David Marsh

A part I cut from this article, which was originally about double it's final draft, the PAC-12 made a gigantic mistake with their network where they didn't have a media partner. It didn't give Fox or ESPN any stake in the conference and as a result it put a target on the PAC. It was a conference ripe for raiding and that is what happened. The big 12 in all of this has played the puppet superbly well. They get hit first and then see their new overlords as their saviors and do their bidding. Also... I think Canzano and Wilner did have a good idea about what was being said in the pac-12 circles... But what was being said in those circles was far from reality. The big 12 pundits seemed to know more what was going on at the end of the day. Was Fox and ESPN dropping them some info as to what was going on behind closed doors? Remember Fox at least was hanging around at the negotiationijg table for a long time in all of this. No evidence on that last point but it has made me wonder.

You think that is bad ... Earlier this year I was getting ads for Beavers tickets! So much orange and black in this green refuge. It was hideous!

All depends on how much the powers in the B1G value reducing travel costs for the west coast members. And... If they value those rivalries. You can't conjure rivalries out of thin air. Utah and Colorado being a great example of trying to force a rivalry ... It never worked. If the media companies want to have some good ratings they'd want to keep the west coast teams playing each other. You can't manufacture the kind of hate between Oregon and USC that we have for each other. Sure we'd love a shot to take out Ohio State ... But we don't have the hatred for them like we do for USC. You want a bonkers atmosphere in Autzen and the ratings to match... You lean into the Oregon v LA schools rivalry.

Getting to know the Big Ten mascots: Who are these guys? DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM The Duck is about to make some new friends as Oregon leaves the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten next season. So the Duck is going to continue to be king of the conference for best mascot. I didn't realize that so many B1G schools just don't have mascots... Or are kinda creepy looking human mascots. Yes, I went there... Herbie the Husker and Purdue Pete do have a bit of a creepy human mascots thing going on.

But if you get the type of results we saw last year... Yeah that'd totally be worth it! Irving is a beast!!!

Oh boy ... This gives my article coming out tonorrow ring even more true if this is the case.

Playing Oregon twice every four years is abusive. Especially since one of those games comes with them getting embarrassed badly at home often at the hands of some of their local kids that refused to go to USC.

We're on the same page Jon. There will be 2 loss teams included and I don't see guarantees for conference champions after 2025. I also wouldn't count the Big-12 as a power conference. I think the ACC still counts but barely and that's only because they have some major programs like Clemson, FSU, Duke and I'll count Notre Dame. But they're next on the chopping block. I think the big-12 is under the illusion that they are a power conference but they aren't. I think the biggest sign of their future weaknesses showed itself last season with TCUs embarrassing national championship game appearance.

When the playoff moves to 12 teams there will be some 2 loss teams included. In any given year there aren't that many 1 loss teams. I mean last year it looked pretty difficult to really fill the field of 4 and there was some speculation a 2 loss teams (from the SEC) may sneak in. Didn't happen that way... But a good 2 loss team will be in the 12 team playoff ... Will they win it? Going to be honest on that one... Probably not.

From a rivalry perspective I'd rather have OSU and WSU....but that's a non starter. So sure... I'd take Cal and Stanford. Granted... It if west coast expansion continues in this direction wouldn't there be the Pac-8 in the B1G? I wouldn't mind having yearly games against the pac-8.

Oh yeah... We're in a conference now that has ice hockey as a major staple.

I would not describe those reports as begging as they were super vague. It sounded more like Knight was putting out feelers and trying to make sure a door was open for the Ducks when the time came. Keep in mind too that Knight is also a Stanford alum, though the Ducks are still his first love, but I don't think he wanted his second school to be lost in the PAC either. There was certainly patience from Oregon and Washington as they did seem genuinely interested in staying in the PAC if possible. Though i do believe there was a certain inevitability to the Ducks to the B1G I don't think it was anyone's first choice in clouding Knight. A weak but VIABLE PAC would have created a much easier road to the playoff in the next 5 years than going to the B1G. But if the PAC isn't viable then it wouldn't provide that path. The media deal that the PAC could get forced this decision. I agree with the decision but I'm not happy about it because of what it represents in what is lost for this change. But that's the way it is so I'll go with it because the alternative is not following college sports and I can't do that.

