gould:

Now, Gould is leading talks on what she hopes will be a “transformational partnership” to “rebuild the new Pac-12” after the conference added four football programs in September. Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State will compete in the Pac-12 starting in 2026.

(source: https://awfulannouncing.com/college-football/pac-12-teresa-gould-overwhelming-response-media-rights-talks.html )

I can imagine a few scenarios for this:

1. a naming rights situation, like the "Allstate Pac-12" type of thing. The naming rebranding for a year or so could be a type of transformation.

2. the other possibility is the media partner would help pay for the exit fees of further expansion candidates. Since the media partner stands to gain viewership based on the added team(s) as well as added timezones, it is to their advantage to help fund the addition.

3. Alternatively, we could be talking about outside capital as the transformative partner. They could pay for the exit fees, beef up the conference. Unless we are talking private equity, not sure what is in it for them, but maybe the right capital investment can be done in a way that benefits the investors.

Am I way off here? Is this just commissioner speak?

View Poll

I live just south of Fort Collins (go Rams!) and over the past week I’ve seen both a Beaver and Cougar sticker on cars. That’s already more than any Lobo, Spartan, Wolf Pack, etc. than I’ve ever seen around here. I’m really looking forward to 2026 when this conference comes together.

The lack of any real news as well as the recent additions made by the MWC (UC Davis for non - football and LIKELY NIU for football) has got my brain thinking about well, the MWC.

We all know that poaching more schools from that conference isn't the dream scenario, but we're in limbo right now so I thought; who DO we take if that ends up as our best option?

So rank em folks. You can be as logical or illogical as you desire. Research backed or your complete off - the - wall selfish desires. You. Do. You.

You wanna rank UTEP, GCU, UC Davis and NIU for some reason? Go for it. You genuinely believe UNLV and AFA are 100% off the table? Don't rank em! It's your silly lil list.

Aight here goes;

01: UNLV *(It's not even close. Even with a terrible history in football sans the recent success and the school being in debt, it's objectively one of the most resource rich and desirable programs by location. They scored extremely high in multiple metrics I used to determine the appeal of each G5 program. If you don't have UNLV #1, you're objectively wrong.)

02: WYOMING (Exsuse me?!?! Yup. I'm serious. Wyoming has no market. None. They have middling football success. So why are they here? Three reasons. Great fan support, lack of other appealing options and are far more resoruce rich than people realize. If this ever gets mentioned, it's going to be because Wyoming is getting a surge of ranch money donated to the program.)

03: SAN JOSE STATE (5 - 6 years ago, they might be last. But SJSU has quietly made huge strides. On - field success as well as attendance. People are starting to show up and there's a lot of momentum around the program. Bay area may not care much about CFB either, but SJSU could make the argument that they're the top team in the area rn, not the ACC nerds. Thats something.)

04: NEVADA (The other Nevada school. It's been a rough stretch for this program. The primary appeal here is well, resources. Nevada appears to have a solid NIL pool and generates a lot more revenue than I would have imagined. It aint Vegas either but they would still bring another state into the fold i spose.)

05: AIR FORCE (What?! Look at the money they bring in! You crazy? Yes, but this is not an example of my lacking sanity. Service Academies are so cool, and I dig AFA. But they're...amateur hour. Their ceilings are massively capped and that will be even lower as we venture into revenue sharing. They're a wonderful addition for just about any G5 confernce, but not one that aspires to corner the market like our PAC.)

06: NEW MEXIXO (Good lord the NM schools. Shooting at each other and stuff. And the Lobos are the GOOD guys apparently.I'm serious. It's fk'd. Anyway, they actually generate a decent amount of revenue and do provide some market value. The basketball program hasn't been amazing but they still at least carry some cache. Football is beyond a joke. It's funny. I genuinely think a competant NM football team could put a ton of butt's in the seats. But they're just so bad, so often.)

07: HAWAII (Now this one hurts. There's an alternate reality where Hawaii capitalizes on its niche and becomes a G5 juggernaut. They keep some of these great QBs on the island and become a premier G5 destination. NFL caliber lineman with rainbows overhead keep their NFL caliber passer upright as football becomes one of their biggest attractions. In our reality, the facilities are arguably the worst in the FBS and their future stadium is still a mystery. One of my favorite places in the world, but the program is simply broken atm.)

