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PAC 12 Realignment Talk Mega Thread (All 12 threads merged)


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7 minutes ago, JT Hammons said:

SEEMS TO BE BREAKING OUR WAY FOLKS:

 

I don’t know….

I’ll believe it when I see it. Then I still might not believe it. 

I’m not sure I see the complete upside. For us or them. Outside of avoiding AAC schools going the other way. I guess Competition gets a little better. I just have a hard time seeing Stanford joining a Conference with UT San Antonio. (Forget their academics, UTSA has arguably the worst overall athletic program in the AAC) then compare that to a Stanford. Imagine how they would feel. I just think they would go Indy before they did that. “Best option if the 4 want to stay together” do they? Why? Stanford has no attachment to Wash St or Oregon St outside of geography (which obviously means nothing anymore) and conference affiliation (see geography) 

I don’t see it happening.  Maybe I’ll be proven wrong. 

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9 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

I don’t know….

I’ll believe it when I see it. Then I still might not believe it. 

I’m not sure I see the complete upside. For us or them. Outside of avoiding AAC schools going the other way. I guess Competition gets a little better. I just have a hard time seeing Stanford joining a Conference with UT San Antonio. (Forget their academics, UTSA has arguably the worst overall athletic program in the AAC) then compare that to a Stanford. Imagine how they would feel. I just think they would go Indy before they did that. “Best option if the 4 want to stay together” do they? Why? Stanford has no attachment to Wash St or Oregon St outside of geography (which obviously means nothing anymore) and conference affiliation (see geography) 

I don’t see it happening.  Maybe I’ll be proven wrong. 

All valid points. But I think Aresoc is trying to pull Or St and Wazzou and if the other 2 follow then great. If not, we still have ORst/Wazzou. It's a conference upgrade and it pedestals, without doubt, the AAC over the MWC. Then in 2025/2026 the AAC will be positioned to go snag some combination (2-3 tops) of AF/SDSU/CoSt/UNLV/Fresno. Money goes up. Competition goes up. Relevance goes up. 

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42 minutes ago, Green Otaku said:

Possible, but this would mean the conference would be dissolved and they would give up their basketball credits as well as their larger piece of the CFP pie. 

If the other sports stay together and add non-football-playing California schools, they would probably maintain their BB credits.

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5 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

All valid points. But I think Aresoc is trying to pull Or St and Wazzou and if the other 2 follow then great. If not, we still have ORst/Wazzou. It's a conference upgrade and it pedestals, without doubt, the AAC over the MWC. Then in 2025/2026 the AAC will be positioned to go snag some combination (2-3 tops) of AF/SDSU/CoSt/UNLV/Fresno. Money goes up. Competition goes up. Relevance goes up. 

I’ll buy that….

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9 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

If the other sports stay together and add non-football-playing California schools, they would probably maintain their BB credits.

This is where it gets complicated. A PAC conference by name must exist to keep their 5 year backlog of BB credits as well as their $80m a year CFP payout. I'm not 100% clear as to what type of set up you are talking about, but if they go football only in the AAC they would lose their autonomy/cfp share status, as well as their bowl contracts. If they add a bunch of non-football schools they still have a problem with not having the minimum number of schools to play football. 

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Perhaps a good model to think about this is the AA-USAir merger that was really a merger in name only.  In reality, the "smaller" USAir acquired the "weaker" AmericanAirlines that was still emerging from bankruptcy.  However, AA was the better brand with a long and deep history in the airline industry and it still had a lot more cachet than USAirways.  So, the smart people running the deal decided to keep the AmericanAirlines name.

The Pac-4 are wounded, but they also have been long-standing members of a storied college athletic conference.  Publicly, they need to save face.  A "merger" between the Pac-4 and the AAC can take place, but it needs to be presented as the Pac-4 being in the driver's seat and that can be done by keeping the PAC name and associated conference benefits  that goes along with it.  This would be a win for all institutions currently in the AAC.

Any talk of Oregon State and Washington State going to the MWC where they belong is insane.  Why would anyone associated with the AAC suggest a configuration that makes its biggest conference competitor stronger?  If it's possible to pull off, the Pac-4 need to stay together and be seen as rebuilding the PAC even if in reality it's the AAC acquiring the Pac-4.  Aresco can lead the new PAC in the same way the USAir CEO took over that role in the new AmericanAirlines.

