Jon Joseph

Mike, this is spot on my friend. It was very troubling to me that the thought of expansion was not simply dismissed, but dismissed with, "the Pac-12 is an exclusive club." If it is such, it's like a downtrodden old club filled with elderly gentlemen who cannot understand why new and younger members do not want to join and wonder how the furnishings can look so shabby when just 'yesterday' the club was rolling in capital? The fact that this nonsense of a network has been kept on life support; well, that's not simply the lack of the business sense that was evidenced when the network was formed, but gross and on-going business negligence. As was keeping a know-nothing spendthrift of a commissioner on board for a decade plus. As was not increasing market size and moving into the Central time zone including Texas, while closing the doors of a competitor at the same time. Was any thought given to such an expansion possibly saving the network and achieving at least a break even ROI on the capital invested in the network? Moving the conference HQ to San Francisco and operating the network out of San Francisco: 'Let them eat cake.' The club decided not to expand 'at this time.' Where do the learned members think they can expand now that Bob Bowlsby has resurrected the B12. SMU, UTSA, RICE, NORTH DAKOTA STATE? If this enterprise holds together or at least holds together as a P5 entity after the new media negotiations; well, I will be very surprised. Less than a handful of Pac-12 teams have the desire and the money to compete at the highest level of CFB. The UCLA athletic department is $40M in the red. How many folks in the Stanford administration give a whip if the games on The Farm are played in front of empty seats disguised as fans. The majority of professors at CAL would be happy to see CFB disappear. I for one do not want to see Puddles plucked when the club closes its doors. And after SC reawakened and spent @$100M to secure Lincoln Riley's services, I don't see the Trojans hanging around and agreeing to share the same piece of a smaller pie, compared with the pies the B1G and the SEC are both baking, with Washington State, Oregon State and other 'partners' that will never be players on the national stage. "Recruit better and win more." This cannot and will not happen without sufficient and significant investment being made by all members of the 'exclusive club.' Good luck. Go Ivy League? OK, but Autzen along with the already 'empty' stadiums in the conference, will be empty when the games kick off. And BTW, other than Stanford, most Pac-12 members are not endowed like the Ivy League schools. Not only will football fall to a lower level than the top G5 conferences, many sports now played at the varsity level will vanish or be played at the club level.

The cat's name should be: Mark Emmert.

Great post. If expansion happens it does not look like it will happen before 2026. To call this BCS x 2 a 'playoff' is absurd.

There is a ton of competition in the Pac-12 to determine the team that is the worst. If Penix stays healthy at QB I don't think UW will be the worst team in the conference. He played well for DeBoer when DeBoer was the OC at Indiana. I think WA ST will be improved with Cameron Ward (481 yards passing in the UIW bowl game) coming in from Immaculate Word to play QB. Rising being the starting QB from day 1 will help the Utes. Hopefully Nix or Thompson/Butterfield, with Mario's prevent O gone, lift the QB play for the Ducks. It would be nice if Dart stayed in-conference and signed with UCLA. As a matter of fact the QB play in the conference especially if Caleb Williams ends up at SC, will be much improved from a bunch of mediocre at best play in 2021. I certainly hope we see better OOC and bowl results in 2022? Of course, it will be hard not to improve in the bowls; just win one damn game.

OU is going to need 'them' and much, much more when it gets to the SEC. OK's decision to leave the B12 for the SEC is clearly about dollars meaning more than wins. I doubt if OK will be an SEC champ except maybe once every 2 decades? Texas perhaps fewer SEC championships than even this? I hope the whole team leaves Norman behind and the admin guys who stabbed Bob Bowlsby in the back.

17 game regular season and then the playoffs with only 2 teams receiving a 1st round bye. That's a load. Interesting that most of the 'wild card' opening games resembled the blow outs we so often see in the CFB playoff semi-finals. Hats off to the AA and the 49ers. The 49ers came on at the right time in the season. Hats off also to Joe Burrow and the Bengals breaking a long time playoff losing streak. Wouldn't it be nice to have Bama come north for a playoff game and play in the weather former Tide QB played in Friday night in Buffalo? CFB? Looks more and more like 4 more season's with a 4 team playoff field? The ACC best be careful or it could see Notre Dame, UVA, UNC and Miami in the B1G and Clemson and FSU in the SEC.

