Ducks should join the SEC. We'd be the liberal tree-huggers fighting against the good ol' South! We'd be the bad guys of the entire conference but have the highest conference TV ratings.
Yeah, I realize the financial gap would be significant, I spent a lot of time in the mid west around Big10 football junkies and most looked at Oregon as a flash/marketing/gimmick. I guess if there was a legit Western Coast division it would be with several pac12 teams it would be more appealing.
Yeah if it was with UW Cal and Standford also going over then its a legit West B10 division. They'd have all the members of the original Pac8 conference except OSU/WSU.
Oregon & Washington have have the brands; Oregon has a huge recency advantage and is close to a top-10 draw nationally in media; it's also gets credit for the Portland market because of how heavily it's watched there when televised. Washington has Seattle market, although they have to compete with several professional teams. and the academic and research credentials because of it's med school Both the UofO and UofW are AAU members which the Big-10 has seemingly set as a minimum requirement for membership unless it's Notre Dame...or Nebraska so. even though it may be a less than even chance of happening over the next 5 years. if the Big-10 does expand west it would be the Ducks & Huskies. Stanford and Cal match academically, but they have very little fan support. They are a very poor draw for media. Media wants to market to advertisers. Both groups know that Oregon is the best media draw in the Pac-12, even better over the last 15 years than USC and much better than UCLA. Cal & Stanford are extremely poor media draws. So, while some Big-10 presidents are attracted to the academic and research credentials of Cal/Stanford, the media partners want nothing to do with them. Stanford does have the women's and minor sports credentials. IIRC they have won more national championships than any other school. But media doesn't give a shit about women's lacrosse or men's water polo; and neither do most Big-10 schools In many ways, Utah would make the most sense as a 5th western member. They are AAU, have great football and basketball traditions, have the SLC market, and are strong in women's sports. And they have a rabid fanbase, even though smaller maybe the biggest opposition to Oregon/Washington joining has little to do with either school. Big-10 administrations are fairly conservative. They are already dealing with adding 2 new members in 2024. Adding 4 or 5 seems too much change for a lot of them
Big 12 talks expansion, source says, as commish touts 'plan' https://www.espn.com/college-sports...alks-expansion-source-says-commish-touts-plan
https://www.si.com/college/cincinna...g-12-following-pac-12-media-deal-finalization CINCINNATI — The Big 12 is returning to a 12-member format in 2024, but that reportedly won't last for long. The Swaim Show reports Colorado is moving to the Big 12 and away from the Pac-12. The Swaim Show also says the Arizona Wildcats are jumping over to the Big 12. The conference may expand further, but Colorado and Arizona will reportedly be two of the first teams to enter after Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC.
Ok, here's an idea: what's left of the pac-12 continues, but to set themselves apart, they switch to Australian rules football. barfo
I'm not saying it won't happen bu the Swaim Report is generally a laughing stock....and Colorado has been on the verge of leaving for the Big-12 for 8 months. Every week it's been: "it will happen this week" there is more smoke though and there were a lot of Colorado alums who never liked the fit in the Pac-12
