Jon Joseph

Why not give the cash to Portland State?

Terrific thoughts but I note that Florida is and will be the dog when it visits Salt Lake City. The last two games Cal played against the SEC were victories over Ole Miss. Personally, I feel that Georgia has eclipsed Bama as the IT program in the SEC. And I also think that LSU is closing in on The Tide. Below are the top out-of-conference games in 2024. Clemson vs Georgia/ Miami at Florida/ Notre Dame at A+M/ USC vs LSU in Las Vegas/ Texas at Michigan/ Alabama at Wisconsin/ UCLA at LSU and a kind of OOC game will see FSU at Notre Dame in November. Meanwhile, Oregon plays Texas Tech. An upcoming B12 program but the game will draw nowhere close to the eyeballs the games listed above will draw. And a win over TT in Autzen will not help Oregon's SOS when it comes to a 12-team playoff. I expect, finally, that SOS will matter to the playoff committee when it comes to seeding the 12-team field and determining the at-large teams. The Ducks in-conference schedule is already taking an SOS hit with the LA schools going away. And I think we will all be shocked if the committee does not favor B1G and SEC teams. I find it interesting that in 2024 both LA schools are playing LSU. Look at the above list. 7 of the 8 games involve SEC teams that certainly run the risk of taking a loss from every opponent on the above list. The SEC is scheduling like this not because it will perhaps stay with 8 conference games in 2024 but because they know that SOS will matter come 2024. A close loss to a highly ranked opponent out-of-conference is likely to matter more than a win against a team that is an underdog. Charles has correctly pointed out that viewer numbers should trump media market numbers when it comes to valuing Oregon. Oregon was the 7th most-watched team in the nation in 2022 because it played Georgia in Atlanta. Even with the beat down in Georgia, Oregon was in the Final 4 mix with a suspect D before losing close and winnable games to UW and Oregon State. Oregon also had terrific viewer numbers in 2021 when it played Ohio State in Columbus. Texas Tech? Baylor? Oklahoma State? I could not come close to doing the job that Rob is doing in Eugene including making a great baseball coach hire but I think the next 6 seasons are predicted on yesterday's 4 team playoff field and not the expanded playoff field. The art of the deal is important when it comes to scheduling and I think Rob settled for the next 6 OOC games rather than trying to sell Oregon. Oregon has a great brand but it will not sell itself.

The answer is likely Commissioner George Kliavkoff but the post below has nothing to do with the new media deal that has been kicked to death, resurrected who knows how many times, and kicked to death again. You know that Prime and Bo are on the list. https://athlonsports.com/college-football/who-is-facing-the-most-pressure-in-the-pac-12#gid=ci02c1b9fa20002707&pid=deion-sanders-colorado

Amazing when you compare the Autzen seating capacity to others in the top 10. UCLA at 10? The Rose Bowl is 1 on January 1st but not when the Bruins play there. Autzen Stadium ranks as one of the top atmospheres in college football DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Autzen has had the reputation of being one of the toughest places to play for opponents, but how does it rank with other stadiums?

The B1G schedule and its travel demands will be hard enough on the Bruins in 2024 but UCLA also opens at Hawaii and then plays LSU in Baton Rogue.

E WA, Utah St, and a visit to Waco? I understand the thought process that made sense when the playoff had 4 teams but with 12 teams starting in 2024, I'm not sure that this scheduling model makes sense. Not one of these games will come close to the magic 4M viewer number. BTW, does anyone know what it will cost Ohio State to buy out of the return game owed Oregon? With the LA schools coming on board tOSU didn't wait long to pay UW $500K to buy out of the 2024/25 home-and-home series. Just like the Buckeyes to wait a year prior before giving Oregon the scheduling shaft.

Good take but I do not see FSU anywhere in the B1G mix. Ditto Clemson. All B1G schools other than Nebraska are AAU members and Nebraska was a member when it joined the B1G. I think school size will have far less impact on the decision to expand than will viewership numbers. Obviously, the B1G will not bend over like the ACC and take in Notre Dame unless Notre Dame brings football with it. The bad blood between ND and the B1G goes back to the 1930s when ND was dumped on by the Big 10 for being a Jesuit institution and ND's academics were suspect which is not the case today. ND is one school that FOX would open the wallet for and is not a fit in the SEC.