"XX is divine!" Lots of things were not good about the 60s, but a lot of things were 'righter' than they seem to be today? You could laugh out loud at 'something' without having to first check to see if your sense of humor was going to offend anyone or any group. Great comment.

Thank you for the kind comments. I think most of us are torn on pay-for-play under the guise of NIL transactions and unfettered free agency via the portal. On one hand, I do not believe players have been properly compensated in big time CFB for decades. On the other hand, especially for an old guy such as I, it kind of feels like the inmates have captured the asylum? So much going on including the NCAA re-writing its "constitution" and likely turning CFB rules, regulation and enforcement over to the P5/G5 conferences. I expect this will also be the case for CBB at the P5/G5 level. With the Supreme Court decision in the Alston case there is no way that the NCAA or any other entity other than Congress, can rein in or regulate NIL and the manner in which NIL is being used to pay and recruit players. And this doesn't seem to be front-burner 'stuff' for Congress at the moment. Another thing that can't be controlled, the fact that the B1G and the SEC are further financially distancing both respective conferences from their peers. The BCS and the BCS x 2, the so-called 'playoff,' has enriched the SEC and brought the Pac-12 to the edge if not over the edge of relevancy to irrelevancy, at least when it comes to the money-ball sports, CFB and CBB. Heck of a run in last season's CBB tourney but again, no cigar for The Conference of Champions. It appears that the CFB playoff will not expand in the next 4 seasons. Expect many of the best west coast CFB recruits to continue to head east to play ball. In the next 4 seasons I expect, if granted the time on earth, to see at least 3 more SEC playoff champions. Frankly, I was baffled by the Pac-12's decision not to expand when the time was right for so many reasons. I simply do not see how with the same line-up the Pac-12 has a chance after the next media go-rounds, to close the financial distance with the B1G and the SEC. It's so easy to say 'recruit better and win more,' but how many Pac-12 teams have the interest and the money needed to recruit and play at top level of CFB? What should Oregon do? In theory, convince the B1G to expand west and absorb the Ducks, Trojans and perhaps UW, Stanford, CU and Utah? (All AAU member schools.) I hope at the very least Oregon takes a long look at its options, if they indeed exist, before pledging its media rights to the Pac-12 for the duration of the next media deal. Meanwhile, I will take Mr. FishDuck's advice and follow Oregon and CFB with as much gusto as I can muster.

$. Guys are scoring big NIL deals out of the portal. Playing time; especially, for back up QBs. The grass is always greener theory. But with more players, by far, in the portal than schollies available this is not true for the majority of portal people.

But, did you like Rudy in Lord of the Rings? Great comment.

Gump Worsley, last goalie to play without a helmet. Saw him in the old Grubby Garden in Boston make 73 saves vs the Orr/Espo Bruins and lose 3 to 2. Most saves ever made in the NHL in a losing game. And don't forget 'Blinky,' Gordie Howe. Bobby Hull, et al. 6 team NHL. Those were some bad Canuck dudes.

No, and this comment makes me want to 'Jump Around.' "You 'messed up, you trusted us."

You win! We need the Hansen brothers playing D for the football team.

Thanks Charles. Some of us, especially moi, need the help. BTW: Is that a cat or a Golden Gopher?

The CBB games you remember are played in Feb/March.

Miracle on Ice?

So long 3 star, welcome Tami from UW? Maybe Mells replaces Tami? I think that would be an OK swap.

LOL! But JW is as spot on regarding the Pac-12 as any person covering the conference.

And the taming of the shrew.

