Jon Joseph

A 15-member committee instead of a single overseer with enforcement powers? This should work out well, right?

There is 1 BIG Fish on OBD and he is a heck of a Fischer.

Thanks, Happy, all good thoughts. Without the LA schools, Fox/B1G would not have been able to come close to the SEC media deal. Destabilizing a conference that it broadcast for many years likely never crossed the minds of the executives at Fox. Ditto for ESPN execs when it came to the poaching of OK/TX from the B12. In the case of Fox/B1G the B1G lied by commission. In the case of ESPN/SEC, the SEC lied by omission. In the B1G, UCLA, USC, and SEC Philosophy Departments, Nietzsche has to be the go-to guy followed closely by Machiavelli. Spot on Happy. Expansion if it happens will be about inventory and then how small of a revenue share can you hand say, SDSU and SMU, to convince them to come on board. I think that this call will be made by the conference's media partners as much as it will be made by the conference. If GK advises expansion holdouts that the media deal will not fly without expansion then I expect the votes will be there to OK expansion. It's all about the money. Saying that, with the Pac looking at a lesser deal than the B1G/SEC and with Comcast and SFO office retrofit hits coming, I can see why Pac-10 schools might want to stay with ten teams in anticipation of expansion deck chairs being moved again 5 or so seasons from now. The San Diego market is a decent size market and keeps the conference in southern California. The DFW market is large. On the other hand, SMU football was 69th most watched on average in the nation last season with SDSU coming in at 73. There would be a bump in viewers if SMU and/or SDSU were to move up from G5 to P5, but how much of a bump? I do not expect an ipso facto jump in SMU's media rankings simply because SMU joins a conference located on the west coast. A conference with no natural rivals. If the Pac Presidents were bullish on Central time zone inventory they could have taken in B12 orphans a few years back. If expansion candidates are not immediately accretive in today's media marketplace does it make sense to expand? Based on 2022 viewer numbers, the slam dunk Power 3 accretive teams are Clemson, Oregon, FSU, Utah, and UW. And, of course, the big prize is Notre Dame. TCU and OK St also average more than $1M viewers a game on average. Texas Tech and K State come very close to doing so. I expect that when GK presents the details of the new media deals to the Pac Presidents that the deal will already have expansion factored in. And if I were Oregon and UW I would not blindly approve expansion without a complete understanding of the numbers involved. For the most part, I see an article such as this and in general all articles regarding conference expansion as being idle speculation from folks sitting behind a keyboard without the ability to write the checks that would enable expansion. It may well be in the Pac's best interests to play the long game and go after accretive B12 schools when they become available. TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Kansas, and K State would all be better conference additions than SDSU and/or SMU and would provide more than a scintilla of Central time zone inventory. I always enjoy reading your well-thought-out comments.

$? Does the B12 have its own network or a printing press? I know Texas is on the way out the door but the B12 is all hat and no cattle. Or, maybe sheep?

A MUST WATCH! Great film. Helped to pump up Rob Sasser, played by Jason Bateman, who was a driving force in NIKE's climb. Dan Lanning made mention of Strasser's book, From Good to Great at Pac-12 media day. Ben Affleck was great playing the part of an enigmatic Phil Knight. Matt Damon was also excellent playing the part of Sonny Vaccaro who I ran across back in the day in Las Vegas. But Viola Davis, playing Michael Jordan's Mom, stole the show. Sasser and Knight agreeing to share advertising revenue with MJ changed the entire calculus of players receiving a slice of the advertising pie.

Thanks, PA. I think this decision will have as much or more input from media partners as it will from the conference itself. I don't know if the broadcast partners will be happy about exchanging a P5 game for a game against a G5 or FCS opponent. HOPEFULLY, SOS will matter come the 2024 playoff expansion, and teams that play 8 conference games will be dinged for doing so. Well, at least I can wish for this to be the case.

A great city? That's what the locals have to say about Mogadishu. Coach Pete. 1 playoff appearance, 0-1. Oregon, 1 playoff appearance, 1-1. Pete got a lot of hangover Boise love that did not all that often translate into success in the Pac. Pete's OKG guys were MIA vs Bama.

WOW! Coast to Coast DL has Oregon on the recruiting radar. Nice to have an A+ grade to date ahead of the Trojans but what about Stanford with an A+! New Cardinal HC Taylor is on the ball; I think Shaw mailed it in the 3 seasons before he retired. Thanks, PA for all of the great information. It would be fun to renew a true rivalry with Stanford. The LA schools leaving town have not seemed to hurt Pac recruiting to date. Chip? The same old Chip when it comes to recruiting. Yesterday, Coach Whittingham said the loss of the LA schools leaving has yet to be determined. So far, so good although Utah to date is again struggling in bringing quality players to Salt Lake City. Deion is a portal magnet but so far when it comes to P5 recruiting not so much.

A product of an inferiority complex.

