Utah Invited to Pac-10 / Pac-11! SHOCKER!
by cocknfire on Jun 16, 2025 4:41 PM EDT
in Football
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Surprising no one, the Pac-11 has now invited Utah to be its 12th member, an invitation that will likely be considered for all of five seconds before being formally accepted at a board of trustees meeting tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.
How in doubt is the outcome of that vote? The results will be discussed at a 1 p.m. press conference. So, not at all, really.
How prepared is the Mountain West for this?
While Colorado might have to pay the Big 12 about $9 million as part of a buyout clause, no such penalty exists for Utah to leave the MWC.
Well played, sirs. Well played.
I can't find any word on when exactly the Utes would begin playing in the Pac-12, which could play a major role in whether the Mountain West gets AQ status in the BCS.
Stayed tuned, folks. This is almost over.
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Only questions left
Are if the MWC tries to add 1 more to get to a 10-team round robin schedule, 3 more to get to divisions since 12 seems to be the magic number for now, or just revert to where they were a month ago basically. Seems to me they should add 3 of Houston/SMU/Fresno State/Nevada, any combination of which would make East/West divisions pretty straightforward. If they can do that, perhaps they can stave off getting raided by the Big 12-2 - either that will have to happen so they can keep the championship game at Jerry World, or it’s just going to fall apart for good by the time Colorado leaves. And of course once one or both of those conferences make a move, then it trickles down… may not be over yet!
by commodore_dude on Jun 16, 2025 4:54 PM EDT reply actions
Right now, the MWC’s biggest interest is actually a purely competitive one. Because its quest is increasing its average finish to get that BCS auto bid, TV markets aren’t as relevant. The money from becoming an AQ league is far above what it can get from renegotiating its TV deals with its current partners.
The question is, who can help them get there? Based solely on 2008-09, no one in the WAC will help its average get past the sixth-place Big Ten’s average. In fact, only two teams not currently in BCS leagues will do so: Central Michigan and East Carolina. Neither of them is geographically viable.
Houston is close (52.5 average finish), and it projects to have pretty good finishes over the next couple of years based on how good Kevin Sumlin has been there. Those Cougars are really the only option for the MWC.
Team Speed Kills
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by Year2 on Jun 16, 2025 5:07 PM EDT up reply actions
The quality-of-play assumption
But aren’t you assuming that the MWC’s bid for automatic qualifier status is entirely dependent on its quality of play? Although it’s a good point that they’re more concerned with on-the-field quality than most, given the realities of contemporary college football, I still don’t think that assumption is warranted.
In other words, a borderline MWC with stronger TV markets might well have a better shot at AQ than an MWC with slightly weaker TV markets and slightly better on-field teams. There’s no compulsion for the BCS to actually consider on-field play, is there?
by PhilipVU94 on Jun 16, 2025 8:00 PM EDT up reply actions
There is a formula that will guarantee a non-AQ conference an automatic BCS bid if it meets certain criteria. This post explains where the MWC falls short right now and what it has to do to get that auto bid.
Team Speed Kills
SBNation's SEC Blog
by Year2 on Jun 16, 2025 8:39 PM EDT up reply actions
According to Chip Brown's recap
the BigXII won’t lose the championship game revenue of their current TV contract , even after Nebraska and Colorado officially split. In other words, ESPN will still pay the BigXII for a championship game even if they don’t actually have one. So there is no reason for the BigXII to try hurry to add two teams. In fact, for the duration of their current contract (2016?), adding any teams would dilute their individual payouts.
by krnxprs on Jun 16, 2025 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions
The Pac 10 has done quite well for themselves.
Denver is # 18 in TV market size while Salt Lake is # 33 according to Nielsen figures for last year. Hell, the Salt Lake market is about the same size as New Orleans and Baton Rouge combined. That conference is well on its way toward reasserting itself in the national consciousness. All of those states are growth areas. Of course it would help if Rick Neuheisel could get UCLA going so that they have something of interest locally going on in the #2 market since I heard a rumor that the other school in LA may have a couple of issues on the table.
by Dr. Lou's Psychiatrist on Jun 16, 2025 9:43 PM EDT reply actions
That conference is well on its way toward reasserting itself in the national consciousness.
Not as long as it’s kicking off a good portion of its games at 9:00 PM Eastern and later, it’s not.
Team Speed Kills
SBNation's SEC Blog
by Year2 on Jun 16, 2025 10:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Your point is well taken...
Of course that is a problem that is easily remedied by moving those kickoff times up. The early time slot remains prohibitive for them if they are going to respect their local fans. Even at that, noon Pacific would place them at 3:00 Eastern and 4:00 Pacific gets them on the air at 7:00 Eastern. You would think that their new conference leadership has already thought of making such a move.
by Dr. Lou's Psychiatrist on Jun 17, 2025 10:14 AM EDT up reply actions
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