Somebody asked John Canzano if he could wave a magic wand and change one thing about college football...what would it be?

He stated that he would go back in time and convince the Pac-12 to take the 30 Million ESPN offer, and keep the conference alive. What do YOU think...agree with that?

It is funny, but my answer back then would have been, "heck-YES!" But not now. I like the Athletic Department getting 54 million this fiscal year, and that is with HALF a media share that will go up gradually. I LIKE being in a Super-Conference, and being a major player. I like having Dan Lanning, as I doubt he would stay with us in the Pac-12--being on the outside of the Super-Two.

I like the exposure on major TV channels, the building of the brand even further. I LIKE where we are....which do you prefer?

Is that a damn pretty picture or what? FishDuck had a photographer there!

"could go back in time..."

How about knowing what you know now about what the future will probably look like 5 years from now, what would you change?

Which programs, aside from OSU/WSU, would be in a better position 5 years from now if the Pac had stayed together? Money? Visibility? National consciousness?

For Canzano, it seems beyond nostalgia. That he believes OSU/WSU became victims and every other Old Pac program should have sacrificed their future to keep them whole.

Colorado will be better in the old Big12. USC/UCLA/UW/UO will be better off by a multitude in the B1G. UA/ASU will be more competitive in the Big12. Utah is probably a wash especially since it is now paired with BYU in the same conference. Maybe Cal & Stanford, would be better off 5 years from now in the Old Pac than the ACC? So, four out of the 12, including OSU/WSU?

Charles, i like where we are at now!

We still get to play usuck and the leg lifters up north. Sharing first hand in their annual misery Add in tOSU, Michigan, PSU, Indiana (now) and Iowa in different years. Thats awesome....

Plus we are in a conference that the 3rd or 4th place team can make the CFP. That did not and would never happen is the PAC 12 was flying the colors.

This year and many years OBD's will not have to win the conference or be in the title game to make the CFP

For this old gray beard we are in the big time and right where we belong. Just my feelings.

Go Ducks......give Whisky a reason to fire there coach and the stubborn AD who supports 20 points in 4 games, total.

Wow, hard to believe that is the best wish for college football JC could come up with. Talk about seeing the world from a distorted frame of reference.

Taking the 30 mil would have been ok for us with the Nike connections aka $$$. Probably ruling the Pac 12 in most sports since $c and ucla had already bailed when the 30 mil offer came in.

The Pac would have been on par with Big 12 and ACC. If we wanted a sure ticket to the football playoffs, staying would have been fine.

But my hindsight is glad we made the trip even with the 1/2 share for a while (with full playoff and NCAA BBall shares now) and we will be a full share in a bigger aquarium next go-round.

As Happy said earlier, being in the B1G probably means 4 CFP slots most years. Being in the Old Pac would likely mean 2 at the most. Some years 1 based on the image of the conference nationally the last year prior to USC/UCLA escape. The Ducks have a better chance being 4 of 18, than 1 of 12.

Likewise, Beavis undoubtedly has a better chance in the New Pac of the one G6 CFP slot (just compete with Boise State) than they would ever have had in the Old Pac.

If you have a time machine you go further back in time and don't hire Scott.

We still wouldn't end up in as good of a spot as we are for football, but it would be way better for college sports on the whole.

If I could revise history, I’d have the P12, MWC, ACC, and Big 12 combine to be one super conference from coast to coast.

For the pac-12 to survive and truly thrive your have to go back in time and prevent USC and UCLA from leaving and basically out in place a "you win it you earn it" to unequal revenue sharing.

When it came to football both were the beneficiaries of the success of others making big bowl games as neither were terribly good overall for the last decade. Incentivize them to invest and reap the benefits.

This would hurt the bottom of the conference but fine. That's the way things are.