Thanks, H. All are AAU member schools which matters to the B1G. Not being AAU members is why I think Clemson and FSU are correctly excluded from your list. Viewer-wise, Oregon laps Cal and Stanford but the academics could be enticing to the B1G prex and the LA schools would prefer these two over OR and UW. Lesser competition and UCLA would escape the Cal tax. Of course, no expansion decision will be made without the approval of FOX. And I doubt that any of the 4 Pac schools you cited would be offered a full media share. If the ACC goes away before its media deal ends in 2036 the Domers will have a dilemma. Unless ND is willing to join as a full member the B1G will not add ND. And ND would have no place for its other sports program including its Lax ream that just won the Lax NCAA title. If ESPN/SEC makes an expansion move or B1G goes first the other conference will follow suit. But in today's media world, I don't think the money is there for further expansion in the near future. I see the Pac as the next P5 conference to expand adding SDSU and SMU. Notre Dame ice hockey does currently play in the B1G. Georgia Tech is an AAU member and the B1G might want to tweak the SEC with a team in Atlanta. Miami is a relatively small private school with good academics but plays football in an NFL stadium and Miami is a smaller media market than Orlando,

That would mean in a day and age when you cannot lop heads off a heck of a lot in alimony payments.

And Seattle does not appear to be the place to be for recruits. Heartbreaking, right? Washington loses commitment from QB recruit in class of 2024 SATURDAYOUTWEST.COM Washington is losing a key recruit.

Stanford receives a gift from the Longhorns. At least 1 Pac team is headed to Omaha. Unbelievable! Lost fly ball sends Stanford past Texas and back to the College World Series SATURDAYOUTWEST.COM Stanford outlasted Texas 7-6 in Game 3, reaching Omaha on one of the wildest endings in NCAA Tournament history.

Yes, the Ducks made the list coming in at #5. Michigan, Ohio State headline five best college football running back rooms entering 2023 season - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM There are some loaded backfields in college football waiting to terrorize defenses this season

Jon, love you man but why enable anyone who has stabbed you in the back? If UCLA wants to come all the way back-Pac fine. But other than that why would the Pac help out UCLA non-football sports and why would the B1G retain UCLA as a football member only when the value rests in Bruins basketball? UCLA is only in the B1G because SC got the invite and because of basketball and not football. And so FOX could keep ESPN out of the LA market. UCLA basketball is the straw that stirs the Bruins drink. The B1G/FOX for $60 to $65M a year will not allow UCLA CBB to escape the media rights deal it has signed on for.

If Texas has Blue Blood based on results since the beginning of the BCS and BCS X 2, then so do many of the teams with similar results. Oregon and UW have made the 4 team playoff field. Texas? Texas is Blue Blood only in the mind of UT boosters and fans.

And roster strength at year-end does not matter at all compared to a team's record.

I am so sick of SEC teams that lose bowl games blaming the loss on the SEC team not caring about the result because the game was meaningless. Horse manure!

I do love you even though there will never be another ewe.

Perhaps? However, first Oregon has to receive a B1G offer with the media money not being as big as the 16 B1G members in 2024 will receive. As noted above, if given the choice and both will have a vote, both SC and UCLA for competitive reasons and UCLA to eliminate the Cal tax will prefer Cal and Stanford to be added and not Oregon and UW. Will B1G leaders if they look west look more at viewership numbers or academics? Easy answer when it comes to the SEC and not so easy an answer with the B1G. One thing for certain, I do not think Oregon will be playing UCLA in the football playoff even with a 12-team field. UCLA will not win a B1G football title or finish in the top 3 of the B1G.

