Pac-12 is Dead, Utah Needs to Find a New Home

[UteThunder]

With Colorado leaving (reportedly) for the BigXII and Oregon & Washington the next in line to get into the B1G, Utah NEEDS to find their way into one of these two conferences ASAP.

Backfilling with SDSU, SMU and whatever other G5 teams we can find isn’t going to move the meter. At best the Pac will be viewed as the AAC West. In other words, not a P5 level conference.

[ALUF]

It’s happening, the big xii just accepted Colorado. Utah needs to jump ship now

[uteinzoobcounty]

It’s kinda wild to me that the PAC has been so quiet, I was on the wait train. But now I want something. Like do anything, say something. The take the high road crap doesn’t get you anywhere, especially in this era of college ball. SDSU didn’t sign, haven’t heard anything about SMU, and now the toilet paper leftover on the booty of the PAC has a 31 million dollar deal. Do something

[UteThunder]

There is nothing for them to do/say. USC & UCLA put the conference on life support and Colorado just pulled the plug.

Utah is the entity that needs to start saying and doing something.

[uteinzoobcounty]

I’m ready for New jersey, Maryland, and Illinois trips. Let’s get some BIG news

[DrJazzy]

Utah needed to bolt weeks ago. The writing has been on the way – GK clearly cannot negotiate his way out of a paper bag and is a backwards thinker. What a joke. P12 makes the worse top down decisions…so s**tty. 

At this point I am genuinely nervous about Utah’s future – just hopeful our leadership is more forward thinking and are destined to the B12 with Colorado hand in hand.

 

On a positive note – now officially moved to B2 country. Would love to watch Utah games out here. 

[UteThunder]

I have felt the same way but was patiently waiting for good news, hoping our admin new something we didn’t. 

[Crow]

Actually the ACC and the remaining school’s in the PAC12 need to just join together. ESPN would have East coast West coast coverage.

[AlohaUte]

Everything hinges on UW and UO. Currently there is no indication the B1G is going to swoop them up and add them anytime soon. But if that changes, it’s over. The Pac will still exist, but it will be mostly MWC teams. 

But if UW and UO don’t bolt, then the Pac is salvagable. Colorado is replaceable and it isn’t the death knell to the Pac-12 yet. 

[Roy Rangum]

100% agree. Colorado is replaceable, Oregon and Washington are not. So far, the news has been pretty consistent that the Big10 is not inviting them this go around, and I don’t see them leaving for the Big12 either.

[charlesh]

Yep. Pac just pulls in the best of the MWC and lives on.  

[UteFanatic]

The nightmare scenario is if UW and UO decide to go Big12. Utah will be stuck behind in the Pac that is backfilled with MWC teams, with a payout of $10M per year.

[DrJazzy]

This is the passive/reactive thought process that may lead to Utah being left behind once the dust settles. UO/UW for all intent and purposes are gone – whether that is now or in a couple years…why sit around in a sitting duck league waiting for the inevitable. 

I would hope our leadership (Harlan) is smarter than that. Be aggressive, create your own future rather than let others dictate your terms. 

[UteFanatic]

Clarification to your post. Harlan is not the decision-maker. Taylor Randall and his board is who decides things. They will obviously consult with the AD, but the AD isn’t a decision-maker in realignment decisions.

Randall is smart and business savvy. I trust him to put Utah in the best position for future success.

[alexsmith]

I might be crazy, but what has Colorado done since joining the PAC? They’ve were last in the South division 8 times and they have won I believe one March madness game, if that. I think you can back fill with SDSU and move forward with a 10-team league that is competitive where 2 out of the 3 (Utah, Oregon, and Washington) minimum should be playing for a spot in the 12 team playoff each year on the last weekend of the season, realistically having both teams in

[gogotwo]

Agree that Colorado is replaceable and didn’t necessarily bring much, but its their action that’s most damning. Disagree that is hinges on just UW and UO, if any other member bolts, conference is done as well. Then its a rush out the door. Its pretty much a given at this point, whatever deal the P12 is able to secure will not be good. Replacing Colorado doesn’t sweeten any deal. We know UW and UO will jump at the first chance to get into the B1G. Why would other members wait till that happens? Its musical chairs and a game of chicken, no one wants to be stuck on the outs.

[AZUTE]

Big12 isn’t done they will target Arizona next.

Meanwhile The remaining Pac12 school presidents and George K just sit in their hands doing nothing to stop it or even fight back.

Looks like the pac brought a knife to a gun fight.

[Gugstanley]

Pac brings a knife to a gun fight and holds the knife to their own throat. This conference is unbelievable in it’s terrible decision making.

[NashvilleUte]

At what point do the school presidents finally force GK to show his cards!? Even last night Arizona in particular keeps saying they’re waiting to see a number before deciding. That tells me, at least most of the presidents have no idea what the current numbers are looking like. It’s far past time to force his hand.

I can’t believe the disfunction in this conference! You’d have thought they’d have learned from the previous commissioner, but it looks like they’re doing the same thing all over again. Enabling disfunction. I want out of the PAC before we sink with it, but I’m increasingly concerned about our options… Especially the longer we wait. Obviously the B1G is the preference, but it’s a long shot. Besides that I’m worried we’ve burnt too many bridges with the Big12 already with our leaders scoffing at rumors of talks with the Big12 and many of the fans bagging on the idea of joining a truck stop conference.

[HoosierUte]

The B12 would take Utah in a heartbeat. Would immediately be one of the best football programs in the conference. The fact that we haven’t jumped yet means our admin doesn’t see it as worthwhile yet.