If the pac-12 survived the Ducks would have won the conference last year probably been ranked number 3 going into the playoff. And probably would have done some damage as they would have avoided the Ohio State buzz saw.... Which might not have been as much of a buzz saw because they wouldn't have suffered an agonizing loss to Oregon mid season. Probably would have lost to Michigan still. But may have won the conference?

So who knows how things would have turned out.

As for this season I think Oregon would win the Pac-12 again and would make the playoff.

Granted, the whole conference would be a bit better than some of its pieces. Oregon State would still have Smith probably and would be middle to middle top of the pack. Cal would be the surprise team this year. USC would be probably number 3... Just because they'd be underperforming.

Ok... Going to stop there because here's the absolute sad truth of this for me. The pac-12 is a way more fun conference to me. I did love that adorable canabal conference. It was exciting from week to week.

Sure Oregon has had some of the biggest ranked games in our history in the B1G but frankly you say Oregon v Rutgers and I don't get that excited, even with or in spite of the result.

But Oregon v Cal? Sign me up! I'd happily watch that game right now. Cal actually looks reasonably good this year.

And FSU got Stanforded last weekend! I don't being on the receiving end of a loss at the Farm but let's be honest... If you have to play an academic school who would you rather play, Stanford or Northwestern?

Give me Stanford because of the history and their supremely stupid mascot for a school that prides itself on academics. They are the color red... And their band made the dumbest looking tree imaginable and they play it off like we're the fools.

Meanwhile... Northwestern has the uninspired... Wild cat. Ughhh.

Yes... I do miss the old Pac-12 but I would rather be in the Big Bland 10 over being left out in the cold with Oregon State and Washington State. That is a date worse than conference death.

Can Canzano go away already?

He is like a gilted girlfriend who still contacts your mom. Oregon St is over..Pac for the ones who left is over. Get over it.

$30 million a year? When $20 million a year is needed for revenue sharing payments.

Many 10:30 Eastern time kickoffs + the Pac-12 After Dark punchline, no thanks.

A clueless commissioner versus a guy with executive broadcast experience and the willingness to take unpopular stands in favor of his conference.

The Pac-12 Notwork vs the Big Ten Network - JVs vs The Varsity.

Three trips East with one to the Central time zone. No B1G deal when it comes to The Money Maker - Football.

Football. 2 losses in the Pac-12 and maybe you're in the PO compared to 2 B1G losses and you're in.

Yesterday's Gone - Don't you look back - Thank you, Fleetwood Mac. 😎

If we’re looking for a ridiculous wish in time…

How about going back to when we were pretty close to having a PAC16 with Texas and Oklahoma, but no one besides USC could wrap their brains around unequal revenue sharing becoming the world we live in? Texas wanted more of a “merit based” system (that could have been negotiated to actually be based on current merit), but the Beavis’s of the world couldn’t imagine that a smaller piece of a MUCH larger pie would still be a good thing.

Long history of teams in that conference not carrying their weight but getting a full share.

Ironically, in 2026 I believe every former PAC-North member will be getting something other than a normal share in whatever conference they will be in that year.

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by JabbaNoBargain

My wish is for football/basketball to be their own entities and the rest of the Olympic sports to be grouped together. It makes so much more sense to be regional conferences, not coast to coast conferences. However, that isn't the world we live in today. If Oregon is going to survive the way college sports are today, we are in the right place.

It is easy for others to say, take less money. Their jobs aren't on the line.

Is anybody at their work going to stay in their job when offered a raise to go to another company because all of their co-workers aren't going with them?

I try to eliminate irritable noise in my life. Therefore, I stopped listening to Canzano long ago.

Financially, we are definitely better off. The BIG is viewed as more valuable by the media(population based reasoning). Then in our inaugural year the Ducks win 8 conference titles.

Football is the main source of revenue for all of our sports programs. Having successful collegiate sports programs benefits the University, but also businesses in the State of Oregon.

Money is one way to measure success. Nostalgia doesn’t pay the bills. Oregon hit a home run by being in the position to be invited to a wealthier conference.

