PAC 12 Frogs?

[Topper]

Saw Startlegram TCU beat writer Davison interviewed on a vlog today. Says TCU pitching that it will favor use of TCU over "Texas Christian," willing to be a "junior member," and has a large Southern California alumni base to PAC 12. Says Frogs recognize cultural differences but would add value because they are "DFW" team (as if Dallas is all in with TCU).

[WildHorse]

Or even slightly in with them

I'd love for SMU's upward trajectory to be recognized in realignment conversations

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Saw Startlegram TCU beat writer Davison interviewed on a vlog today. Says TCU pitching that it will favor use of TCU over "Texas Christian," willing to be a "junior member," and has a large Southern California alumni base to PAC 12. Says Frogs recognize cultural differences but would add value because they are "DFW" team (as if Dallas is all in with TCU).

That's some pretty funny stuff there!

[CA Mustang]

Saw Startlegram TCU beat writer Davison interviewed on a vlog today. Says TCU pitching that it will favor use of TCU over "Texas Christian," willing to be a "junior member," and has a large Southern California alumni base to PAC 12. Says Frogs recognize cultural differences but would add value because they are "DFW" team (as if Dallas is all in with TCU).

That's some pretty funny stuff there!

The amount of delusion required for that pitch is funny. Even as a "junior" member, TCU would siphon far more from the Pac-12 than it could deliver. The Big 12 gravy train is derailing and they are trying to leap off before it crashes. Unfortunately for them, the Pac-12 isn't offering a landing spot.

[Charleston Pony]

I give TCU credit for having fought hard and made the investment they did in football as it got them a seat at the table, but when all is said and done, they remain a relatively small private school and there just aren't many of those left in today's world that can command the audience the networks are looking for. Will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

[AusTxPony]

I don't know, it seems like if I were the PAC, I would plant a flag in the Texas recruiting hotbed. Take TCU, SMU, TT, UH and OSU plus Kansas? Do 3 Pods of 6 teams and let the two highest rated play for the Championship. That gives you DFW (good academic Unis) and Houston eyeballs plus some of two more states and Central Times Zone games. I believe the BYU/Baylor mindset is not for them. On the negative side is less money per share for the current members, so probably won't happen.

[Topper]

I don't know, it seems like if I were the PAC, I would plant a flag in the Texas recruiting hotbed. Take TCU, SMU, TT, UH and OSU plus Kansas? Do 3 Pods of 6 teams and let the two highest rated play for the Championship. That gives you DFW (good academic Unis) and Houston eyeballs plus some of two more states and Central Times Zone games. I believe the BYU/Baylor mindset is not for them. On the negative side is less money per share for the current members, so probably won't happen.

There is so much chatter on this subject and a lot of it is crazy talk. One Ohio State vlogger who makes his living following the Buckeyes suggested that the PAC 12 TV contract is up in a couple of years and that the Big 10 might raid it for two teams. USC of course and possibly Oregon were the two he thought most likely. If something like that happened then the PAC 12 is definitely going to need some new blood just to survive. He also thinks that the Big 10 is interested in raiding ACC for UVA and UNC thereby creating a coast-to-coast conference. Its all speculation until it happens.

[tristatecoog]

TCU hired Patterson in 2000 after losing Franchione after two years. They realized they had a gem of a coach and invested to keep him. Of course, he was willing to stay in Ft Worth while some other G5 HCs were not (e.g., Tempo Morris, Pee Wee Herman). Thirty-four alums and friends invested $105 million for stadium upgrades in 2010 and were invited to the Big 12 in 2012. With nine years of the Big 12 money, they've done another $100 million upgrade to the football stadium, plus enhanced other facilities. They're still losing money but not to the degree that SMU and UH are.

https://www.espn.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5468732

[Topper]

TCU hired Patterson in 2000 after losing Franchione after two years. They realized they had a gem of a coach and invested to keep him. Of course, he was willing to stay in Ft Worth while some other G5 HCs were not (e.g., Tempo Morris, Pee Wee Herman). Thirty-four alums and friends invested $105 million for stadium upgrades in 2010 and were invited to the Big 12 in 2012. With nine years of the Big 12 money, they've done another $100 million upgrade to the football stadium, plus enhanced other facilities. They're still losing money but not to the degree that SMU and UH are.

https://www.espn.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5468732

Baylor and the Frogs have both over-performed on the field much to the chagrin of UT. TCU was invited to the Big 12 because it was bleeding to death with the loss of three big state schools and UT expected easy Ws against them. Their boosters have contributed a ton of money and the Big 12 TV money has paid for a lot. But the cold hard fact is that nobody watches TCU unless they are playing UT, OU or another team with a big national following. The TV networks are driving these deals and TCU is in the same boat as we are in terms of attractiveness to their viewers. The gravy train days for TCU and Baylor may be over. Wake Forest, Vanderbilt and others need to be looking over their shoulders as well. Unlike the NFL, college football is not dependent on the success of all participants.

