Pac-12 on brink of collapse: How college football’s premier West Coast conference fell behind in realignment

rewrite this content material with complete duration and stay HTML tags Long sooner than the Pac-12 ever had 12 contributors, it handled uncertainty. Had Arizona and Arizona State no longer gained invites to the Pac-8 in December 1976, the conference may have damaged up, in keeping with then-Cal athletic director Dave Maggard. “The threat of USC pulling out was very real and UCLA might have followed suit,” Maggard instructed The Associated Press on the time. The addition of the Wildcats and Sun Devils grew to become the league into the Pac-10, which is the way it remained for greater than 3 a long time till the primary seismic wave of conference realignment started in 2010. Without their additions, the previous few a long time of college athletics may have seemed hugely other.The invites to the Arizona faculties got here above objections from faculties in the league’s northern footprint anxious a few geographical shift in the stability of energy. Amid all of the politics, alternatively, the league survived and persevered on neatly into the twenty first century as one of probably the most tough in college athletics. The Pac-12’s zenith got here in the 2012-13 fiscal 12 months, when it led all Power Five meetings in income on the heels of a brand new media rights deal that was once extensively praised. The triumphant occasions have been short-lived. In 2022, USC and UCLA in any case pulled the plug — as have been feared again in the Seventies — and introduced they would depart for the Big Ten in 2024. That opened the floodgates to drown a league this is now on lifestyles strengthen with Oregon and Washington heading to the Big Ten in 2024. Also departing the Pac-12 for the Big 12 are Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.That leaves Cal, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State because the lone final Pac-12 faculties. Each were in the league for greater than a century and are actually having a look round on the ashes surrounding their athletic house and considering, “What in the world happened here?”Here is an strive to respond to that query with a chronological evaluate of the Pac-12’s loss of life:  New boss and early growth (2009-2011) Larry Scott employed as Pac-10 commissionerJuly 1, 2009: Scott succeeded Tom Hansen, who served because the Pac-10 commissioner for 26 years. As CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association, Scott was once lauded for his advertising and TV acumen at a time when the Pac-12 had to land a profitable TV rights deal to stay aggressive in the facility conference panorama.”Our search committee was most impressed with Larry’s broad range of leadership experiences in both men’s and women’s sports,” stated Bob Bowlsby, who was once then the Stanford athletic director and later Big 12 commissioner.Larry Scott got here to the Pac-12 after serving as CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association. USATSI Big Ten begins having a look at expandingDec. 15, 2009: The Big Ten formally began exploring imaginable growth as league commissioner Jim Delany introduced a 12-to-18 month timeline to supply suggestions for imaginable new contributors. The Big Ten’s enlargement foray got here because it loved a hit early returns on the Big Ten Network, the primary of its type in college sports activities. Pac-10 jumps into growth gameFeb. 9, 2010: It was once a teleconference designed to introduce Kevin Weiberg, the Pac-10’s new deputy commissioner, however the headlines rising from it focused on growth. Scott said being in the “very preliminary” levels of exploring conference additions, including “it really is over the next six to 12 months that we’ll start having serious analysis and serious conversations.” Embracing growth aligned with the Pac-10’s attractions of a brand new media rights deal to interchange the only expiring on the finish of the 2011-12 instructional 12 months. That made Weiberg’s rent “very significant” (as described by way of Scott) given his revel in launching the Big Ten Network.USC receives NCAA penaltiesJune 10, 2010: USC gained a two-year postseason ban from the NCAA amid its training transition from Pete Carroll to Lane Kiffin. Saddled by way of the sanctions, the Pac-10’s premier program struggled to handle its footing a number of the country’s elite. Since successful the 2004 BCS National Championship, the Trojans have no longer performed for a countrywide identify or reached the College Football Playoff. A lowered USC was once excellent for Pac-10 parity, however the league suffered with out its best possible