David Marsh

Hopefully Oregon can get out before the rest of the PAC explodes.

ND is going to have a decision before a conference merger will likely be agreed upon. From the sound of all the info I've seen is that ND will probably have an answer this week. ND knows there is too much riding on their decision and they know they need to make up their mind relatively quickly.

Independent is not an option. I know Oregon has a large fan base and it eould be possible to do... But the quality of games from year to year would vary. Oregon would have to schedule every single game independently... It's already difficult to schedule good games and those games are scheduled years and years in advance. If Oregon goes independent tomorrow they will be scheduling no name opponents because that is all they'll be able to schedule. That won't draw eyeballs and it would hurt. If Oregon wanted to go independent they needed to do some twenty years ago to have a good schedule next year. Notre Dame has been independent for so long that they are able to schedule good teams but even they have needed to be partial football members of the ACC to ensure a good schedule. BYU has given up their independence for the big-12. Their schedule has been up and down over the years but I don't think BYU is making any new years six games by being independent... At least not on any regular basis which is what they'd want. It's those NY6 big money games that are hard to make if you're independent. A lot of those games have guaranteed spots for conference champions or runners up (if playoff is involved). So no to Oregon going it alone.

By the sound of some of the stuff I've read at various sources it does sound like Knight is involved with Oregon right now. I also trust Mullens here. I think he has a better idea of what is going on than any of us know.

Because Vegas knows there are enough dillusional USC fans that would take that bet believing they have already arrived with Riley. Vegas is good at separating people from their money.

I would rather have a meter with the B1G with at least the Pac-8 being involved. I don't have much love or care for the Arizona schools, Utah and Colorado in truth. But the idea of a whole lot more travel is not appealing. I suppose grabbing a chunk of the big-12 is more appealing. The question is can Oregon, Washington, Oklahoma State, and... I don't know Texas Tech or Kansas State... Carry the prestige of a power conference? Maybe

And if the goal is for USC is to push Oregon out of their backyard I don't know why they'd want to invite Oregon in just to lose to the green and yellow terror from the north.

USC will rue the day! Though this all could backfire on them royally. What is USC continues to be bad??? And their recruiting pitch is... Come to USC and be in the B1G but in the sun! But Ohio State will counter that and say... Come to Ohio State and be on a good team.

I do think that George thought he had more time. Larry Scott left him a huge mess and he has only been on the job a year. I don't blame him for not wanting to try and absorb Big-12 schools a year ago because that would be a huge (and incredibly reactive and not in a good way) action that could have made things better or quite possibly worse when he didn't have a full understanding of what was going on within the conference he just took over. The Pac-12 media deals are up in a year or two and he has begun negotiations by the sound of it. Things were looking up with USC maybe getting their act together and some of the more minor powers were on the rise. I do feel like basement dwellers Oregon State, Arizona, and Cal are all bowl game contenders this year. I think he had more time to get things righted after such a huge mess. Also by the sound of everything I have read, the Athletic Directors and Presidents do actually LIKE him and have believed in his vision. This feels like USC and UCLA saw an opportunity to for money, UCLA is underwater athletically, and they took it. Blame them or not, its what they did. USC and UCLA stabbed the conference in the back with this move. I may sound like a bit of a Pac-12 homer but I do think given the time he needed Kliavkoff would have gotten the PAC back on track, especially with Oregon and USC on the upswing. I think Oregon is a playoff contender this year, USC is a maybe I'm not drinking the koolaid USC pundits are selling though I do think they will be better. In two years i think the Pac-12 is claiming a playoff spot regularly, especially in 2025 with Oklahoma and Texas moving to the SEC the Big-12 isn't going to be a whole lot messier.

If UCLA is forced to stay in the PAC then the conference could be on life support as the other west coast public schools will probably find themselves in a similar situation. What I could see happening is a deal being made to send the pac-8 at least to join a mega conference. The one thing that hasn't been brought up but is still in play but there are some lack luster schools and teams within the B1G and even the SEC. The PAC and ACC doesn't have a monopoly on bad teams and teams that don't generate revenue.

Stanford and the Farm are the antithesis if B1G with their huge stadiums that are always packed with a 100k people and are loud. You could study or write a paper in Stanford's stadium during a game. Autzen may not be as large as B1G stadiums but it is certainly loud enough. Stanford will be involved if ND is involved but I don't think they carry enough weight on their own to warrent an addition over two west coast schools that will be revenue generators.

I'm a little confused why they need to wait on ND to be honest. If you look at the programs that bring in the most revenue ND is one of the top programs but Oregon and Washington are pretty high in that list over all. The combo of Oregon and Washington would outweigh ND. Beyond that I read there are some fears that Oregon and Washington might not expand the overall revenue enough for everyone but might shrink it slightly for everyone. That could be possible but I think Oregon and Washington would more than pay for themselves. I think right now it's a tactic being used by the B1G to slow down and evaluate their choices before just diving in. ND is a big fish and beyond that ND is unlikely to make a decision too quickly. Everyone is scrambling right now. Also if Oregon and Washington both leave the PAC then there is no hope for the PAC and the PAC is super dead. Which then leads to other questions like... What about Cal, Oregon State and Washington State and Stanford? They aren't the big ticket programs but could preserving the pac-8 be worth it in an already massive super conference? I don't have answers when it comes to that just throwing out thoughts.