[CA Mustang]

"Kliavkoff has not specified which schools are interested in joining the Pac-12. But the list likely includes many, if not all of the universities in the Big 12, which is reeling after the departure of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC.

However, multiple industry sources contacted by the Hotline in recent weeks believe the most likely outcome for the conference is to remain at 12.

“No schools really add value,” said a source not affiliated with the Pac-12.

Each Pac-12 athletic department will receive approximately $24 million this year from the regular-season broadcast agreements with ESPN and Fox, according to the term sheet of the Tier 1 contract obtained by the Hotline.

That figure is expected to soar when the next media rights deals are negotiated in 18-24 months.

Any new member would have to bring enough media value to increase the windfall for the existing schools and help the conference narrow the revenue gap with the Big Ten and SEC.

Without Texas and Oklahoma propping them up, none of the Big 12 universities are believed to carry enough media rights value to be worthwhile to the Pac-12."
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/08/23/ ... -alliance/

[Charleston Pony]

“No schools really add value,” said a source not affiliated with the Pac-12.

Any new member would have to bring enough media value to increase the windfall for the existing schools and help the conference narrow the revenue gap with the Big Ten and SEC.

Without Texas and Oklahoma propping them up, none of the Big 12 universities are believed to carry enough media rights value to be worthwhile to the Pac-12."

And that's the bottom line. I would argue that UCF of the AAC is the only program out there with potential to bring significant value but that is admittedly forward thinking. UCF has gone back and forth with Ohio State as having the largest undergraduate populations of any school in the country and with their commitment to athletics, UCF is clearly the sleeping giant in college athletics. The remaining Big XII schools all fall in with the bulk of the AAC schools in terms of their value to the networks.

[EastStang]

The problem for UCF is, they are relatively new. Secondly, many Floridians (like Texans) follow one of the large state Universities UF and FSU (UT and ATM). Thus their ratings are much higher than UCF. In 20-30 years UCF may have a large enough alumni base to really be in the same league financially as UF and FSU (especially if FSU continues to play poorly in the ACC). I think the AAC and Big XII leftovers are just not going to bring lots of TV screens for football. Now hoops would be pretty interesting. KU, OSU, UH, Tulsa, Memphis, WV, Temple, WSU, Cincy are all decent programs historically. Lots of Sweet Sixteens among that group and a few final fours. Add in SMU and TT who have had some success and you have a conference that would generate as much buzz as the BE and perhaps the ACC.

[tristatecoog]

Does any combo of new Texas schools help the Pac12 get its network picked up by the major cable carriers in DFW or Houston?

[Water Pony]

Does any combo of new Texas schools help the Pac12 get its network picked up by the major cable carriers in DFW or Houston?

Be still my racing heart, but Houston and Dallas' Team, SMU.

[well travelled pony]

Silly froggies...lol. anyone see the SI Bottom 10? Look at #5...College football's Bottom 10 is back -- and as bad as ever

4:00 AM PT
Ryan McGee
ESPN Senior Writer
[Editor's note: The 2021 college football season is upon us and it's bringing the Bottom 10 with it, featuring a slew of old favorites like Kansas and UTEP, along with a Power 5 cameo from the entire Big 12.]

Inspirational thought(s) of the week:

Is this the way to normal?
Show me the way to normal
Show me the way to normal
Show me the way to normal
Is this the way to normal?

-- "Way to Normal" Ben Folds Five

"My darling girl, when are you going to realize that being normal is not necessarily a virtue. It rather denotes a lack of courage?"

-- Aunt Frances, "Practical Magic"

Here at Bottom 10 Headquarters, located behind the Tim Tebow Jags merch clearance rack at the Ponte Vedra Ollie's, we spent much of the offseason like so many others out there, pondering the true meaning of the word "normal." We constantly hear it today in the context of "getting back to normal" and "welcome to the new normal" and "Why did I just watch the movie 'Paranormal Activity 3'?"

This is a college football world where North Texas, with a losing record, plays in a bowl game on teal turf, where unforeseen cancellations make Rice vs. Middle Tennessee essential prime-time television viewing, and where guys named Kool-Aid are signing NIL deals with Kool-Aid to literally drink the Kool-Aid.


We always have and will call all of the above very much "normal." For us, there's nothing to get back to and there's certainly nothing new about it. We see it all as one of the few positive byproducts of having experienced the 2020 college football season amid a pandemic, that so many of you finally discovered the beauty of what we call "normal" here in the Bottom 10 Multiverse. Or Lawrence, Kansas.

With apologies to Norman Reedus, Norman Bates, ParaNorman and Steve Harvey, here are 2021's preseason Bottom 10 rankings.