Oh and uhm for the joining members...just for fun. Grandiploma Canyon > UTEP > NIU > UC Davis. Why not.

Have at it friends!

https://sports.yahoo.com/colorado-state-utah-state-suing-mountain-west-conference-over-exit-fees-174851975.html?s=34

This would differentiate the Old PAC12 from the upcoming itteration of the PAC.

Anybody paying attention knows that this is a very popular talking point with critics of the new PAC.

I know there is value in branding, but i believe there are diminishing returns in not accepting that the future PAC is different from last years PAC12.

Keep the same logo just drop the 12 and maybe add a flag?

Edited to remove a suggestion for a potential name change as well. I agree this would be unwise.

View Poll

https://x.com/johncanzanobft/status/1868442556859904183

They didn’t want to be selfish and put undue pressure on Mateer, who is being wooed with the weight of a $1.5 million NIL package from an SEC school, among others.

Said one booster: “He’s got a lot of people pushing and pulling right now.”

Which way is Mateer leaning? The same donor, who has been in regular contact with Mateer, told me the discussion in the last week has mostly been unremarkable. WSU’s offer is on the table. The pitch has been made. Mateer knows what he means to the school, his team, and its fans.

“We’ve mostly been talking about snowblowers,” the source said.

Mateer is practicing with the team in preparation for Washington State’s Holiday Bowl game against Syracuse. Fans in Pullman view that as an encouraging development. Mateer traveled to Texas this weekend to be with his family, sort out his options, and celebrate his sister’s graduation.

A decision is expected anytime.

Something more than the word salad we got from Teresa Gould last week.

As the Mountain West is poised to finish their second addition in the last fortnight, I'm really jonesing for some Pac-12 news, news that proves something positive is in motion. The longer this goes on, the more I worry, as the last two and a half years of news and updates from the Pac-12 have been, "Don't worry, good things are happening for the Pac-12. We're working on things that will be so amazing! Keep calm and carry on". As everything collapsed around them....

For those of us who barely survived July and August of 2023 - I am getting similar vibes. Gonzaga joined in early October? and we're nearing Xmas without any revelations other than vague platitudes

These are the ones I’m interested in.  (All times PT)

Tuesday, Dec. 17
Frisco Bowl
No. 25 Memphis vs. West Virginia : 6 p.m. | ESPN
Toyota Stadium - Frisco, Texas

Wednesday, Dec. 18
LA Bowl
No. 24 UNLV vs. Cal : 6 p.m. | ESPN
SoFi Stadium - Inglewood, California

Friday, Dec. 20
Gasparilla Bowl
Florida vs. Tulane : 12:30 p.m. | ESPN
Raymond James Stadium - Tampa, Florida

Monday, Dec. 23
Myrtle Beach Bowl
Coastal Carolina vs. UTSA :  8 a.m. | ESPN
Brooks Stadium - Conway, South Carolina

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State : 11:30 a.m. | ESPN
Albertsons Stadium  - Boise, Idaho

Tuesday, Dec. 24
Hawai'i Bowl
South Florida vs. San Jose State : 5 p.m. | ESPN
Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex - Honolulu, Hawai'i

Friday, Dec. 27
Holiday Bowl
No. 21 Syracuse vs. Washington State : 5 p.m. | FOX
Snapdragon Stadium - San Diego, CA

Saturday, Dec. 28
Arizona Bowl
Colorado State vs. Miami (Ohio) :  1:30 p.m. | CW Network
Arizona Stadium  - Tucson, Arizona

Friday, Jan. 3
First Responder Bowl
North Texas vs. Texas State :  1 p.m. | ESPN
Gerald J. Ford Stadium - Dallas, Texas

 EDIT:
The list should include the most important game from the CFP.

Tuesday, Dec. 31
College Football Playoff Quarterfinal Game (Fiesta Bowl)
No. 9 Boise State vs. TBD : 4:30 p.m. | ESPN
State Farm Stadium - Glendale, Arizona