Make it happen.  

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4 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

If one could come up with a single sentence that fully encapsulates the college football landscape today….this would be it. 

I actually did not punctuate my sentence correctly...

It should have been:

Any talk from AAC circles of Oregon State or Washington State going to the MWC because they think "that's where they belong" is insane.

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In reality, the remaining PAC 4 teams have no interest at all in being associated with the MWC or AAC. The 4 of them are using both of the conferences to buy them time and see what they can come up with in a short and/or long term plan. I think PAC has gotten hit so bad that I'm not sure the conference survives b/c it's not like they'll be able to command any sort of good TV deal that they've been used to getting. 

Of course if you're commissioners of the MWC and AAC respectively, you at least show that you're trying and make calls but I don't have any reason to think the remaining 4 PAC teams have any interest in being associated with the MWC and AAC.

If somehow they end up in one place or the other, they will bolt the first chance they get to get associated back with the traditional P5 schools.

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46 minutes ago, Green Mean said:

In reality, the remaining PAC 4 teams have no interest at all in being associated with the MWC or AAC. The 4 of them are using both of the conferences to buy them time and see what they can come up with in a short and/or long term plan. I think PAC has gotten hit so bad that I'm not sure the conference survives b/c it's not like they'll be able to command any sort of good TV deal that they've been used to getting. 

Of course if you're commissioners of the MWC and AAC respectively, you at least show that you're trying and make calls but I don't have any reason to think the remaining 4 PAC teams have any interest in being associated with the MWC and AAC.

If somehow they end up in one place or the other, they will bolt the first chance they get to get associated back with the traditional P5 schools.

Which is why I think any partnership should be equal and fair to both sides. If they do bring the PAC name with them, there should be no provisions about them being able to take it back if they leave. If the choose to leave the conference they will be losing any right to their traditional conference affiliation. 

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48 minutes ago, Green Mean said:

In reality, the remaining PAC 4 teams have no interest at all in being associated with the MWC or AAC. The 4 of them are using both of the conferences to buy them time and see what they can come up with in a short and/or long term plan. I think PAC has gotten hit so bad that I'm not sure the conference survives b/c it's not like they'll be able to command any sort of good TV deal that they've been used to getting. 

Of course if you're commissioners of the MWC and AAC respectively, you at least show that you're trying and make calls but I don't have any reason to think the remaining 4 PAC teams have any interest in being associated with the MWC and AAC.

If somehow they end up in one place or the other, they will bolt the first chance they get to get associated back with the traditional P5 schools.

Exit fee!

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16 minutes ago, MeanGreen22 said:

Aresco doesn't need to wait on cal and stanford. Piss on them. Go snag oregon st and wazzou immediately. This is not about being the best. Sec/big10 have that covered. This is about fielding exciting and competitive athletics that position is to be a part of that next tier. Whoever snags those 2 will be considered better, and rightfully so. It's imperative the AAC is the conference that gets them. 

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11 minutes ago, MeanGreen22 said:

Glad to hear this scenario isn’t happening. Of all the options I’ve heard discussed, that one probably would have been the worst case scenario for us. 

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2 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

Aresco doesn't need to wait on cal and stanford. Piss on them. Go snag oregon st and wazzou immediately. This is not about being the best. Sec/big10 have that covered. This is about fielding exciting and competitive athletics that position is to be a part of that next tier. Whoever snags those 2 will be considered better, and rightfully so. It's imperative the AAC is the conference that gets them. 

Yeah, I agree. Unfortunately, it’s about remaining relevant at this point and whoever gets some/all of the PAC-4 will have a better shot at remaining relevant over the next decade and beyond. 
 

I also agree to just go full-steam ahead for Oregon State and Washington State. They seem more willing to join a league and seem to favor the AAC over the MWC. Finalize Oregon State and Washington State joining the league, and then if the ACC doesn’t take Cal and Stanford, the AAC has additional leverage to land them. From there, the AAC would have the prestige to add the top couple of schools from the MWC when their exit fees decrease and solidify a position as a top five conference  

 

Just like the BIG12 did with Colorado first followed by AZ, ASU, and Utah. Execute one piece at a time. 

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