Pac-12 to decide whether to expand within a couple weeks

Cyclones1969

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Jul 26, 2021
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THIS is something many are missing....Bowlsby went from pissed to full radio silence in .01 seconds. He doesn't do that unless something big...and positive...is happening behind the scenes. What that "big" thing may be is very unclear at this point...but there is something.

Well that, and there is potential pending litigation
 

HFCS

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Aug 13, 2010
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Yes. Stillwater, Lubbock, & Manhattan have nothing on Ames.

Other than being closer to each other and an expanded PAC.

State populations are similar too.

Lawrence is not the urban metro paradise jhawk morons paint it as either.
 

Cyforce

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Nov 24, 2009
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Probably the biggest piece of real news since OU and UT's departure. Pac-12 commish expects to have a real answer about whether that league will expand or not "in the next couple of weeks."

If yes, the competition for those four spots (likely just four) will be fierce; if no, the Big 12 leftovers are probably gonna have to start thinking about sending our own invites out for 2025.

This timeline seems much faster than many on here expected.
This should force the SEC to move forward or pass on the 4 southern (OkSt Tech Baylor and TCU) schools.

Best possible scenario SEC infact offers the southern 4, Pac offers us, the Kansas' then BiG steps in and says not so fast. (Us and WVa)
 

CYCLNST8

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THIS is something many are missing....Bowlsby went from pissed to full radio silence in .01 seconds. He doesn't do that unless something big...and positive...is happening behind the scenes. What that "big" thing may be is very unclear at this point...but there is something.

PAC 20 where the AZ schools are in our division would be nice. I'd take that.

[edit: or Colorado & Utah. I'm not picky]
 
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JM4CY

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Lol, why would anyone.
I’ll be honest, I ventured into several of them to get their take on the fiesta bowl back in January. Several of them were pretty entertaining. I think the Husky one was particularly crazy and hilarious.
 

SolarGarlic

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State populations are similar too.

Lawrence is not the urban metro paradise jhawk morons paint it as either.

They are similar to Iowa fans in that way. Spend one year outside of Iowa, and upon return, Iowa City looks like a small, dumpy town in eastern Iowa. It just happens to have a bunch of hot suburban Chicago women, which is nice. But they think it's the Paris of the midwest.
 

cyIclSoneU

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State populations are similar too.

Lawrence is not the urban metro paradise jhawk morons paint it as either.

Its all similar enough that I think it just makes too much sense to grab Tech, OSU, KU, and ISU and have those 4 passionate fan bases (well, KU for hoops at least) in 4 states give you a chance to play football at 11 Central as a league. They are plug and play fanbases; Houston would be more of a gamble having been out of the major ranks for 25 years. You can get these 4 on reduced TV shares at first and then negotiate a new media deal with 16 schools under your belt.

If the Pac 12 expands I think this is the most likely outcome.
 

CYCLNST8

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Its all similar enough that I think it just makes too much sense to grab Tech, OSU, KU, and ISU and have those 4 passionate fan bases (well, KU for hoops at least) in 4 states give you a chance to play football at 11 Central as a league. They are plug and play fanbases; Houston would be more of a gamble having been out of the major ranks for 25 years. You can get these 4 on reduced TV shares at first and then negotiate a new media deal with 16 schools under your belt.

If the Pac 12 expands I think this is the most likely outcome.

Ha- you just want to stick it to @surly :D
 

AuH2O

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Sep 7, 2013
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Have you ever been to a PAC 12 message board?

And if the Big 12 has to expand to survive, the fact that nobody on here is pissing their pants with excitement to snag Cincy doesn't mean it wouldn't be the best option.

Just curious, on those message boards, what do the PAC fans think WOULD be a good move? Because they are in a ******* position, both financially and on the field.

The PAC hasn't expanded in the last few years not because they didn't want to, but because they've been such a trainwreck that no power conference team would dream of going there. The fact that there's an even bigger trainwreck in the Big 12 doesn't suddenly mean the PAC is some well run, or even stable league.

Hell, I think it's clear ISU would add value to the PAC, and I'd jump at the chance. But I think the league will still be pretty unstable and always have the threat of USC, and possibly Oregon, UW and maybe UCLA leaving.

This idea that the PAC can be picky, stand pat, or get cute with their decision is laughable. They need to take the teams that will generate the most football viewers period. They don't have the luxury to do anything else. That is most definitely ISU and OSU, and it's not even close. If they take two more, then I'm not sure.
 

JM4CY

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My money is they say not now, but they will eventually after all the fallout is complete.

Still think we will be in the Big10.
Given their current position, I don’t see how they wait for other dominos to fall first though.
 

Clark

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Given their current position, I don’t see how they wait for other dominos to fall first though.

Assuming you're talking about the Big 10, they don't really have a choice. The schools they'd like to add don't currently want to join (or can't) so they'll wait until that changes.
 

BMWallace

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I don't think that's the conclusion I would draw. I don't think Texas is leaving the Big 12 because it's uneven distribution and the SEC is evenly distributed. They fear getting left in the dust by the SEC. They saw the Big 12 as having a limited ceiling, and while they could have squeezed more out of the others in the league, probably understand that you can only do that so much before those teams can't compete any more and your league becomes a joke.

Now, I think for Ohio State they have been able to do so well financially and on the field, that they can see the merits of the rising tide approach in the Big 10. But if the SEC starts blowing them away financially and on the field consistently, I think they might get a little restless.

I agree, you can't have such an uneven distribution that the rest of your league turns into a joke. But Ohio State getting $75 million from media while Rutgers and Purdue get $45 isn't going to destabilize the league. If any of the teams in the Big 10 outside of Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and possibly Wisconsin start feeling like they deserve the same as those schools, they better think twice.
Jim Delaney and Mike Slive were able to manage the egos in their respective conferences, and get the bigger name members to support and lift the lower members. As you said, both the B1G and SEC acted as rising tides that lifted all of their member schools.

Texas (and to a lesser extent OU) wanted to be selfish, and that only served to destabilize the Big 12. Their selfishness ran off Nebraska and A&M which put the conference behind the eight ball. Colorado and Mizzou recognized the instability and jumped ship instead of riding it out.

If instead, the 2010 Big 12 members had pooled their tier 3 rights, and the LHN is instead the Big 12 Network, the original Big 12 likely stays in tact. That means there are 4 marquee members to bolster the value of the league, and this version of the Big 12 is likely on similar footing to the 12 member SEC and 11 (or 12, or 13) member Big 10.
 

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