Great take, But when you bring in better talent development is less important. On your list, I give J Smith the #1 ranking as being the best at coaching guys up. Then, I'd have Whit #2. Sark? When has Sark ever coached guys up? UT's performance season after season despite its roster ranking is embarrassing. The 2022 UT team was more up and down than a yo-yo and lost to many teams with a far lesser roster ranking. Recruiting is a big part of the game, from both high school and the portal but one of the hardest words in the dictionary to live up to is 'potential.'

Yes, the bugaboo of preseason polls but unfortunately the pesky 1st Amendment and $ means said polls will not go away. Last season the Pac finished with the same # of top 25 regular season ranked by the playoff committee as did the SEC with 6. This season at least 5 and perhaps 6 Pac-12 teams will be ranked in the AP preseason Top 25 and will play 1 more conference game than the SEC. The Pac has more of a chance to cannibalize itself in 2023 than does the SEC. Georgia doesn't play a team with a chance to beat it before tripping to TN in November. It will be different in the SEC W no doubt, with Bama and LSU and the other 5 SEC W teams are not layups. I expect UGA will go 12-0 and LSU and Bama 11-1 in the regular season with LSU winning in Tuscaloosa to rematch against UGA in the title game where UGA will prevail. Unfortunately, FWIW, I do not see any Pac-12 team finishing with fewer than 2 losses.

Terrific take. A 12-0 Cincinnati did make the playoff as an AAC member and UTSA is now an AAC team. I think a 12-0 AAC member would at least have a shot at the Final 4 and if we had a 12-team field in 2022 both CUSA champ UTSA and Sun Belt champ Troy would have been in the field. I don't see OR ST going 11-1 without the opportunity to win the Pac title and finishing 12-1. As SEC oriented as the playoff committee is it will not take a 9-3 or 10-2 LSU that did not win the SEC over a 12-1 Pac conference champion. In the 4 team playoff to date, it has been 2 strikes and you are out for every conference. No school with 2 losses has made the Final Four but this will obviously change when the field goes to 12 teams. With the top 6 conference champs in the field, I expect we'll see a G5 champ with 3 or even 4 losses in the field. Why it will be imperative for the at large teams to be seeded 5 through 8 and have the attendant home game. If the committee doesn't value such things as playing 9 instead of 8 conference games the SEC will place 3 teams in the field season after season. As to BCR mattering over a team's record? Come On Man! Texas has had the best roster in the B12 for years. How many playoffs has TX been to? ZERO. What difference does your roster make compared to on-field results when it comes to receiving a playoff invitation? Cincinnati and TCU both made the playoff field. Neither with a BCR. If the committee follows Pete's take, the playoff will be over come 2026. BTW, does the quality of the roster have anything to do with the NFL playoff? NO. But of course, the NFL playoff is, although oriented to divisions, dependent upon wins and losses. If the 12-team playoff is rigged based on roster strength simply give the SEC champ a Natty. There will be upsets in the 12-team field. The Pats undefeated in the regular season lost to a far lesser NY Giants team in the Super Bowl I hope this guy's take is as bogus as the report of Pat McAfee being paid $17M a year. If not, come 2026 let the SEC hold its own playoff.

The B1G media deal is now down $5M per year and rumored to be closer to $10M a year; less than represented to UCLA and USC when they went B1G. UCLA drew Michigan as one of its permanent opponents. UCLA football travels over 15,000 miles this season. OK kind of, for football but for non-revenue sports! And you can bet that Cal administrators will be lobbying for a hefty 'Calimony' tax payment. Especially in light of the Comcast foul-up and the consequent financial hit. Hats off to Cal for finally building an on-campus basketball facility but this has to be paid for. Of course, the Pac conference is not going to reject UCLA and the LA market returning to the fold. And of course, the leaders in the B1G are not clueless when it comes to the LA schools' travel issues. The former president of Oregon now at Northwestern has made public note of this issue. But will the B1G come with an offer for Oregon and UW or for Cal and Stanford which I'm certain the LA schools would prefer and notwithstanding Jimmy Lake's POV, have academic bona fides that the two Northwestern schools, although both are AAU members, do not. And does FOX, having laid off a number of folks at its news affiliate and/or B1G junior partners, CBS and NBC, have the money and the interest to add additional West Coast schools? The last chair in the CFB game of realignment musical chairs has yet to be moved.

