So, regardless of which teams in the east join the Pac12 we all know that travel costs will be an issue as pointed out by Memphis AD. Particularly for basketball, volleyball, and soccer. As I see it the current travel partner pairs would be:

WSU & Gonzaga

BSU & USU

As you can tell right now the PAC12 is severely lacking in easy and low cost travel for non-football team sports. The solution? Partner with the WCC and Big Sky on scheduling to ease travel. The PAC gets to reduce travel costs and the WCC and Big Sky get good OOC matchups.

Every current member has several schools in either conference near them. Here is a listing showing this for members without a close travel partner:

OSU: Portland, Portland St, Seattle U

FSU: SMC, San Fran, Pacific, Sac St, UC Davis

SDSU: San Diego, Pepperdine, UCSC, Loyola Marymont, Cal Poly

CSU: U Northern Colorado, Weber St.

So for example if Memphis flys out to play SDSU instead of flying out to Fresno to play FSU, they could play Pepperdine as the other half of the away trip and reduce costs. Mixing in OOC and In Conference would be fairly unique but I think it could be a benefit to everyone.

All you needed to do was win out and you were surely in the playoff.

Damn.

I think its almost universally accepted that we want Memphis and Tulane & that the PAC wants a minimum of 9 FB members for 8 conf games.

Size matters.

Keep it small so there are less mouths to feed? Add 3 or 4 for a solid Eastern presence? Make 2 full divisions? Texas vs Florida market? Which Texas School?

This post assumes a 12+ media deal and that these AAC schools accept a PAC offer.

This also assumes MWC teams are off the table.

Also not factoring in any non football additions.

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SoonerSports.com

Venables Names Arbuckle Offensive Coordinator

First a question for Boise State fans: Obviously there is wisdom in wanting a first round bye, but what would it mean to host a CFP game? It tickles me to think of an SEC team having to travel to Boise in December.

Second is a general question: How long before conferences abandon championship games because it could risk playoff births? (The SEC teams are already bellyaching about this)

https://x.com/nickdaschel/status/1863767336836387050

The Sauce is BOSS

https://x.com/TheCW_Sports/status/1863732532174545384

https://x.com/CollegeFBPortal/status/1863707375800029290

ESPN College Football

3 Gonzaga

14 USU

28 BSU

49 OSU

60 SDSU

87 WSU

207 CSU

255 FSU

One of a handful of schools that are ranked in both polls - Tennessee, Illinois, Ole Miss, Iowa State, Alabama

Gonzaga, San Diego State also checking in for basketball.

Hopefully the 'other bite of the apple' happens soon!

Saw one of my UH followers post this on X and I thought it was pretty cool the way he put these rankings together. I know many of yall are gonna be pissed abt where he has Boise ranked, but I think it's bc he value's ranked wins more than anything else. His X handle is @DirtySouthScout, he's a pretty good follow.

Hear me out, UNLV and Air Force got big bags to stay in the Mountain West, they aren't going anywhere. If the Pac-12 can't get any of the AAC schools to jump over because of travel costs and the upcoming media rights deal not being large enough to cover the increasing costs of the conference, should the Pac-12 come back around to look at those MW programs that only received 11.5% in the MW MOU? Of the four in the 11.5% club, I think Wyoming or New Mexico are the top contenders I'm looking at while Nevada and San Jose State I wouldn't be considering. Texas State I would extend the 9th invite to with either Wyoming or New Mexico getting the 10th, this would get the Pac-12 to 10 total programs, 9 in football. To not complicate the current lawsuit, any pursuit of the 11.5% MW schools would have to wait till that lawsuit is settled or dismissed.

https://x.com/elguapo369/status/1863254714021707841

https://www.youtube.com/@TheMontyShow/videos

In the Monty Show Pac-12 Expansion episode from last week apparently they go on a long jag about how Teresa Gould, being a longtime Pac-12 employee, is bungling the Pac-12 expansion because of the culture of the Pac-12 and working with Larry Scott and George Kliavkoff only taught her how to fail

Monty is such a sports expert - and the Mountain West fanboys know their conference so well - that they dont know that Gloria Nevarez, the current Mountain West commissioner was a protege of Larry Scott and worked at the Pac-10 for over a decade. She is more of a Pac-12 insider than Teresa. Its really just too rich

Much credit to Boise State, Fresno State, Oregon State for consistently filling their stadiums.