1. Kansas Nayhawks (2020 record: 0-9)
Last fall, KU didn't win a game. Last winter, it fired the head coach and athletic director amid an embarrassing scandal. Over the summer, the Nayhawks found out their conference is on life support. Other than that, though, good times.


2. Whew Mexico State (2021 record: 1-1)
The Other Aggies were one of only three FBS programs that didn't play a game in 2020, but they were also the only FBS team to play games in spring 2021, with contests against Division II Tarleton State and a still-new FCS program, Dixie State. They lost to Tarleton 43-17 and had to score 16 points in the fourth quarter to beat Dixie State by a touchdown. They will open and close their autumn schedule against a pair of fellow preseason Bottom 10 opponents, with a kickoff visit from UTEPID and a Thanksgiving weekend trip to ...


3. UMess (2020: 0-4)
The Minutemen lost their four 2020 games by a combined score of 161-12, but still enjoyed rubbing the noses of their archrival Huskies with the fact that they actually played games (sort of) while these guys did not ...


4. U-Can't (2020: 0-0)
The Randy Edsall Charm School will travel to UMess on Oct. 9 for the second half of what is likely to be a two-week Bottom 10 doubleheader, as that game follows a trip to Van-duh-bilt, which finished its 2020 all-SEC slate with a slate of all-SEC losses.


5. The Big Eight
The season's first Coveted Fifth Spot goes to a conference that is now nearly down to a Coveted Five Teams, aka the remaining members of the alliance that is titled the Big 12 but was actually a Big 10 (but not the Big Ten) even when everyone was wondering when they would inevitably expand to 12 or even 16 teams. But it never did any of that, so now it has become the college football version of that mall near your house that used to be a big deal in the '90s, but then Sears went under and JC Penney left. Now it's down to a Chess King, that boutique where your mom buys her Vera Bradley patterns and a weird food court anchored by a McDowell's.


6. ULM (pronounced "uhlm") (2020: 0-10)
Ulm, y'all aren't going to believe this, but, ulm, the new head coach of the Warhawks is Terry Bowden, who, ulm, used to coach Auburn and, ulm, his offensive coordinator is, ulm, Rich Rodriguez, who, ulm, turned down the Alabama job in 2006, opening the door for Nick Saban. And now, ulm, they will both likely make sure the ULM team bus never drives through the Yellowhammer State, so as to, ulm, keep them both from demanding the driver take them straight to the nearest therapist.



7. Boiling Green in Northern Illinois by way of Akron (2020: 0-5/0-6/1-5)
College Pick 'Em


Pick the winner of 10 college football matchups each week. Play straight up or confidence. Make Your Picks

Speaking of Terry Bowden, the place where he was most recently a head coach, Akron, leads a three-headed MACtion monster that combined to win one game in 2020, and that lone victory was by the Zips over Boiling Green. This season this trio will participate in an October semi-round-robin tournament of pain, when Akron travels to Bowling Green Week 5, followed by a Bowling Green trip to Northern Illinois seven days later. Sources tell the Bottom 10 JortsCenter news desk that the MAC has already licensed "Yakety Sax" to be played nonstop over the public address system during both games.


8. FI(notA)U (2020: 0-5)
In 2020 the Fightin' Butches posted an official record of 0-5, but we prefer to list it as 0-5-2-4 because they lost five games, had two cancellations, then had another four games that are officially listed as "postponed" because they weren't played but they were never officially canceled. So, does that mean the Panthers could just show up at the stadium of one of those postponed opponents at any time in the future and demand the game be played, like my nephew who still has 3,000 unused Chuck E. Cheese tickets from 2015 and keeps threatening to show up unannounced at the prize counter like six years from now?


9. Old Duh-Minions (2020: 0-0)
Since coach Ricky Rahne left Penn State to become King of the 1-11 Monarchs at the end of 2019, the team has had two spring practices, a ton of fall intrasquad scrimmages and zero actual games played. "We've gone through a really big adversity," Rahne said this spring. "We just haven't gone through the joys of wins and pain of losses yet." Their best chance to do the former instead of the latter will come on Oct. 2 when they take a trip to ...


10. UTEPID (2020: 0-5)
I have a friend who is a math professor, and he called me angrily demanding to know exactly who in college football came up with the term "Week Zero" and started shouting a bunch of numeric mumbo jumbo about how there can't be a Week 0 because Week 1 is Week 1 because it's the first week. Then I said, "But dude, that's also the weekend that UTEP travels to New Mexico State." He paused, said, "Well damn, that math does check out" and hung up on me.

Waiting list: unLv, Vanderbilt Commode Doors, Sibericuse, Duke Blew Devils, Temple Bowels, Ill-ugh-noise, US(not C)F, By The Time I Get To Arizona, Texas State Armadillos, Yew-tah State, South Alabama Redundancies,