Pac 12... 11... 10... 9... 8... 7...6...5...4... POOF!

I've been thinking the PAC 2 should only admit schools with "State" in their title.

 

The schools that bailed on the PAC weren't gasping their last breath when they bolted for bigger stacks of cheddar, the way the Cougs and the Beavs are. They are just trying to survive. Also, I think it would be good for the MWC teams to rebrand to the PAC.

 

Had OSU/WSU had programs that were desirable, they would have been offered the chance to join the other 10 schools that left and would have gladly accepted. They can’t blame the lack of success of their athletic departments on other schools. Plain and simple they would have bolted too if invited.

 

I hope they get a bunch of schools from the west to join them, then have some years of success to build their brand.

 

What a stupid take. So Colorado and Cal have "programs that were desirable"? What has Colorado won recently?

Just be grateful Phil Knight / Nike have built up U of O the last two decades - if this happened back then your Ducks would be in the same position as the Beavs and Cougs. Go back the prior 50 years and Ducks football has the same history of losing much more than winning - same as OSU/WSU.

This is all just a money grab for schools that are in bigger TV markets. Obviously Pulman and Corvallis don't have that. Nothing the Beavs had done would have changed that.

I'm not saying PAC or Presidents including OSU's have no fault here as they certainly do - but the Beavers winning or losing the last couple years is irrelevant.

 

But OSU/WSU are just playing the loyalty card, right? They have been loyal to the Pac 12, erm, I mean themselves. Where have we recently heard that? As SharpesTriumph points out above, OSU/WSU are disinvited because of location. And He points out that the Eugene school is lucky to have Uncle Phil or they would be disinvited themselves.

 

Oregon State Penitentiary Welding School?

 

Throw in AU and ASU if we’re just talking football programs. The 10 schools just need to run along, join these conferences and enjoy running their student athletes into the ground with travel, subpar learning and college campus experiences. Let OSU and WSU keep the Pac in place, benefit those student athletes that want to stay regional, have that regional bond and let their families see them compete. Should be a huge boost to both programs for recruiting.

 

Cal does well in the smaller sports, and Colorado has their share of Cross Country titles.

That doesn't do much to explain TV market appeal, though.

 

The Colorado and California situations are different from each other.

Colorado jumped early and were regionally located in an area that made sense for them and the B12 to get back together.

California, while not dedicated to sports like the schools that left to the B1G, is in a massive market and partnered up with a travel partner. That travel partner has a huge link to Notre Dame, which the ACC appears to be trying to keep happy. OSU/WSU do not have a travel partner or a school in such high demand that could sway them to take them with.

Because of this, I think it's safe to say that yes, Colorado was more desirable to the B12 than WSU/OSU. And yes, California is more desirable to the ACC than WSU/OSU.

It's not just about the TV markets though, because if it were, Stanford/Cal (Bay Area) would've got a B1G invite over Oregon (Eugene).

 

Also factor in recruiting foot-print and academics (which the Presidents care about)

 

I agree with much of what you're saying except the last sentence. This is a disaster for recruiting.

 

Disaster, no. Different for sure. There’s going to be a lot a pluses and minuses. Big fish in small pond will have good exposure. I see the Beavs making a haul on those Hawaiian recruits.

 

It's a disaster. The best want to play against the best. There's a reason why Mountain West teams rarely beat Pac-12 teams.

 

This is the most infuriating part of all this, it has NOTHING to do with success on the field and building a brand. I'm not naive to think that WSU has a brand on par with Nike U or USC but it's not some podunk school either. We've seen seven straight bowl games (yes I know bowls aren't what they used to be), made headlines constantly with Leach and get covered by the preeminent college football preview show more than most because of the flag waving efforts of Ol' Crimson and as of last year had a 5 year run as one of the most watched teams outside the B10/SEC. I'm sorry but over the past two decades or so, Arizona, Colorado and Cal have been markedly worse in football, while UCLA, ASU, OSU and WSU have all been about the same. This decision seems to be coming down to A. decisions made over 100 years ago about where to put these universities and B. having partner institutions in their state that were totally self serving. I get it, end of the day it's every man for themselves, but fans of these schools (especially UO) need to stop with this holier than thou thinking about OSU and WSU.

 

Interesting comment, MW has actually fared pretty well against the P12 the last few years in both football and basketball. Now obviously you'd expect that gap to widen with the amount of money difference that will coming into the other conferences vs. the MWC but the records haven't been as lopsided as one might expect.

 

yeah, I know...in an alternate universe OSU would have plenty of company in the wambulance

It was 1996 when Phil Knight, after talking to Mike Bellotti, decided to get involved. It was not till 1998 before any facilities improvements were completed (practice facility). In the decade that ended in 1998 the Ducks played in 7 bowl games; the Beevs played in none. Oregon had won a Pac-10 championship and had played in the Rose Bowl. Oregon's record in that decade was 70-49; the Beavers record was 26-83. It was not a case that both programs were dead even, Phil Knight waved a magic wand, and overnight, the Ducks eclipsed the Beavers. The Ducks had already significantly eclipsed the Beavers before Knight got involved.

That seems to get lost in all the whiny complaints about how it was ALL Phil Knight. Oregon simply hired better coaches, and coaches turn a program around. Oregon had Rich Brooks while the Beavs were going with Dave Kragthorpe and Jerry Pettibone. Then the Ducks hired Mike Bellotti and he was responsible for turning Oregon into a winning program while the Beavs were posting a winning percentage of .239. It was also Bellotti who decided that the Ducks needed to implement a spread offense so he hired Chip Kelly to accomplish that

yeah, Oregon is lucky to have Phil Knight. USC/UCLA are lucky to be dead center in a major recruiting hotbed like LA. Cal-Stanford in the Bay Area. Washington is lucky to have established themselves before there was an 85 scholarship limit (IIRC one season they had 137 players on scholarships) and to be in a big market like Seattle. ASU is lucky to be in Phoenix. Colorado is lucky to be in a suburb of Denver. Alabama, Georgia, Texas, LSU....they are all lucky to be in regions that produces so many recruits and treat football like a religion.

There's circumstantial luck, and there's luck you make for yourself. Oregon has made a lot of their own luck. For instance: branding. I distinctly remember a whole bunch of Beaver fans ridiculing the Ducks many uniform combos. And the promotion of Joey Harrington for the Heisman. But those things, along with the wins, helped create Oregon's brand. And that's what got them into the Big-10. It sure the fuck wasn't the Eugene TV market. Oregon understood how to build a national program years before OSU got a clue, and a lot of it began before Uncle Phil showed up.

 

This is a lot of word salad to basically say, Knight and Nike were your lifeline! Yea you guys were a decent program, but Phil took you to levels most ducks never dreamed of. As for the 'branding' I mean I'm sure it didn't help at all that the guy created and runs a company that MAYBE next to Apple has been the best at marketing their products over the last 30+ years, I'm sure that had nothing to do with the ducks branding. Don't get me wrong, I'd kill to have someone like that at WSU and we always hoped PA would step up but he never cared about WSU athletics one bit. If OSU/WSU fans have to 'accept their fate' then duck fans really need to get over this thought that they'd be any different if it wasn't for Uncle Phil.

 

Oregon State is one of only a few schools in the country to go to the elite 8, college world series and have a ten win season in football in the last five years. But don't let that stop you from talking out of your ass.