Colorado State - Good job filling up the stadium for your rivalry games. Extra credit for scheduling 7 home games as a G5 school.

UNLV - Filling in the lower bowl of Allegiant Stadium. Upper sections opened for Boise State and UNR rivalry game and got 40k+ in the building.

San Diego State - Great stadium, but needs a winning team for fan support.

Washington State - Great team that gets a lot of eyeballs of tv, but their fans need to make the drive out to Pullman.

Utah State - Glad that the NCAA eliminated the minimum attendance rule. The Aggies football program was tanked by an off the field scandal this year. Hopefully fans come back after they clean house and rebuild.

Edit - Add Memphis, Tulane, UTSA, Texas State

Dear Boise State,

Congrats on an amazing season and good luck with the remaining games. I for one will be cheering you on in the Mountain West Championship and hopefully college football playoffs. As a fan of the PAC-12 you are a welcome addition to the new PAC, and an inspiration to the entire conference.

With that being said, as a WSU fan I'm requesting that someone in your football program / athletic department, kindly write a detailed report on how to run a long standing, successful football program on a much more limited budget and send it to WSU's athletic department.

Can you also include, how to get fans in the stands, and how to keep them there. This would include student sections. If you have any tips on how to get alumni to donate that would be appreciated too.

The reason I ask is, I'd love to see a long standing rivalry of heated football games between our teams for the foreseeable future. And a strong Pac-12 conference filled with passionate fan bases similar to yours.

Sincerely,

Frustrated WSU fan

Watching the Montana Tennessee St game, I really think Montana would be a good fit in the new Pac.

I'm an Oregon fan, but also a PAC-12 fan. And this just dawned on me.

We were this close having a G5 team potentially get the top seed in the playoffs. If our special teams had not bailed us out that week, we would be looking at this going into next weekend

#1) Boise State #2) Oregon #3) Texas #4) Penn State

Just chew on that. Obviously we can't say for sure but I'm 95% it would be Boise based on how the committee has acted over the years. It would be similar to Cincinnati in 2021, there win over ND eventually automatically making them one spot ahead of the Irish.

College football is AWESOME.

https://x.com/txstgameday/status/1862899473074081942?s=46&t=qwoy3jQLjUVMaVlrvz-rVg

And then a thousand replies of #Soon

So is it?

The Big Noon Kickoff crew is heading to Boise for a special Mountain West Championship Pregame show – kicking off at 7:00 PM ET, Friday 12/6 on FOX

https://x.com/BNKonFOX/status/1862866825647931612

Why does everyone here still consider Memphis, Tulane, USF, UNLV, UTSA, Navy, Army, Air Force, Cal, and Stanford viable options? I've seen posts mentioning how, especially Memphis and Tulane, will be the next pick-ups for the Pac.

All aforementioned schools have committed to their respective conferences, including the American schools announcing to stay (Memphis, Tulane, USF, UTSA), and UNLV more than likely staying in the MW.

The only viable options that still remain are Texas State, North Texas, Rice, New Mexico State, or completely reaching on a MAC school. There have been talks of upgrading an FCS schools, but I don't see how that would help solidify the PAC-12 as the 5th best conference in CFB.

Are there truly any other viable options for football that remain? I don't believe so, but I'd be interested to hear rebuttal.

I think St. Mary's would also be an amazing basketball addition to couple with Gonzaga, but that would tear the West Coast Conference entirely apart.

IMO, Texas State remains the best option as an emerging program to watch, and would rival on-field talent of most future Pac programs. Rice would be a close second, but doesn't align well with these schools philosophically. Interested to hear y'all's thoughts.

https://www.johncanzano.com/p/canzano-oregon-states-next-steps?

Oregon State starting quarterback Ben Gulbranson (226 passing yards, 1 TD) deserves a ton of credit. He sat on the bench all last season. It must have been painful for him. But Gulbranson stuck around Corvallis, kept working hard, and was the best passer the team had this season.

His teammates voted him a team captain. He was a leader. Without Gulbranson in uniform, the end of this season would have been dismal and unwatchable. Gulbranson didn’t have a consistent running game behind him or dynamic receivers in front of him, but the QB made the final two weeks of the regular season worth watching. If you see him, just say “thanks.”