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PAC-12(10) commissioner seems legit.

All of the "also ran" conference heads have the same challenge the PGA does. They have to sell the "it's not all about the money" argument but it's looking more and more that IT IS all about the money and not much else matters. Have to wonder when the SEC and Big 10 will start weeding out the weaker programs that can't pull their weight and don't add value. All of the realignment moves have been about who can protect or possibly enhance the group's value

A follow up to the Wetzel article on Yahoo Sports:

It has been frustrating to watch the de-evolution of college sports over the past few years. I was around for Pony Express and, frankly, did not consider it to be a cardinal sin to pay players for their services. Time has proven Uncle Bill Clements’ football business model to be a fair and practicable way for players to earn a degree and get paid for the wear and tear on their bodies. Realignment is another matter, however.

I believe the FOX/ESPN model is a band-aid for a more serious disease. Per CBSSports.com, nationally, the average attendance at college football games in 2021 was down 15%, more than 7,000 per game, from a record mark of 46,971 in 2008. And the per-game national decline of 1,629 fans in 2021 is the steepest ever, a 3.93% drop from 2019. Speaking anecdotally, LSU can’t even fill Tiger Stadium for most games now.

The exclusion of all but 40 or so “elite” schools (I use that term lightly – each of us can identify several mediocre-at-best football programs within P5 or even P2) will only accelerate the decline in interest in college sports by alienating alums of the “have nots.” My kin and friends (many alums from privates or directional state universities) are already to the point where we won’t watch Big State U play on Saturday because we have no connection to the school or there is no impact on our alma mater.

Realignment won’t cure apathy---it will promote it. With the exception of outlier games like Army-Navy, Cal-Stanford, or Harvard-Yale, schedules will no longer be based on tradition or good old fashioned hate, but on TV time. Why would I, as an SMU alum, consider wasting a fine autumn afternoon indoors watching the likes of Purdue-Illinois or South Carolina-Mississippi State? But then, the FOX/ESPN duopoly doesn’t really care what we do. They have already written off our demographic and are promoting a model devoid of any tradition or relevance for the sole purpose of promoting a playoff, while turning a blind eye to the fact that there is even less fan interest overall as schools are eliminated each week from contention.

In other words, I think the model will fail.

In the meantime...For most universities, the only way to sustain an athletic program is TV revenues. The institutions without multiple billions of endowments must lower their noses, deal with the devils of ESPN/FOX and realign themselves into super conferences. The sales pitch for the sell-out: larger TV revenues mean the art, history, literature and dance departments might survive. How’s that for irony?

Our only course–and it’s a tough one–is to be a “have” and not a “have not.” To get into the PAC-12, ACC or other P5-ish conference, SMU must win consistently and compete for championships. It must also improve its academic ranking. The University isn’t second-rate, and it’s not irrelevant and it won’t disappear. But it risks becoming another one of those expensive private schools that people have heard about but can’t quite place. 68th place shouldn’t be good enough.

We should selfishly agree with the article that PAC12 (plus all remaining conferences) needs to survive. Super conferences will kill off the history and tradition that makes college football so appealing.

And, if the P5 Conferences remain competitive with the P2 and can generate sufficient revenue and media support, SMU has a future. At 30-40 teams, there won't have a future destination for an SMU.

This probably is nothing more than spin control, and could change in 24 hours, but Arizona State said this week that it remains "committed" to Pac-12.

https://www.si.com/college/arizonastate ... conference

Buddha wrote:This probably is nothing more than spin control, and could change in 24 hours, but Arizona State said this week that it remains "committed" to Pac-12.

https://www.si.com/college/arizonastate ... conference

Interesting comment from the former Colorado QB who thinks they will end up in the Big XII. Now that "King Texas" and OU are leaving, it makes sense for Colorado to reunite with some of their historical conference mates. After all, it was Texas' arrogance that contributed to CU, Nebraska, Missou and A$M all bailing out on the Big XII and Colorado isn't likely to get a life line from the SEC or Big 10 like the others did. Certainly appears the PAC XII and Big XII are in a struggle to survive and the Big XII appears to have the upper hand. Have to wonder if those two conferences will find a way to merge and possibly add a couple more schools to cover every time zone and give the networks 12-13 hours of football on Saturdays.

Doesntmatter wrote:https://sports.yahoo.com/every-college-football-fan-should-be-rooting-for-the-pac-12-s-survival-190721042.html

That seriously brought a tear to my eye. He gets what college football is supposed to be about.