For Phil Knight access to the playoff was always key. I think if the PAC had a contract around 30mil he'd be fine with that. But the conference was being looted by the big-12 and USC didn't want Oregon in the B1G but couldn't vote yet... And that all put a timer on this window for Oregon. If the conference survived with 10 members and then expanded it could hold onto the position of giving Oregon a path to the playoff. But with a conference mostly composed of G5 teams it becomes far more difficult. Auto bids for conference champs isn't going to last.

Or because both conferences insist on calling themselves big because no one in the Midwest whether that be the northern or southern part of the Midwest can think of another adjative.

Yes... On Oregons hands, not USC or UCLA, or Colorado, or Arizona or ASU and Utah and Washington... That's 8 schools... Or the B1G or the Big-12 or the media companies that couldn't make the deal the PAC needed to stay together. But we can blame Oregon I guess... Oddly enough I think we are the most hated school in the west coast. Huskies hate us but we aleast hate them back. Oregon State hates us... But duck fans usually don't hate them to the same degree. USC fears us and hates us... But we also just love to make them hate us.

I give the edge to the Utes over TCU... Utah knows how to play defense and has a pretty good offense. It will be absolutely fascinating to watch how the Big-12 changes because they have been playing a style of football that really ignores defense and bringing in Utah and BYU will really change how the game is played because trying to force a shootout every game is going to be rough. Baylor has been causing problems the last couple years by playing defense.

This is one of the few times when conference realignment will actually help a rivalry and not hurt it.

I would love to see two more B1G teams on the west coast... I don't care if it is Cal and Stanford (most likely) or Oregon State and Washington State (super unlikely to happen) but that could put us up to 4-5 games on the west coast. Then throw in 2-3 Non-conference games... I know Oregon wants to preserve the Oregon State game so that is super local and affordable. That puts 6-8 games on the west coast which would be far more affordable. I think one thing that would need to change for Oregon's scheduling would be to get rid of any away games that require traveling across the country. That's just an added cost that isn't needed for anyone. Oregon is going to get plenty of east coast match-ups and have to travel to the east coast enough so those type of OOC games probably don't help exposure so much but hurt the finances.

Charles, You need a wonderfully bright yellow DONATE button to that link somewhere easy to access on the front page where it is in everyone's face. And we put up with the load times because it's worth it for this site. So make it easier for people to give you money by not hiding the button away.

It will be interesting to see what it does in the short term as well. Do we see any flips? Does USC get punched down a notch because they are no longer able to use the Oregon won't be in the B1G argument?

Oh yeah football... I was starting to think the event was watching conference realignment.

Ohhhh do I have a doozy of an article coming up for this point. The whole thing hit me last night. I'm working on getting around to write it now.

You bring up a good point about Jonathan Smith. If Oregon State is in a power conference I think he is untouchable and happy to stay at OSU for a very long time. But I don't think he wants to play in the G5. Well we really have 3 tiers now... Power 3 - B1G, SEC and for maybe another year or two the ACC. The intermediate - the Big-12, and the PAC (until they fold) Then the G5 The big-12 has a whole lot of G5 schools and some P5 schools but still lacking those premier brands..

I think Uncle Phil is the reason why taking this jump was even considered worth it. Oregon has some great donors, not just Phil Knight, and in sure they played a role. I think Washington may have a tougher go of it... But we used them to get in the door so they are right back on hate list. By the way... Washington is just the worst and I think their fans are only a step above USC fans at this point.

And I think that probably played a significant role in Oregon's choice to jump right now. My gut says that the powers at be for Oregon could have opted for the pay cut, remember Oregon's financials are different from mosts, to have an easier road to the playoff and if the moneu didnt materialize they make the jump to the B1G fir 2030. But that may not be an option if USC has a vote against them. So now was the time. USC wants to play dirty. Time to put them in the Aurzen terf come November!