So what you’re basically saying is that UCLA has some serious athletic department management problems.
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And USC’s mismanaged athletics department is legendary.
Is Mike Brown on the Regents? The UCLA agreement sounds like the deal made with Hamilton County for Paul Brown Stadium
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NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND! The UC Regents are meeting on July 21st to discuss UCLA’s departure. Did UCLA really announce it was switching conferences without telling the governing body of the UC system first? Will non-UCLA-aligned Regents put the kibosh on the move? Inquiring minds want to know!
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As Darryl Hall (or was it John Oates? I can’t remember) once sang “I can’t go for that. No can do.”
Also, what was the offending thing that was so off putting they couldn’t go for? Child labour? Nuclear war? Mega conferences?
Daryl Hall sang lead vocals. John sang back up.
Sounds like UCLA tried to Do It In a Minute.
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“UCLA leadership informed President Drake that discussions between UCLA and the Big Ten were occurring but he was not involved at all in those discussions or in any negotiations,” a spokesperson for the University of California Office of the President told ESPN in an email. “… decisions related to athletics are formulated and executed at the campus-level. There is no requirement for a decision from the University of California Board of Regents or the Office of the President.”
I’m not sure how switching conference affiliations to offset a boat anchor of a fiscal loss at one institution is a bad move for the broader UC system. Could Cal’s revenue share from a revamped Pac-##? deal be lessened, sure, I guess…but if I were the PAC-12, i’d be looking at forming the first 20 team super conference to see if the TV deal could actually get sweeter.
Yet all the while, Stanford is like “but wait! I’m the Rich Girl!”
Ok enough of this.
If I was the PAC-12 I’d be hiring some Private Eyes to investigate what exactly went down between the Big 10, and USC and UCLA.
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Just when I thought I was out of the game, the game brings me back! Leave me alone! I’m a family man. And my bark is much worse than my bite!
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If I were the PAC 12, I’d extend an invitation to San Diego State immediately to keep a presence in SoCal. The Aztecs won 12 games last season and they are moving into a brand new 35,000 seat stadium in September. Interest in SDSU football has never been greater. If they need balance, I would consider bringing in Fresno, with its great Central Valley market and its solid athletics reputation.
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I agree on San Diego State. I would probably consider Boise and /or UNLV for that last spot
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I thought the pac 12 prided itself on its academics. Well, save for ASU. If you let Boise in, you’ve basically let a junior college in. No disrespect, just being honest. I kinda think the only option is to merge the Big 12 and ACC with it. This new world is a hot buttered mess.
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I know these mergers say they are about academics but that really doesnt matter when you are essentially a semi pro league. There is no academic rationale for USC to be in the same conference as Rutgers
US News rankings for the new Big 16:
9 Northwestern
20 UCLA
23 Michigan
27 USC
42 Wisconsin
47 Illinois
49 Ohio State
49 Purdue
59 Maryland
63 Penn State
63 Rutgers
68 Indiana
68 Minnesota
83 Michigan State
83 Iowa
136 Nebraska
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In the B1G Miami would rank above Nebraska. It’s quite obvious the academic rankings have begun to favor the large research universities of the AAU.
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It’s now about markets and money. In that regard, San Diego is worth Ames, Manhattan and Lubbock combined.
Vegas should be considered based on its market and glitter. But athletically UNLV hasn’t done much since the tainted Jerry Tarkanian years - and that was a long time ago. There are more distractions from college sports in Vegas that one could possibly imagine.
Boise brings good football with a national brand but pedestrian academics and a tiny market.
The Valley, which Fresno owns, is largely rural with some medium sized towns but in total is a fairly good sized California market.
If PAC 12 expansion takes place within the West, we basically maintain three mostly regionally-based P5 leagues.
I saw Illinois was the number 15 public school in the country. It’s impossible to follow these lists.
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Buffalo jumped ahead of Miami a few years ago when it was designated as an AAU institution. Before that, Miami was always the top-ranked MAC school.