In the short run, basically the 2023 recruiting class, it's not a problem. No one knows anything or how anything will shake out right now. As we have seen being in a weak conference isn't a barrier to making it to the playoff. Cincinnati made it last year, sure they were demolished when they played Bama but that's another story. Clemson has made it and won national championships and the ACC has been worse in the whole in terms of football than the PAC. Even in a diminished conference Oregon could make it to the playoff. There are only a couple of criteria. 1. Need to have a few decent out of conference games... Something that Oregon is already doing. See Ohio State and Georgia. 2. And this is the most important one... Go undefeated. Pretty much the only consistent way to make the playoff is to go undefeated.

Stanford does get them enough by themselves. Oregon and even Washington are worth far more money.

The B1G didn't really say no thanks but more like... Wait a minute and we'll see. Adding Oregon and Washington may be their desired outcome but until Notre Dame makes their decision the B1G doesn't want to make too many moves. If Notre Dame says yes I think they add Oregon and Washington right away and probably pick Stanford. As Stanford and Notre Dame play yearly right now as well. It's probably also the best single team that is located in the bay area in terms of market share. Cal is pretty uninteresting in that regard.

True but I feel if there is a choice, and right now it appears there will probably be a choice, that would and probably should tilt it for Oregon being more in favor of joining the B1G rather than the SEC. If it's SEC or nothing then there isn't much choice there and that's what it will have to be. Granted I think I'd vomit a little every time I see the SEC logo on anything related to Oregon. I wouldn't be thrilled about a B1G logo on Oregon stuff either but it would be more palpable. Granted... I'm not consulted in any of these decisions as it is.

The oreyfan base is incredible but it does have one downside.... It's not a concentrated fan base. Outside of Oregon, which isn't terribly large, the base is everywhere. Doesn't matter so much for TV views though but it is difficult to pin down a particular media market.

I think Oregon could adapt to the SEC but I don't think it would mesh well culturally between all the powers at be. The B1G and the PAC have a whole lot more in common and that would make a transition smoother in both the short and long run.

Geographically speaking not so much. I mean the LA schools are looking at 4+ hour plane trips per away game right now if they are the only ones to make this move. And that doesn't play into the logistics of everything else. I mean think of those poor equipment truck drivers for football teams. They are going to have to drive across country for every single game, no relatively short trips, besides the across town one.

I would just like to mention that Oregon played Ohio State at 9am PST and won. So it can be done. Not sure I'd be thrilled by the idea of having to wake up for a 9am kick off.... But I have a child now so I have a feeling I'll be awake anyways. So if Oregon makes the move, I think we'll be just fine. But for those so cal fans... Snow may look like sand but you really shouldn't wear your flip flops.

Here's the funny thing... I think Oregon is in a way better position than some think and it all comes down to the biggest win of last season. Oregon going into the Shoe and beating Ohio State. That is a huge game changer for all involved because now Oregon can say... "Yeah, we can compete and beat your top programs, we can handle the B1G." Utah, the evential pac-12 champ, didn't take down Ohio State, and Ohio State was down some major players. On the flip side Oregon was down some key players and beat Ohio State, granted Oregon suffered so many injuries last year that by the time the end of the season rolled around they were a shadow of themselves... Again Oregon played walk-ons in the Alamo bowl that I have never heard of, and I'm a pretty die hard fan. Oregon also attracts a ton of eyeballs, I mentioned it in a completely unrelated thread about fan base size and though oregon has a pretty big fan base on the whole, we are not consinteated in one large media market, like LA or Seattle, but we are dispersed accross the country. Furthermore, we may not be everyone's primary team but we are are a lot of people's second team and if Oregon's on, they're watching.

Best thing for them to say right now. It has been a super chaotic day and this slows things down a bit.

There is already a recipe for making the playoffs every year .... It's called going undefeated. Clemson sits in the ACC which is worse than the PAC in football on the whole, minus Clemson, so if Oregon does opt to stay they can still go to the playoffs. Just can't trip. The great irony in what I just said is that the LA schools really haven't posted a problem for Oregon in over 10 years.

Money sadly... without the LA market firmly locked in with the LA schools the Pac-12/10 wouldn't have a good negotiating position for new media rights. Also adding more members to the PAC is really not going to help due to the Pac-12's problematic football geography in terms of major marketplaces and potential expansion targets that would actually want to join the PAC.

It's time to make nice with those Huskies and drag them with us to the B1G. That way there will at least be four members on the west coast in the B1G and that would reduce some of the travel expenses and preserve some of the rivalries. Ideally I would like to see the B1G become the Big-Pac with eight PAC teams that would at least make it so that we can keep travel expenses to something even more reasonable. Not sure if the B1G would want to take on Stanford, Oregon State, Washington State and Cal though. I am making the assumption we would cut Utah, Colorado and the Arizona schools loose to join the Big-12 as they would be happier there. Right now I just feel like I want to see some news coming out for our Ducks and I want to make things happen... but I am powerless in that regard. This kinda feels like December when we were waiting for news on a new Head Coach. Also it feels like last year when we were all going crazy because Oklahoma and Texas were leaving for the SEC.