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As an Aztec fan I am very worried about where all of this is going.

I am not a fan of the Pac 12 and never have been a fan of the Pac 12. I wanted the Aztecs to get an invite to the Big 12 but as we know in Aztec Land, we can not refuse an invite to the Pac 12. The MWC TV deal is very weak and whatever the Pac 12 puts out there will be a better financial situation for us than staying in the MWC.

But today confused me. What is the Pac 12 doing? SMU has been mentioned many times (with the Aztecs) as the 2 schools heading for the Pac 12. Are you guys having 2nd thoughts about this?

We are in strange times with College Sports/TV.

I think there will be more defections from the Pac12. All their teams have a $0 buyout at this time.

This article is amazing: https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/lists/ ... st-costly/

SteveAztec wrote:As an Aztec fan I am very worried about where all of this is going.

I am not a fan of the Pac 12 and never have been a fan of the Pac 12. I wanted the Aztecs to get an invite to the Big 12 but as we know in Aztec Land, we can not refuse an invite to the Pac 12. The MWC TV deal is very weak and whatever the Pac 12 puts out there will be a better financial situation for us than staying in the MWC.

But today confused me. What is the Pac 12 doing? SMU has been mentioned many times (with the Aztecs) as the 2 schools heading for the Pac 12. Are you guys having 2nd thoughts about this?

We are in strange times with College Sports/TV.

SDSU is in a better position than SMU because the Big 12 does not look like an option for us. We are blackballed from membership at this time. Unless Washington and Oregon hold firm, the PAC will not be much of a worthwhile upgrade for us. If those two schools bolt to the Big 12 or Big 10 before a media deal is signed, then SMU really has no options until the ACC falls apart. At that point, there may be some value left in the East with which we might align. The ACC media deal might have been broken by now if ESPN were in better financial situation. Despite what the Big 12 trolls on this board say, I think that the Big 12 media deal is in peril due to ESPN's weakness btw.

If the Pac-12 starts leaking oil, with some combination of Arizona State, Arizona, Utah, Cal and/or Stanford joining Colorado on the train out of town, I wonder if the ACC comes back in to play. There was talk at some point of mutual interest, but then it seemed like the interest was stronger out west. Pac-12 gets a little wobbly, new stories out about ACC interest in expansion ... I personally still would want to travel to games on the west coast, but I'd also like to have more than one option.

Hell, at this point I'd like to have one solid option.

Let's say Oregon and Washington get their much desired BIG lifelines.
Let's also say that the Big XII adds 3 more members to join Colorado. The rumors have been the 4 corner schools but who knows.

Add at least 2 more remaining members from Stanford/Cal/Utah/Arizona State/Arizona.

In the likeliest doomsday scenario for the PAC-12

SMU
SDSU
OSU
WSU
Stanford
Cal

are still a better core than anything the MWC and AAC can put together. Add the 6 most valuable members from the MWC and AAC and you would have a better conference than what the AAC was when it was at its peak. Not as grandiose as we wanted but better than where we have been and where we are.

At that point we would need to create a west and east division.

Stanford
Cal
OSU
WSU
SDSU
UNLV

SMU
Rice
Colorado State
Tulane
Memphis
Navy/Gonzaga

Anything that rids us of UNT is preferable.

Who are the kings of the Big XII next year? OSU, TCU, TT, KSU? Who are the Kings of the Pac-12, UW, Ore., Stanford, UU? I'd still take the Pac-12 headliners over the Big XII. WSU, Ore St., Cal, ASU and AZ are much better long term than UH, ISU, CO, WV, Cincy, UCF. I"d rather be in the PAC than the now watered down Big XII. The test will be if CO is one of the better teams after being the doormat of the PAC.

I see this in business every day. all the time...emotional decisions, some based on fear, some personal, versus analytical, strategic, data driven, fully vetted decisions...the Big12's black balling of SMU is purely emotional, full on personal - sad, really. With all that is at stake ($$$$), you go emotional versus strategic?!?! Usually emotionally made decisions fade, lack sustainability.