11 hours ago, JabbaNoBargain said:

If we’re looking for a ridiculous wish in time…

How about going back to when we were pretty close to having a PAC16 with Texas and Oklahoma, but no one besides USC could wrap their brains around unequal revenue sharing becoming the world we live in? Texas wanted more of a “merit based” system (that could have been negotiated to actually be based on current merit), but the Beavis’s of the world couldn’t imagine that a smaller piece of a MUCH larger pie would still be a good thing.

Long history of teams in that conference not carrying their weight but getting a full share.

Ironically, in 2026 I believe every former PAC-North member will be getting something other than a normal share in whatever conference they will be in that year.

This is the answer. If we want to look back wistfully, then the answer is poaching Texas and Oklahoma when we might have had the chance. We should have done whatever we needed to do to make that happen. With those two we are better conference than what the B1G was and almost is now.

Our TV deal would have been competitive with the B1G and SEC I believe with those two. We would have had substantially more teams in the old 4 team playoff, and most likely a couple national titles.

In some ways I do miss the old Pac-12, I miss more consistent schedule for the non-football sports, I miss having a variety of start times for football games instead of the constant 12 or 9 start times.

I certainly don't think anyone should wish the league had survived on the 30 million that was offered (at least from Oregon's perspective).

I don't like what has happened in a lot of ways, I don't like that OSU and WSU were left behind, I don't like the idea of Cal and Stanford being in the ACC, those 4 university deserved better than what happened to them, you might disagree, but each had their history that deserved better respect, there is no reason Rutgers, Northwestern, Vandy, or Mississippi St. somehow deserve more than those institutions when it comes to sports.

It's of course just the way things have turned out, but it isn't right in my view, especially when you consider what college sports can mean to a community.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by spartan2785

29 minutes ago, Drake said:

Then in our inaugural year the Ducks win 8 conference titles.

Our Beloved Ducks won more outright championships/tournaments than any other B1G team with 8 outright championships. The second team was Ohio State with seven, consisting of four outright championships and three tournament championships.

Last year Oregon had the undisputed No. 1 Athletic Department in the Big-10...one of two Super-Conferences.

31 minutes ago, Drake said:

Financially, we are definitely better off. The BIG is viewed as more valuable by the media(population based reasoning).

The benefits goes way beyond financial though. It’s the respect/prestige of the conference. It’s the visibility. It’s ability to attract and retain players and coaches. It’s the seat at the “grown up” table.

My biggest fear, before Oregon joined the B1G, was not being at the table and potentially being left behind. I still believe eventually there will be 2 super conferences and they will control everything about college football from the playoff format, rules, etc. If you are not a part of those conferences, you will get the scraps. We are starting to see that with the B1G/SEC discussions. Anyone think that the ACC will survive past the expiration of their media rights deal?

Hopefully the two super conferences also look at the existing members became there are a couple of programs who don’t belong based solely on merit.

I do miss the traditional rivalries of the PAC-8/10 and the regional nature of the conference but, unfortunately, that is in the past and you have to look towards the future.

6 minutes ago, Charles Fischer said:

Last year Oregon had the undisputed No. 1 Athletic Department in the Big-10...one of two Super-Conferences.

And they did it earning a partial media share and a fraction of the budget as an Ohio State, Texas, et al!

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by OregonDucks

14 minutes ago, OregonDucks said:

The benefits goes way beyond financial though. It’s the respect/prestige of the conference. It’s the visibility. It’s ability to attract and retain players and coaches. It’s the seat at the “grown up” table.

It’s the visibility. It’s ability to attract and retain players and coaches.

As they say at In-N-Out, "double-double."

My guess...if Texas, Oklahoma, USC, UCLA...were in the Pac, it would not have prevented a raid by the SEC/B1G. And, in that event, UO/UW would not have been on the list headed East.

Wasn’t that Canzano in a recent Portland protest photo dressed up and dancing around in an inflatable beaver costume?