[CardinalSagehen]

I don't have an enormous issue with Oregon replacing Washington, but the way the conference arrived here was truly farcical.  It was eminently well known that UW was at very high risk of not being able to play this week, due to COVID contact tracing. In fact, it would have required a change in public policy in their county (duration of quarantine) to allow it.  Nevertheless, the Pac-12 announced all the matchups on Sunday rather than waiting until Monday or just forcing UW to give them an answer by Sunday. 

As a result of the Pac-12's buffoonery, the team with the second-best record, Colorado, is left at the altar without anyone to play.  That should have been the fate of a team near the bottom of the division, not one of the most deserving teams.  (Of course, two of those bottom-dwelling teams, Cal and Arizona, announced the cancelation of their game due to Covid just a few hours after the league announced the scheduling of their game - yet another day in the life of the cluster-fluck that is the Pac-12!).  It's also unclear that Colorado will be allowed or able to find a non-con opponent, because the Pac-12 has stated that Colorado would be the back-up for SC.

I'm all in favor of giving people a break because this Covid situation is new and unpredictable, but this egg-on-face moment was foreseeable by any sentient being and entirely avoidable. It's the latest in a seemingly endless series of missteps and lazy thinking that has tanked the conference in the big revenue sports. 

For me, the faceplant GIF fully applies (and it's mesmerizing, by the way.)  It's high time for Larry Scott to pack up the tens of millions of dollars that he has stolen from the conference and move on.  In the highly unlikely case that he is renewed, the conference will truly deserve to be the laughingstock that it has already become.

[CardinalSagehen]

I don't have an enormous issue with Oregon replacing Washington, but the way the conference arrived here was truly farcical.  It was eminently well known that UW was at very high risk of not being able to play this week, due to COVID contact tracing. In fact, it would have required a change in public policy in their county (duration of quarantine) to allow it.  Nevertheless, the Pac-12 announced all the matchups on Sunday rather than waiting until Monday or just forcing UW to give them an answer by Sunday. 

As a result of the Pac-12's buffoonery, the team with the second-best record, Colorado, is left at the altar without anyone to play.  That should have been the fate of a team near the bottom of the division, not one of the most deserving teams.  (Of course, two of those bottom-dwelling teams, Cal and Arizona, announced the cancelation of their game due to Covid just a few hours after the league announced the scheduling of their game - yet another day in the life of the cluster-fluck that is the Pac-12!).  It's also unclear that Colorado will be allowed or able to find a non-con opponent, because the Pac-12 has stated that Colorado would be the back-up for SC.

I'm all in favor of giving people a break because this Covid situation is new and unpredictable, but this egg-on-face moment was foreseeable by any sentient being and entirely avoidable. It's the latest in a seemingly endless series of missteps and lazy thinking that has tanked the conference in the big revenue sports. 

For me, the faceplant GIF fully applies (and it's mesmerizing, by the way.)  It's high time for Larry Scott to pack up the tens of millions of dollars that he has stolen from the conference and move on.  In the highly unlikely case that he is renewed, the conference will truly deserve to be the laughingstock that it has already become.