Thanks, Steven, somewhat churlish regarding the Ducks but this is to be expected. Ducks bailing out for UW when Oregon suffers 3 to 4 defeats? The Ducks have 45 new players being added to the roster in 2023 and most of the newcomers are an improvement over the guys they are replacing. The Ducks will have a Blue Chip Roster in 2023. UW will not. The media's prediction of the Pac-12 order of finish? Where is Charles with the gift of Baghdad Bob? I think it is UW and not Oregon that will suffer at least 3 defeats. At USC, vs Oregon in Seattle and 1 of Utah in Seattle or to Oregon State in Corvallis. For the sake of the Pac-10, I do want UW to win at Michigan State, a game that will fly under the radar being broadcast by Peacock. Win this game and Penix will have gone 3-1 vs Sparty.

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/shedeur-sanders-showed-off-his-confidence-and-mindset-similar-to-that-of-deions

CBS Sports. Where have you gone Dennis Dodd, Pac fans turn a lonely eye for you. At least DD had the good sense to di-di on Pac media day. But this did not stop more pap drooling from the mouths and keyboards of CBS scribes. The Pac-12 is losing its 2 big brand names? How about losing 1 in football and 1 in basketball? UCLA has been a non-entity on the football field for over a decade as represented by the fans disguised as empty seats in the Rose Bowl. Hands down the most influential brand in the Pac along with SC is the OREGON BRAND. Based on the number of fans tuning into games this is not subject to debate. In 2022 Oregon finished ahead of SC in the total number of fans tuning into football games and the average number of fans tuning in to Pac football games. Justice delayed is not justice. Not so in regard to any kind of business transaction where delay often benefits the seller. Especially when negotiating in a market that is going through significant change. Let's take a deep breath and look at the Pac's P5 competitors. The ACC - Locked into a terrible deal through 2036. The B12 - Scurried to the marketplace and ended up with a 6-year deal that will likely be obsolete within 5 years. And B12 games will not all be carried on linear TV. A fair number of B12 games will be streamed on ESPN+. The B12's threat to take away the Pac 4 Corners schools is full of sound and fury with no money available to fund such expansion. ESPN/Fox are not shelling out for more B12 inventory and no 4 Corner school is going to agree to take a lesser media revenue cut than BYU. The B1G - It took a year for Fox to do a deal that elbows ESPN out of B1G coverage. In order to find the money to match the SEC's $70M a team per annum, Fox had to bring in CBS, kicked out of SEC coverage by ESPN, NBC/Peacock, and also had to lie, ethics be damned, in the process of stealing the LA schools from the Pac. Guess what, the deal will not yield $70M a year, it will yield $64M a year and it is not certain that even $64M will be realized. The LA schools bring in not less than $20M a year so what is the real value of the B1G, closer to $45M to $50M a season? The SEC - No surprise that the Power 1 conference did not have to negotiate all that hard to score its new media deal. Disney/ESPN came with boatloads of money for the SEC. ESPN is paying five times plus the @$50M a year CBS was paying for the SEC tier one broadcast rights. With all of the SEC presidents on board and aware of how success on the field raises all conference boats, the well-managed SEC, with terrific, business-oriented commissioners since the days of Roy Kramer, is scoring the ROI that it richly serves. The additions of Oklahoma and Texas are icing on an already perfectly baked cake. Could the Pac have done a better PR job in regard to the new media deal? Maybe. But blabbing when you have nothing to say, hello B12 and the B12's media sycophants, is more senseless than keeping your cards close to your vest. Hang in there. He who laughs last ... Pac-12 Media Day 2023: George Kliavkoff stands firm on media rights timeline, downplays realignment concerns - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The commissioner sought to quell concerns over the league's future as he kicked off the event on Friday

Thanks, PA for the great posts. GK - 'We have nothing to announce in regard to the media deal and have decided not to announce it today so we can focus on football." Right? I find myself once again, in total agreement with Charles. There's vapid and then there are football media days which put the V in vapid.

Great take Woad. The BT is 3-7 in the playoff. Ohio State is 3-4 with 1 title, Michigan is 0-2 and Michigan State is 0-1. The SEC talks the big talk and takes it to the fields of play. The BT, not so much? Spot on in regard to geography. I am hoping that streaming will give the Pac better kickoff time options. Best of luck to the Tar Heels in 2023.

If there is a 12-1 SEC champ and another SEC team finishes 12-1, ditto the B1G, probably not.

Great thoughts. I see the ACC remaining as-is with the possibility that Notre Dame would be forced to join the Atlantic Division as a full-time football matter. If the ND/ACC scheduling agreement was to disappear the Domers football program would most likely have to join the ACC or the B1G to remain viable. I'd add 4 schools to the 10-team Pacific Division - SDSU, UNLV, SMU, and Tulane. An alternative to two divisions would be to go with three, 8-team divisions for football and men's basketball.