[D T]

Our floor’s the XII….Stop fretting over it.

[ALUF]

Not true, it’s the mountain west. Utah has been offered the xii and said no due to not being an academic fit. Utah may just find itself waiting to pull the plug too long and then be left out of even being in the big xii…just because they have byu-p doesn’t mean we should avoid them. Get over yourself or it’s back to playing New Mexico and unlv every year.

[D T]

Actually, it’s 100% accurate.

You sound like a zoob talking MWC….Yormark would make room for us in a heartbeat, IF it came right down to it.

[ALUF]

Not if 4 other Pac schools have already filled the seats

[Central Coast Ute]

First off you don’t know that Utah has said no. Taylor Randall has likely spoken with the B12 and you and I have no idea what the conversations have been like.

[Duhwayne]

All those university presidents who would rather join a conference without AAU membership and good academic tradition in order to play in Houston, Provo, Morgantown, Waco and Lubbock, say aye!

[ALUF]

All those who say play in those towns rather than Reno, Albuquerque, Logan and boise and be irrelevant in college football say aye!

[Yergensen]

P5 is dying. P2/Tier 1 breakaway is underway. If you’re not in SEC or Big 10 when it’s done, does it really matter where you are? Big 12 is just another leaking lifeboat.

[UteFanatic]

Up until this point, there was no real reason to worry. The Pac12 still had good football brands to build a conference around and surely a decent media deal would get worked out, right?

But, now… Colorado leaving means either 1) there is no deal on the horizon or 2) the deal that is being communicated is not good. Either way, this is pretty much a disaster for the conference. Losing CU in and of itself isn’t a death blow, but this could trigger a dangerous game of musical chairs.

There seems to be a lot of Utah fans that think Utah will be fine no matter what and fail to acknowledge there are scenarios where Utah could be in real trouble.

Utah needs to get on the phone ASAP with the Big12. I know it’s not what many wanted or hoped would happen. Hell, I wanted the Pac to get a good deal and stay together. But the shifting landscape can’t be ignored and Utah has to look out for itself.

[prestitute]

I don’t know if people think Utah will necessarily be fine no matter what, they just realize that we here on this board fighting about it and acting like the sky is falling won’t change a damn thing. I think a lot of us try to take the approach that if we can’t help it, we leave it alone. I love Utah sports and did back when we were in the WAC and will regardless. It sucks, and it adds a little stress to my life that the P12 is having issues, but I can’t do anything about it. As many have said, just because the administration isn’t talking publicly doesn’t mean they are doing nothing. In the end, we will see how this goes. Hopefully it moves in the right direction.

Utah has a lot going for it: Winning has made us valuable, and Kyle has parlayed that into a successful program. We have high fan engagement in a decent and growing market. We are very much becoming a brand, and that matters most right now, even above market size, in the streaming model if the world. It is honestly possible for conferences to stop mattering in the future when TV rights aren’t as big of a.deal. personally, I won’t be shocked to eventually see a kicky ball (I actually love the way European leagues do this) tiered system once the tradition of CFB erodes a little more (and it already has a ton). Utah should be working on controlling what it can: Play on the field and negotiating with the major players. Us fans should root for our team and support them ro make sure we are always good candidates. My 2 cents.

[UteFanatic]

I wholeheartedly agree that there is nothing we as fans can do about the outcome. I just see a lot of Utah fan comments saying the Big12 is the floor. I don’t believe that to be true. I believe the floor is much lower than that if Utah admins don’t play their cards right. 

If Utah jumps right now, they will likely be accepted into the Big12 as that will put pressure on additional Pac schools to move. But if Arizona and Arizona state express interest before Utah, there is a very good chance UW and UO start seriously considering the move as well because the B1G is obviously not expanding right now.

If UW and UO express interest to the Big12, it’s game over for Utah. This is a harsh reality. 

The Big12 didn’t want to add CU. They were probably #10 on their list of Pac12 schools to poach. They did it because it destabilized the conference and will trigger other, more desirable schools to move as well. 

Utah is good program and is on the rise. But let’s not pretend expansion is always about on-the-field performance. There are so many other factors at play. 

[Ma’ake Kava]

If the rush to superconferences is back on, the B1G really needs to have a western wing, or else USC has been hung out to dry.  (Not sure anyone cares about UCLA, except as a destination road game).

Having a hard time seeing that conference see Yormark eat their lunch (especially with the “flood everything” disinformation campaign that appears to have finally worked).  But he & his consulting firm batted the PAC around like a cat playing with a mouse.

If Yormark really has a $31.5M “invite anyone” blank check, then the B12 media partners are going to be really happy with him, and all this may get revisited once that contract is up.

[UteFanatic]

There were some really comprehensive analyses done of potential B1G additions last year after USC/UCLA left. If I recall correctly, Utah was #8 or so on that list. So even if B1G really wants to move west, Utah is probably not going to be on their radar. It would be Oregon, Washington, Stanford, and Cal as the most likely additional western schools. That is 6 schools in the western wing, and is more than adequate. They then wait until the ACC GOR expires, and gobble up 4 more.

It’s Pac12 or Big12 for Utah, always has been.

[Sanders]

BIG 10 is in no hurry – they want ND and top teams in the ACC more, otherwise OR and WA would be gone. Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS and ESPN are pulling the strings and making it look like it’s the commissioner’s dealings. ESPN cleaned house for a reason. Whether the 2023 football season ends first or ACC breaks their GOR’s…chaos is coming.