logo in best shape. First realignment movesJune 11-12, 2010: The first realignment domino fell when the Pac-10 introduced Colorado as a brand new member. The Buffaloes have been adopted out of the Big 12 day after today by way of Big Ten-bound Nebraska. With two contributors long past and the Pac-10 eyeing a number of extra, the Big 12’s long term gave the impression unsure. All eyes grew to become to Texas as Scott traveled south to pitch a 16-team tremendous conference that would come with the formidable additions of Texas and Oklahoma.Big 12 survives, Texas will get TV networkJune 14-17, 2010: Despite rampant hypothesis that Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and in all probability Texas A&M would sign up for Colorado in the Pac-10, the Big 12 stayed afloat. The Big 12’s willingness to house Texas’ personal TV community performed a vital position in the Longhorns’ choice to stick; they’d have needed to proportion any income similarly in the new-look Pac-10, in keeping with the Los Angeles Times. Scott deserted the rush for a 16-team league and as an alternative poached Utah from the Mountain West. When the Utes and Colorado sign up for the conference in July 2011, it provides the Pac-10 its twelfth member and the league rebrands itself the Pac-12.   Equal income pushOctober 2010: Pac-10 faculties featured in community publicizes cut up 64% of the income from the sport beneath the league’s present income fashion. As the Seattle Times defined, the program benefitted UCLA and USC, who have been steadily featured on TV. But Scott sought after faculties to proportion income similarly beneath the following media rights deal. It was once the similar way he hired in talks with Texas, which sought after to stay earnings from the Longhorn Network. Scott’s unwillingness to sweeten the pot for premier manufacturers comparable to UCLA, USC and Texas will also be known as a deadly blunder in retrospect. Auburn edges Oregon for nationwide titleJan. 10, 2011: Following USC’s 2004 nationwide identify, the Pac-10 got here simply quick of generating its 2d BCS champion when Oregon fell 22-19 to Auburn for the nationwide championship. Pac-10 moves new TV deal (2011) Hitting the TV jackpotMay 3, 2011: The Pac-10 surged to the highest of the TV income charts in college sports activities when it inked a 12-year handle Fox and ESPN value as regards to $3 billion. The deal equated to an anticipated annual payout of between $225 million and $250 million for the league, necessarily quadrupling its income from the prior deal. It usurped the yearly payouts of the Big Ten ($220 million), SEC ($205 million), ACC ($155 million) and Big 12 ($130 million); alternatively, each and every of the opposite 4 Power Five leagues negotiated no less than one new media rights deal throughout the 12-year length of the Pac-10’s settlement. University leaders have been elated on the time, however the duration of the contract grew to become out to be its downfall. “The new agreements dramatically increase our national exposure while providing a solid, long-term financial foundation to help ensure we remain self-sufficient,” Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens stated on the time. Realignment kicks up againSept. 2-3, 2011: With Texas A&M reportedly on the cusp of receiving an SEC invitation, the Big 12’s long term once more seemed murky, and the newly-renamed Pac-12 stood to realize from its attainable loss of life. “I will say schools have reached out to us,” Scott stated. “We are not doing anything proactively.”Pac-12 and Texas would possibly not compromiseSept. 20, 2011: With Texas reportedly unwilling to decide to equivalent income sharing, Scott didn’t take a spread vote to Pac-12 presidents. Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech would have introduced the league’s club to 16 and inflicted a brutal blow to the Big 12, which was once already shedding Missouri and Texas A&M to the SEC. Instead, the Pac-12 solid forward with its equivalent income sharing and the Big 12 survived some other day. “We could have expanded, but the deal didn’t make any sense at the end of the day for us, especially given the position that we are in,” Scott instructed journalists. “There is a very high bar. It’s hard to imagine very many scenarios for our conference to expand because the bar is so high.”Though Scott said that growth may have generated more cash for Pac-12 faculties, he additionally stated that it “could have torn apart the fabric of the culture of the conference.”If the Pac-12 had accommodated Texas by way of permitting an unequal income sharing fashion, it will have greatly altered the college sports activities…