Great thoughts. How about an Atlantic and Pacific division for all sports other than football and men's basketball with the champions of the sports playing for a conference title? And with scheduling for other sports augmented as agreed upon. I see football with 8 games intra-division and 2 games cross-division.

I think the survey was conducted in a pub in Las Vegas that is open 24/7. Or, the proverbial 1,000 monkeys each with a keyboard? PUZZLING to say the least.

This will likely draw more fans than the ones trying to find the Pac-12 Network. SEC Media Days. 4 days of wall-to-wall coverage on the SEC Network which is subscribed to by 4x+ as many folks who subscribe to the Pac-12 network. Hats off to Dan Lanning and his staff for requiting so well with one hand tied behind Oregon's back.

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/colorado-announces-sellout-crowds-for-nebraska-and-stanford

"There are three kind of lies: Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics." Mark Twain (although Twain attributed this to Benjamin Disraeli.) The parties responsible for this tripe should be drawn and quartered. Well, at least fired. The Beavers with a bigger fan base than the Ducks? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiigt! Oregon Football: New study shows questionable view of Ducks fanbase DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Oregon’s fanbase is how big? A new study claims that the Ducks have a way smaller following than you might think. We...

Great to hear from you. UGA trying to win 3 titles in a row and matching the feat of Minnesota in the 1930s will be great to watch. The schedule is certainly favorable for Georgia to return to Atlanta where, I think, the Dawgs will again play LSU. I expect LSU in Kelly's 2nd season to put up a better battle but I believe the Dawgs win the game, go 13-0 and UGA will be the #1 playoff seed playing in the Sugar Bowl. This IMO the playoff rota that should be permanently in place; a semi-final game in the Rose Bowl followed by a semi-final game in the Sugar Bowl. The rich get richer. Kirby has a decent shot to sign the all-time top-rated class of recruits. BTW, I was happy to see that the muckraker at AJC was canned. If you are an investigative reporter you might want to do some solid investigation before writing an article. As my distant relative John Adams once noted: Facts are stubborn things. USC will score a whole bunch of points but will Troy be able to stop another team with a good offense? SC had a plus 22 turnover margin last season and this is not likely to be repeated. SC prior to the days of Pete Carroll and post-Pete Carroll has been continually overrated. With Utah, UW, and UCLA playing at SC I do think SC makes the playoff where Oregon will like Utah last season, defeat SC for the 2nd time in the 2023 season. Pundits are chortling regarding the portal guys Riley brought in on D without analyzing and giving your old friend Dan Lanning credit for plugging holes on the Oregon D out of the portal, with 2 or 3 major contributors 'portaling' to Eugene by way of the SEC. Best of luck to your Dawgs in 2023.

Dead Spin accurately describes the extent of the author's grey matter. Turn around of UCLA? I must have missed this. Chip was last scene turning around a win against Pitt in the bowl game into a loss. Game Day was present to see Dan Lanning and friends put a beat down on the Bruins. UCLA has no playoff appearances under Chip or under Jim Mora. Not even a NY6 bowl. What is this fool's source for Oregon being ready to bail out when Oregon does not have an invitation from Fox/B1G? More financially prosperous. Worse case for the Bruins. $64M - $10M in Cal tax payment = $54M and who knows what in travel costs compared to close to $50M the LA schools could be bringing in had they stayed in LA. How prosperous will traveling 3 time zones to play be for non-revenue sports athletes? Fool that I am, I thought there was a rule that you had to reach puberty before being allowed to publish rubbish.

Great take. But here is a known the media is ignoring, Riley for all of his wins at OK and last season at SC has never fielded a quality D. SC's plus 22 turnover margin in 2022 is likely not sustainable. The Pac-12 this season is deeper than Riley played in the B12 where he had a huge roster advantage except for a dysfunctional Texas. SC has a far more difficult conference schedule in 2023 than it had in 2022 even with playing Utah, UW, and UCLA in LA. I have little faith in the Grinch who stole defense being able to dramatically improve SC's D. I do agree with your great point that you could argue in favor of any of 5 teams plus, because of its conference schedule, UCLA. It's going to be a heck of a battle for every team in the Pac-12.

If I had a vote, and the world is rightfully grateful that I do not, I'd cop out and have Oregon and USC T1. Then UW and then Oregon State. Although with UW playing at Oregon State I could go either way here. I think that Oregon will have a better-balanced O than Troy with Dye gone and I'll believe SC has fixed its Swiss cheese D when I see it. Utah's schedule, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC, and UW is a tough conference row to hoe. Playing at Oregon State and UW and USC; well, a big ask to go 3-0 in these games. This is a more difficult conference schedule than Utah faced last season and its OOC schedule is also tough. Somehow the scribes seem to be overlooking the Oregon D playing a solid game versus the Utes last season and also SC losing twice to the Utes even with the Heisman winner at QB. I agree with Charles, let the media sell Puddles short in the preseason and look to have the last Pac-12 as we know it, laugh.