Wild how Colorado somewhat started the decade+ long craziness and now (likely) going back to where they came from lol. I believe they beat Nebraska by a day bolting the Big 12 at the time.
anytime a team moves at the Power-5 level, it's something that could've gone down different/prevented entirely if XYZ had happened. it really is crazy that Colorado in particular reached this point.
it's also crazy that Colorado has pulled a UConn of sorts by leaving its longtime conference (Big East) only to have buyer's remorse (the AAC) and return to it – considering UConn itself could still end up joining the Big 12 in some capacity as well. Colorado goes through with this, and the consequences could be chaos-inducing like never before.
Since all of this maneuvering is about football and TV money, I don't think there will be much impact on women's basketball, at least in the short run.
In the long run, though, the shrinking of the P5 schools -- how, for example, will Cal survive? -- will cause some changes in the landscape of the non-revenue sports. One thing, I think, is that we could see the number of scholarships for women's basketball drop, which would certainly affect the sport. If volleyball and/or soccer has the same number of scholarships as basketball, then some elite athletes will make different decisions about what sports to pursue.
so much to say, but the consensus seems to be that there will be more clarity not 'if' but once Arizona follows Colorado into the Big 12. as much as i'd like to currently rag on the Big Ten, Oregon, and Washington right now, cuz i'm currently pissed at all of them, i'll hold all comments until at least that Arizona move is made...
it's virtually too late for the Pac to take in expansion candidates from the Mountain West. the exit fee to leave the MW after the '23-'24 season doubled after July 1 from $17M to $34M. no school there has that kind of money, or even anything much less than it assuming a negotiated buyout would subsequently take place. what most likely will happen is the Pac trying to merge with the MW – which, one way or another, the vibe is that the MW will end up taking in Pac leftover schools – in which Cal could easily be one of them.
meanwhile, the ACC schools that want to leave for the SEC or Big Ten such as Florida State apparently want ACC expansion such that it forces their media contract [and thus their GOR, allegedly] to reopen and thereby gets them their ticket out. the ACC taking in the leftover Pac schools is still a very unlikely possibility as of now...
...however, we've never seen a Power conference actually dissolve in one fell swoop – even the Big East still exists in some form today – but that is exactly what we're headed towards. the ACC scooping up the leftovers is the only sorta-semi-plausible, legitimate Power-5 life raft i can think of for what'll remain of the Pac, since i can sorta imagine how & why all ACC schools would get on the same page and be in favor of it. uncharted waters. again, what happens when just one more Pac school [namely Arizona] leaves is anyone's guess.
Saw some supposedly informed B1G info saying the B1G isn't interested in expanding in the next few years as it "digests" USC and UCLA. Makes sense, really ... nothing to lose, really, as UW and Oregon have nowhere else to go. The ACC makes no sense at all and the Big 12 doesn't fit.
So I guess the Pac staggers along with six schools from California, Oregon and Washington, and, well, I don't know. If the media deal is bad enough, Utah and the Arizonas make the Big 12 a 16-team conference, and ...
Cal and Stanford could just start some kind of Ivy League, but I don't think UW and Oregon would be interested. Eventually, those two are in the B1G, I think.
either way, once Arizona goes to the Big 12, that’s pretty much it. Oregon & Washington will be going somewhere, leaving the conference with 4-6 teams depending on if the Big 12 legitimately wants ASU & Utah assuming they end up missing out on Oregon & Washington. and that’s when a MW or AAC will swoop in, cuz someone will have to.
i’m personally not so sad that the Pac after 100+ years is ending due to imo a whole lot of mismanagement from its Commissioners and school Presidents within the past 10-15 years – i find it a bit karmic – but it’s incredibly sad that it’ll cost multiple schools their Power-5 status. at the end of the day, it didn’t have to be this way – at all.
Last Edit: Jul 30, 2023 13:59:35 GMT -5 by Deleted
and while we wait for the Pac schools to sort out their respective conference-related situations, there's a fun little rumor out there that Florida State might withdraw from the ACC before the August 15 cutoff date [per ACC bylaws] presumably in time for the '24-'25 season... and yes, that could be a domino with some Pac schools as well.
it was gonna be a booked & busy realignment schedule for the next few weeks regardless of ACC-related happenings; we had already started at a 10 on the chaos meter.
yeah, the fact that it’s clearly labeled a “rumor” means to me that that outlet released it for clicks and knows it isn’t actually coming true.
what has more steam across the board is Florida State possibly withdrawing from the ACC but doing so alone [which is in & of itself fucking crazy but apparently growing likelier], as well as Kliavkoff giving what could be the official media deal presentation to the remaining Pac schools tomorrow. Arizona could still leave for the Big 12 as early as the end of this week. read into these what you will.
the Pac was presented with their tv deal yesterday, and it was all streaming all with Apple, as previously rumored/feared. google “Pac-12 Apple” and you’ll find various articles detailing and slamming the deal as one that schools with other conference options shouldn’t take. (shit, i’m a millennial and i’d hate to have to get Apple TV just for this.) school presidents – particularly Arizona’s – have previously made it known they don’t want a deal with more than 50% streaming, let alone majority, let alone 100%. but apparently this was the best Kliavkoff could do.
needless to say, it’s never looked worse for the conference’s chances at survival.
the Pac was presented with their tv deal yesterday, and it was all streaming all with Apple, as previously rumored/feared. … needless to say, it’s never looked worse for the conference’s chances at survival.
and all the sharks smell blood in the water:
Big Ten Add Washington, Oregon, Stanford, And Cal Challenge