GHammond wrote:I see this in business every day. all the time...emotional decisions, some based on fear, some personal, versus analytical, strategic, data driven, fully vetted decisions...the Big12's black balling of SMU is purely emotional, full on personal - sad, really. With all that is at stake ($$$$), you go emotional versus strategic?!?! Usually emotionally made decisions fade, lack sustainability.

I see the same things you do in business. But TCU and Baylor are legitimately concerned about their status in Dallas re media coverage, recruiting, and T Shirt fanbase. Of course they are being stupid. Regional rivalries are very good for business but they like to think that they breathe rarified air and that we are not worthy. Read posts of the trolls on this forum from TCU, Baylor and U of H who find creative ways to condescend.

Topper wrote:Anything that rids us of UNT is preferable.

Agreed, but it's more important to join as many top teams as possible, rather than wasting too much time an energy on ditching a program we view as inferior. Get in the better conference, with more money and hopefully more TV exposure. UNT can worry about itself.

1st time poster but have been reading this board for almost 20 years.

This has been a emotional rollercoaster for me and all of my fellow Stangs but still think there are positives coming from all of this:

1) In the past, we have been asleep at the wheel on getting into a real conference. This time around, I can tell you that the University has really done all it can do to improve our position. So if it doesn’t pan out, it will be due to external factors, not our own.

2) We were never even mentioned as an expansion candidate until 13 months ago, we are now on the radar as one of “next 2 best options” if there is a need to dip into the G5 schools. There have already been articles posted on here, but I think the ACC will find itself in a similar situation as the PAC 12 was in a year ago, but they have better leadership and will find a way to keep things together. I think due to our location and school profile, we get the invite eventually if the PAC doesn’t come to fruition (which it still might). So nationally, I don’t think the news that a conference is looking at SMU is dismissed and laughed at like it was 18 months ago.

3) It will be hard to pivot from the financial investments made in the stadium expansion etc, so I think we are now pot committed to upgrading our facilities and figuring a way into a better conference.


Lastly, I take what I hear from Wilner with a grain of salt since he has been a mouthpiece for the Pac, but I think his assessment of the current situation is pretty accurate. If the other 4 corner schools get presented with a media offer that is good enough to keep them, they will have to make an addition extremely quickly and likely before they sign said deal. With SDSU and the conference having a financial situation, they might have to add an immediate school to move for 2024 and the only likely school to pull that off is SMU. We can buy our way out of the American in about 30 seconds and are will to do that. The only question is, do we even want to take that chance on the front end and potentially get caught in “no man’s land.”

If you watch this video from last night, the look on Wilner’s face makes me think he knows something we don’t, and he mentions a possible scenario where the PAC might have to do something as early as Monday/Tuesday. It would not be the most surprising move if the PAC now pivots to expansion first due to the emergency situation they are in. He discussed why we might jump ahead of SDSU due to the exit fee.

Link to video:

https://sports360az.com/2023/07/video-j ... ture-more/

thanks for posting. that was an interesting video.

Deion is probably the only PAC coach who wants to be in the Big 12 regardless of the media deal. We have known all along that the media numbers are the key to the survival of the PAC. What was Colorado's hurry to leave? Wouldn't it make more sense to look at the numbers? The Big 12 wasn't going to stop courting them. I think the truth is that Deion badly wants to be a big presence in Texas for recruiting purposes. And if Colorado has some sort of insight on the media deal then the other schools have that same information. None of them are jumping ship. Yet.

Topper wrote: What was Colorado's hurry to leave? Wouldn't it make more sense to look at the numbers?

They got sick of being jerked around by Pac 12 leadership. Those numbers have been promised to come in multiple times and they keep kicking the can down the road which likely means the numbers aren't all that good. CU did the same thing when it looked like the big 12 was going to implode. They aren't going to wait around and hope there is still a chair to sit in when the music stops.