I have to go with Brian's Song. A few decades back I was on the range at Spanish Trail CC in Las Vegas warming up next to Gale Sayers. Not cool to chat up well known folks on the range at STCC. Many a famous entertainer visited and belonged to, STCC. Nevertheless I tapped him on the shoulder. He looked at me and was none too pleased. "Sorry Mr. Sayers," I said, "but I want you to know that as a guy who played ice hockey through college, when I watched you running the ball at Kansas and for the Bears; well, it was like watching a great skater on the ice. Fluid man, fluid." I got a smile and a handshake when I deserved a punch in the mouth. Love the movie not only because of the subject but as to how spot on it is regarding race relationships back in the day. Ways to go? No doubt. But so much better than when I watched all white football teams in the ACC, where Piccollo played at Wake Forest, the SEC and the SWC.

And hopefully our winter of discontent will be made glorious summer by big time CFB leaving the NCAA behind?

Missed the L on The Farm? Great comment. Grinch in the Pac-12 at WSU was a darn good DC. Shared the job with Schiano at Ohio State before moving to OK and significantly improving the Sooners D. Not to playoff championship level but to the point where until this season, OK won the B12 and made the playoff. I think Riley made a good move bringing Grinch to LA with him. Speaking of WSU, why did Hurts start vs Tampa instead of the Stache? And as to 'my' Patriots? The Bills put the freeze on the Pats. Wonder if the Pats QB from Bama had ever played in weather like that?

Sure hope you are right my friend.

Good call but it took UGA 2 OTs to beat him and he was up against darn good competition in the other 2 playoff games. Baylor finished No. 5 and OK ST No. 7. OK finished at No. 10. Played against more difficult comp in the B12 than in the Pac-12.

As we all know, the Pac-12 decided not to expand 'at this time.' Decided not to pick up B12 teams that were left hanging, for a while, when OK and TX decided to head for the SEC. My completely non-scientific take based on comments on the Forum, is that Forum members were split down the middle on whether the Pac-12 should have expanded. So, this is just some off-season fun with numbers at how the Pac-20 with the addition of Baylor, Houston, Iowa ST, KS, K ST, OK ST, TCU and TX Tech, would have hypothetically finished in the final AP Poll. 25% of the Pac-20 would have finished in the top 25 - Nos. 5 Baylor, 7 OK ST, 12 Utah, 17 Houston and 22 Oregon. 16.66% of the Pac-12 finished in the top 25. Pac-20 would have had 2 teams finish in the top 10, with Baylor finishing at 5 and 'just out of the playoff.' The Pac-20 would have had 12 bowl teams (UCLA no contest) and finished 5-6. The Pac-20 would have gone 4-1 (considering OK to be in the SEC) against the SEC. Ws over No. 11 Ole Miss, LSU, Auburn, Miss St and an L vs No. 10 OK. 1-0 vs No. 8 Notre Dame that the Pac-12 finished 0-2 against. The Pac-20 would have gone 2-1 in NY6 bowls; close to 3-0 with Utah's close L versus Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. More teams to split post-season $ with but adding the Sugar and Fiesta Bowls and more bowl eligible teams would have meant more money for the Pac-20 per school than earned by the Pac-12. (I also assume that like when Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers joined the B1G, a 'full share' for new Pac-20 members would have been phased in. protecting the Pac-12 members current per-school bottom line.) In 2025 with the new media deals in place, we'll see if the Pac-12 made the correct decision not to increase market size with a move into the Central time zone, and market share based on the number of eyeballs viewing the 'added 8' compared to the numbers watching Pac-12 games. With expansion, would the Pac-12 Network have become financially solvent, up on all cable networks and returned a decent ROI to the Pac-12? Wither the network now with the decision not to expand? Late night games broadcast on the Network hurt and do not help the Pac-12 in any respect, including recruiting. 'At this time?' After Bob Bowlsby pulled his Houdini act and saved the B12 as a P5 conference, where can the Pac-12 expand to if it decides to expand? There are no financially viable teams for the Pac-12 to pick off in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. I think the decision not to expand was a terrible and perhaps fatal decision for the Pac-12. Others reasonably disagree with this opinion. At the end of the day, $ will tell the tale.