Jon Joseph

Dave, I love the thoughts. But you can put a whole bunch of bronze medal winners in a room and they won't turn into silver or gold winners. I do not particularly like it but Oregon's best long-term athletic interests lie with the B1G. Quantity does not equal quality. And ESPN today is in no position to fund this kind of realignment. Again, great thoughts, and this stuff is fun to ponder.

Dave, Apple is sitting on more cash than Amazon and Google combined. Apple does not have the TV presence of Amazon's Paramount but Apple has a huge number of worldwide business affiliations with households. No tech company today has its own broadcast facilities. The Pac-12 network's facilities would be perfect for broadcasting Pac-10 sports. The quantity of subscribers to the network stinks but the quality of the broadcasts for the most part was fine.

Dave, more like middlemen. Then, add in the ubiquitous consultants. Rob Mullens makes close to $1M a year. Check out his organization chart. It's as bloated as the before takes of folks who went on a miracle diet. And George Kliavkoff found the need to hire an assistant commissioner who has since resigned. What in the heck do these conference commissioners do all day long? How about rotating the conference ADs in the role of a commissioner with their voting on 3rd party matters directed by the collective group of ADs and the presidents? As it stands today, any major decision already requires board (presidents') approval. Give a stipend to the AD serving at any given time, cut way back on support staff, and save millions of dollars.

And, FUTA, FICA, Group Insurance, contributions to a state's retirement fund, etc., ad nauseum. IMO, at least half if not a whole lot more of the schools offering athletic scholarships today will go the Ivy/D3 route.

The NLRB, on appeal from a lower-level bureaucratic ruling, found that Northwestern football players were not employees of the university. Now, the NLRB decides to challenge its own precedent. Why? USC and Pac-12 schools are doing nothing different today than they did 8 years ago. Yes, NIL and the portal are here but neither was created by USC and the Pac-12 member schools. Male bovine excrement!

Yes, 'mergers' with the B12 or the ACC are fun to ponder but you can put 100 bronze medalists into a room and there is no alchemy that will turn them into silver or gold medalists.

This is egregious selective enforcement against a conference that can least afford it. If you want a private school defendant? How about Northwestern? 8 years ago the NLRB held against NW football players attempting to form a union. Why? Because the athletes were not employees. What has changed so dramatically in the last 8 years? Vanderbilt and the SEC could also have been filed against instead of SC and the Pac. Instead of choosing a conference that can ill afford the cost of defending against this complaint. And against a school that will be in the B1G in 2024, the federal government chooses to file against a defendant whose finances are uncertain. I'm shocked. The NCAA should step in and pay all costs associated with this selective enforcement action. Good luck with that happening. The NLRB wins this complaint and the baby will be thrown out with the bath water. How many schools awarding athletic scholarships today will continue to do so if athletes are found to be employees? If the NLRB wants CFB to morph into the NFL's minor league this should do the job.

Great point Jon, but even though it will be his second season the limit on 25 new scholarships a year has been lifted by the NCAA. Guys not making the grade at CU and other schools will be encouraged to enter the portal. Of course in the Pac-12 whether a young man plays or not so long as he is not kicked off the team for disciplinary reasons his scholarship stays in place. I think 6 members of the CU squad took advantage of this and stayed in Boulder.

Whether I think of any of the ideas for realignment posited on the board doesn't matter. It is a fun exercise to move the college football chairs around. Fun to ponder and fun to discuss.

Charles in the case of ESPN I think it is a smart move but also a move born out of necessity that would not happen without cord-cutting. If ESPN would agree to own and operate the Pac-12 Network and use it as a platform for streaming on ESPN 3 this would be fine but I prefer the reach of Amazon and/or Apple over that of ESPN. Regardless, great post by NJDuck and a great comment by you. Streaming is coming, and not too long from now linear broadcasts of sporting events will likely become obsolete.

'In the coming years?' No doubt. But no way will the SEC today allow its 1st and 2nd tier inventory to be streamed and not shown on linear TV.

Good thoughts but it isn't going to happen. Minneapolis is much closer to Eugene than Mr. Jefferson's University. This would be massive but it would be an untenable structure that at the end of the day would not bring in more money than the Pac-10 staying together and adding good-sized and big market teams closer to its footprint: SDSU, Fresno, UNLV, SMU, UTSA, Rice and Tulane would bring in. All of the above schools can be had at a discount off of what Pac-10 teams will receive. You go beyond 16 teams and do you have a viable conference? The quantity will not make up for the quality in the SEC and the B1G.

Why would ESPN that has the ACC 'locked up' through 2036 at $20M a year like this? Why would Disney like this? If ESPN liked anything it would likely be Clemson and FSU to the SEC. This is an unwieldy deal geographically that IMO could not work travel-wise and would not IMO, score more money for the Pac-10 than if the Pac-10 stays together. There are better expansion candidates in better markets and closer to the Pac-10 footprint.

Amen and Clemson and FSU if freed up? ESPN will find a way to usher these 2 into the SEC. If you think LA to B1G locales is crazy travel? Travel between ACC schools and Pac whatever schools would be worse. Cuse does not have a strong influence in the NYC market any more than does Rutgers. Duke, NC St, UVA, and NC St will not move the media market needle. San Diego State, Fresno, UNLV, SMU, UTSA, and Tulane would all be better and closer markets than any ACC market except perhaps Charlotte but the ACC breaks up and UNC is off to the B1G or the SEC. Miami has a smaller market size than UCF.

Anderson is the guy who hired Herm and is now awaiting NCAA sanctions. IMO, both he and ASU president (eat) Crow should go. Crow, one of Livin' Large Larry's biggest enablers should be long gone.

