I am over the many debates/discussions on conference re-alignment

Pig bus Twitter account is horrible

My comment made five people sad.

Is that all you got?

“some Utah fans dream of the Big 10 is simply that, dreaming.”

Well according to this B1G source, Utah is at least on the list if the B1G expands in the future. Yes its a small chance but the U of U would be foolish to treat that small chance as nothing but “dreaming”.

They mentioned that Utah got the old Big Ten evaluation list – accomplish this and that over x years and we may chat again. Same stuff they have done with the likes of Kansas, Florida State and many others. Utah is on the watch list at the very least. https://t.co/dYYfGpFZfr

— Big Ten information. College football fan (@Genetics56) March 6, 2023

Washington and Oregon likely have no options related to the next GOR. The media deal requires it, if they don’t agree others move on which would leave them waiting while screwing their sister schools over long term. They will likely hit the fork in the road before the B1G gets serious about more expansion. The two new Cali schools are open about their opposition. If the B1G adds more 20 is the next stopping point creating divisions much like what conferences once were. That would gather 2 more schools unnamed.

Afternoon TV in the East and Central time zones are prime but are well taken up. The Mtn and Pac zones still have a unique value. Thursday and Friday games at 6:00 work in those zones because the whole nation can be served while local fans have a chance to attend after work. In the east they have to start at 8:00 to be viewed in the west after work. The west also has an advantage or earlier start times on Saturday for national games. Beyond Y fans are lots of folks that willingly view games after 10:00 pm. Bars and sports clubs value entertainment beyond hours people like to be in a stadium, as well as do fans at home. The east half simply does not want to fill that slot. In the past ESPN has had the Pac and mid majors like the Y and Boise State etc. but viewers will always opt for schools with a brand or a ranking over unranked nonP5 teams. It is second tier TV but the Pac has it almost to themselves.

One, two, and maybe 3 loss Pac teams will be ranked. With Tex, Oak, USC and UCLA moving they will either disappear in the rankings or push others in the B1G and SEC to do so. A two loss Pac team will be ranked better than past undefeated mid majors. The Pac will soon always have a playoff team and enjoy a better chance at a second than Pac champs had in the past.

The Pac simply needs to just hang on and if streaming gets it done, fine. As it stands, Oregon, Washington and Utah have their arrow clearly pointing up with expectations of maintaining year over year ranked teams. That is 30% of the Pac-10 and as good as any other conference with a very good chance of other Pac schools making a run if one stumbles. We should not panic nor fear time passing by. The B1G and SEC will always be who they are, the ACC has their own issues, and the Big 12 will now have 1/3 of the league being mid majors making their way into the majors. As for Utah, just stay ranked in whatever the Pac becomes and we will be good in the next round of shuffle down the road.

1- OR and WA have made it clear they DON’T want to be in the Big 12 but do want to be in the B1G or a PAC. That is what is so funny. If the Big 12 was attractive, everyone would have joined already. Hell, if the Big 12 was attractive, the attractive teams would be in the PAC by now and BYU would still be independent and the Big 12 wouldn’t exist anymore. 

The fact that everyone is so slow to join the Big 12 shows you how terrible it is. 

You contradict yourself in your post. You bring up how the P12 Network gets $0.13/subscriber and the B1G added Rutgers and Maryland becuase their tv markets are so big (ie, more subscribers) and then two paragraphs later you talk about how SDSU and SMU do nothing for the PAC. 1 – SD has almost 4 million people in it. That is a lot of subscribers. And if SDSU keeps you on basic cable in LA, then that’s an additional 20 million subscribers. According to your logic two paragraphs above, that is a big deal. And as for SMU, they are in Dallas, which is 8 million people. 

And if you think Utah isn’t exploring their options, even though every report says they are and could jump to the Big 12 if they wanted to, I don’t know what to tell you. 

The problem Oregon and Washington have, is THEY have no leverage. If the Big 12 is offering the corner schools 30 million per year and Oregon and UW say they want 40 and everyone else gets 25…well, the four corner schools will just leave. Why would they stay for less money when ASU, Arizona, Colorado and Utah could go to the Big 12 and instantly be the top 4 out of 5 schools? 

As for Florida, I’ve said this before but I bet they vote to dissolve the conference sooner than later. The original ACC teams are 11, 11 teams are needed to dissolve the conference, they can dissolve it, form a new conference or join a new conference and make more money. Florida and Clemson are going to the rest of the schools and giving their threats for more money and if they aren’t met, then the tv people will renegotiate or the conference will go away. 

And for your last paragraph…the irony is incredible. The PAC-12 took Utah over BYU. They didn’t even consider BYU when looking at expanding because BYU doesn’t bring any additional money to the table…BYU would cost the PAC-12 money to add them. 

BYU was so not valuable when the Big 12 looked at expanding a few years ago, they said thanks but no thanks. The Big 12 was on the verge of collapse and they added BYU with other G5 schools that are frankly s**t. All the schools added are in big time college football territories…top 10 teams, Utah included, and all the schools the Big 12 added don’t have a pathway to overtake the teams above them. 

Do you honestly think Utah fans will become BYU fans? FSU and Miami fans will start to root for UCF? Ohio State fans will follow Cincinnati? Come on now. 

Every poll done shows Utah has a larger fanbase than BYU. Every tv metric shows more people watch Utah than BYU. Every metric on the field shows Utah has a better program than BYU. 

And Utah is so non-existent that the PAC-12 took them over BYU and the Big 12 would take Utah in a second if they wanted to join. 

That has to suck as a BYU fan. Solidly little brother. 

Your best case scenario, being a member of the Big 12, is Utah’s worst case scenario. 

Let that sink in. 

Thanks for visiting and thanks for your thoughts. 

As a PASSIONATE but logical/knowledgeable/realistic Utah nerd I agree with most of what you said. GK has played this out so poorly and some of his takes are skip bayless bad. I get that it isn’t all his fault – he’s hamstrung a lot OR and WA and their desire to be in the B10, which will likely happen at some point. 

I would happily have Utah join the B12 – BYU/Utah in the B12 would be great. Also, it’s a deeply passionate conference. The locations may not be as desirable – but I do feel like the Pac is on life support…

As of this moment, the B12 is positioned to be the best power conference outside of the B10/SEC as I see the ACC dissolving. And a P10 that includes ACC leftovers would suck – the travel would be terrible. 

B12 offers stability, has better leadership, and, most importantly, has a quality TV deal with Fox/ESPN – something the Pac can’t do. 

Hopefully Utah leadership makes it happen.