speaking of travel costs: if the bad blood continues between the Pac-X and the MWC, and lawsuits have a way of extending bad blood, the Pac-X schools may have to increase their travel costs to fill out their OOC schedules. The closest programs geographically to the PAC are MWC schools. But if the PAC schools want FBS competition, and MWC schools won't cooperate, they may have to schedule games with programs further east
it's wrong. Murray must not know about the 2 year process. He references the ESPN article saying Sac St is planning on applying. The article is from a month ago, and Pete Thamel, who wrote the article, even talks about Sac St not being eligible till 2027:
I hadn't heard NM St yet - that actually makes way more sense geographically and the school probably doesn't have its sights set as high as TX ST long term so likely wont need as much revenue concessions. As a Beavs fan living 30 minutes from TX ST I'd much prefer them but I'm just guessing maybe it is more of a negotiations ploy for the Pac to not have to give up too much to either school. Sac State as a 9th football member might be good for the Pac just to have stability of an extra member. There can have about the opposite deal of NMST/TXST where they get a much less than full share of revenue the next 5 years but are allowed to step up to FBS.
Lots of stuff I'm reading say they can be FBS independent in 2026, just not playoff eligible until 2027. Lots of chatter about them being an unofficial member in 2026 with scheduling against the other pac teams, leading to full membership in 2027 or 2028. I'd welcome that. In the meantime, I do think texas state is a good fit and they are currently the odds favorite to join.
UNLV signed on to the the MWC's new media deal and GOR. That runs thru 2032 and is rumored to impose an even steeper exit fee than the last GOR, which was 18M for any departing school. If UNLV does join the PAC, it's unlikely to be over the next 7 years
I thought they seemed like a great option for the final Pac team a year ago. But yeah was shocked they gave up that flexibility to lock themselves into a new MWC contract.