No, I'm referring to annual match-ups if the conference merges. On a stand-alone basis, I'd love to see a challenge in CFB and CBB.

Cart, the travel would be prohibitive and ACC teams are now stuck at $20M a year in media revenue in a deal that runs through 2036. I do not see any desire on ESPN's part to facilitate such a merger. Football games vs Clemson and FSU and maybe Miami would draw large numbers of viewers but against BC, Duke, Syracuse, Pitt, Va Tech, UVA, NC St, UNC, Georgia Tech, and Wake? Not so much.

Spot on. I posted these rankings today and noted that Kiry is closing the gap on Saint Nick. Win 3 in a row and Kirby should be tied with Saban.

For this to happen it means that the Pac-12 Network would be getting a new owner/ operator. One of the reasons I think the media deal is taking so long. For Apple or Amazon, the network facilities would provide a streaming outlet. The Network would not be stuck with a pathetic 13M subscribers; the broadcasts could be viewed worldwide. Man, it would be so nice for the Pac-12 schools to receive even a break-even amount from the network investment. This would offset at least a portion of what the conference owes Comcast. (if the conference does not counter-claim against the 2 fired network executives who have filed a wrongful termination suit against the conference and cross-claim against Larry I will be ticked off.)

Great point. But closing down the ACC Network would free up some ESPN cash and I don't see any ACC school joining the SEC, even Clemson and FSU, getting a full slice of the $70M a year media pie. $40M a year would be a step up from what ACC teams, $20M, are receiving today. Fox? I think that whether the B1G goes west, Oregon, and UW or east, UVA, UNC, Duke, and Georgia Tech, none of these schools would receive a $70M per season B1G share. But if the ACC collapses I can see the B1G coming with a full share for Notre Dame.

According to this Saturday Out West writer the state of Oregon is not looking good. Bronny James is a big difference-making for SC. Right? Gold: Pac-12 basketball transfer portal winners and losers SATURDAYOUTWEST.COM Some Pac-12 programs have beefed up through the transfer portal while others are wondering how relationships could sour so quickly. Who is leading the Pac?

Will the massive roster turnover work? Prime makes his Pac-12 audition in Eugene. Hopefully, he wins one of two games against TCU in Fort Worth and against Nebraska and Matt Ruhle in Boulder and takes care of Colorado State before tripping to Autzen Stadium. Hayes: What happens if Coach Prime’s historic and controversial roster makeover actually works? SATURDAYOUTWEST.COM Colorado's roster is almost 90% different from last season's. Is that good for college football?

These are composite rankings from the CBS folk covering CFB. Author Tom Fornelli questions many of these rankings, and I think you will do likewise. Below are a few rankings that I don't get. 25. Dave Doeren - NC State - What has a coach who has never won an ACC title or advanced to the CFB playoff done to deserve this? 24, Mack Brown - UNC - Yes, he won one national championship at Texas and played for another but what has he done lately? 21, Bret Bielema - ILLINOIS - See Dave Doeren. 19. Mike Norvell - FSU - 1 winning season in 3 seasons at FSU gets you this? 16. Josh Heupel - Tennessee - An OK (pun intended) record at UCF and one good season in Knoxville does not IMO warrant this ranking. 14. Lane Kiffin - Ole Miss - In the words of Tom Fornelli - "This is a ranking I do not understand at all." Spot on, Tom. 13. Chip Kelly - UCLA - Seriously? 7. Kyle Whittingham - Utah - Coming in one spot ahead of Ohio State's Ryan Day (8) is nice but is it warranted considering that Day won the Rose Bowl shoot-out? And Day has taken Ohio State to the CFB playoff. 4. Lincoln Riley - USC - Riley with a big roster advantage dominated the B12 but went o-4 in the CFB playoff. Riley was last seen getting blown out by Utah in the conference title game and allowing G5 Tulane to come back for a Cotton Bowl win. 1, Nick Saban - Alabama, and 2. Kirby Smith - Georgia. I don't believe you can argue with this but Kirby is closing the gap. Ranking the top 25 Power Five college football coaches entering the 2023 season - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The CBS Sports experts have ranked every Power Five coach from 1-65 as this upcoming season approaches

Greg McElroy makes bold prediction about future of ACC’s Magnificent 7 SATURDAYROAD.COM Greg McElroy weighed in on the ACC discussions. A former Tide QB weighs in. As to adding say, Clemson, FSU, and Miami being dilutive, these schools would gladly come in for a lesser share of the revenue. And although ESPN is having financial difficulty, closing down the ACC Network could make the money available. As Not noted yesterday, Louisville is the 8th team to question the current media deal. That makes 8. 8 teams decide to leave and the ACC will not have the right to charge an exit fee. I can't help but think that more realignment and consolidation of the big boy programs, is coming before the close of the new B1G and SEC media deals. You'll never hear this publicly but I imagine that the B1G would love to see the ACC collapse so it could add Notre Dame and perhaps, one or more of the ACC, AAU-member schools, Duke, Georgia Tech, UNC, Pitt, and UVA.

The men's team played in Bath, Michigan (I almost typed Maine) and did not take a bath. (Sorry.) Bath, Michigan, and I had to look this up has a full-time population of @2,000. Perhaps next year the NCAA can hold a regional in Barrow, Alaska? Oregon Golf: Ducks finish 3rd to secure spot in 2023 NCAA Championship DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Oregon will be making its 32nd all-time appearance at the NCAA Championships, and its first back-to-back appearance since a run of five straight from 2014-18.