Woad Blue, good take, thank you. You are spot on that before the BCS the SEC had a number of championship wins but did not dominate like it does today. Then SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer sold the idea of college football 'needing one true champion' and the BCS and taking the game nationally monetized the sport to where coaches are paid $12M a year and every SEC game including Mizzou vs South Carolina is a game like no other seen in CFB. If the Committee truly values SOS when the field expands, which I question, Pate could well be wrong. And is wrong about SEC conference schedules. The SEC is, like most college conferences, top-heavy. No one, even Wildcats fans, believes that Kentucky will win n SEC championship which is one reason the SEC stayed at 8 conference games. Mark Stoops needs his bowl bonus at a time when non-playoff bowl games are becoming more irrelevant. Think we saw a lot of guys sitting out bowl games before? Wait until 2024. The SEC can spin this we are the best and we do not have to play more than 8 conference games all it wants. But what Just Means More is even more money the SEC will score from the expanded playoff. And I'm sorry but playing New Mexico State in the penultimate game of the regular season at home is nowhere close to the competition between Oregon and Oregon State and the physical drain both teams face in the 9th conference game of the season, every other year on the road. The Athletics' Nicole Auerbach recently pointed out that if the Committee doesn't take the number of conference games played into account something is very wrong. Not only when it comes to the SEC but also for ACC teams playing 8 conference games, at least those which do not play Notre Dame in a given season. What Michigan graduate Nicole did not note is that yes, the B1G is staying at 9 conference games but Ohio State and Michigan will not be playing Penn State every season. As of today, these are the 3 B1G teams most likely to make the playoff. The good news is that we have a 12-team 'tryout' for 2 years, 2024/25 before the current media deal with ESPN expires. At that time, if the SEC and B1G put 3 teams in the field in both seasons, The ACC, B12, and Pac conferences should consider ending shoveling money in the direction of the 2 conferences that don't need it and holding their own post-season tournament. Less money? You know it but as long as the NCAA 85 scholarship cap stays in place there will be many good high school players available who do not commit to the B1G or the SEC. The BCS hosed over Oregon in 2001 and USC on at least 3 occasions often in favor of an Oklahoma team that was shredded by SEC teams. So, what did the Pac do? It agreed to the BCS X 2 and further lined the SEC's pockets. This should not happen again if there is a 'Power 5' and the Power 2 don't expand to the point where all of the big-time teams are playing in the B1G or the SEC. I do not agree with Pate's take but his point will likely be proved by a Committee that will slobber all over the SEC like the baseball committee just did and the B1G like the basketball committee does year after year.

Hats off to the Ducks. And hats off to Rob Mullens (a guy I have likely too often dissed previously) for bringing Coach W in from Purdue. Heck of winning streak, a conference championship, and a regional title in Dixie are all great accomplishments. In Boston we used to say, for decades: Wait Until Next Year! I think it will be far shorter for Coach W to take Oregon to Omaha and win a national championship as he did as a player. Go Ducks!

I know that the conference has agreed, pending the media deal being finalized, to schools that make the college football playoff retaining a bigger piece of the pie. Unlike the ACC which is paying both CFB playoff teams and CBB Tournament playoff teams a bigger share of what they earn. I know conference survival comes first but the Ducks and UW had the leverage to get a bigger piece of the revenue pie and did not push their advantage to make more than for instance, The Cardinal and its empty gameday stadium. In the long run, this will make it easier for the B1G to add Oregon and UW at a media revenue discount. But when have the conference "leaders" ever played the long game? Larry the gift that keeps on giving, returned the conference to equal media shares when he added CU and Utah to save face from Texas giving him the stiff arm. SC in particular complained at the time and no one listened. And for GK not to be aware of the LA schools' angst and allow the B12 to get ahead of him media-wise after not pushing for adding B12 teams and putting the B12 to sleep, was simply vapid from a business POV. My guess? The LA schools leaving doesn't happen under a guy like Jim Delaney's watch.