09-12-2012, 11:20 AM
FarmBoy,
The bumped rivalry thing is a potential reality. It is all about available time slots. The conference DEFINITELY does not want the rivalry games to overlap each other. Take that as a given because the most valuable content the Pac-12 has to present the power of the conference are those rivalry games. Non-rivalry games wil be broadcasted simultaneously on different channels, but then the conference wants to give each rivalry its own time. Each Saturday then has three viable slots (12:30, 4, 7:30). So with 6 rivalry games, the games SHOULD be split easily across two Saturdays.
There are caveats though.
The Saturday 9 days after Thanksgiving is no longer an option because that is the Pac-12 championship weekend.
Notre Dame vs Stanford and Notre Dame vs USC takes up one of those 6 available end of year Saturday slots each year. So now we are down to 5 Saturday slots for 6 games.
The good news is that Arizona vs. Arizona State has been played on Fridays in the past, so 5 slots MIGHT be OK.
Finally, Stanford and UCB both kicked and screamed about playing on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. So either they are in the first group of 3 or they are moved. And that is the problem.
In years when Big Game is in Berkeley there is another complexity. SC must play UCLA in the first week because they play Notre Dame in the second week. So UCLA vs USC must occupy one of the three available first week slots.
Going forward it should be possible for the conference to get all 6 rivalry games in non-overlapping time slots in the last two weeks of the season, but it becomes critical for all of the teams to play nice to make sure the right 6 games (plus NDs games) can all fit. With Stanford and UCB not accepting the second week option the conference had two schools that were not playing nice. The catch though is that almost everyone wants the first weekend for their rivalry too. If any other rivalry games demand only pre-Thanksgiving weekend for their game, then it no longer fits. And at least one rivalry game needs to be bumped each year.
FWIW - Stanford has the most compelling post-Thanksgiving challenge in the conference, so that helps justify the stance. But it is still a stance that does not help the conference schedule.
Thanks to ND, Big Game will be on that first weekend in Stanford years. The challenge will remain with the Berkeley years. If every other conference team plays nice, then Big Game will be fine in that week before Thanksgiving. If not, then the conference needs to leave open the possibility that rivalry games get bumped into October.
The bumped rivalry thing is a potential reality. It is all about available time slots. The conference DEFINITELY does not want the rivalry games to overlap each other. Take that as a given because the most valuable content the Pac-12 has to present the power of the conference are those rivalry games. Non-rivalry games wil be broadcasted simultaneously on different channels, but then the conference wants to give each rivalry its own time. Each Saturday then has three viable slots (12:30, 4, 7:30). So with 6 rivalry games, the games SHOULD be split easily across two Saturdays.
There are caveats though.
The Saturday 9 days after Thanksgiving is no longer an option because that is the Pac-12 championship weekend.
Notre Dame vs Stanford and Notre Dame vs USC takes up one of those 6 available end of year Saturday slots each year. So now we are down to 5 Saturday slots for 6 games.
The good news is that Arizona vs. Arizona State has been played on Fridays in the past, so 5 slots MIGHT be OK.
Finally, Stanford and UCB both kicked and screamed about playing on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. So either they are in the first group of 3 or they are moved. And that is the problem.
In years when Big Game is in Berkeley there is another complexity. SC must play UCLA in the first week because they play Notre Dame in the second week. So UCLA vs USC must occupy one of the three available first week slots.
Going forward it should be possible for the conference to get all 6 rivalry games in non-overlapping time slots in the last two weeks of the season, but it becomes critical for all of the teams to play nice to make sure the right 6 games (plus NDs games) can all fit. With Stanford and UCB not accepting the second week option the conference had two schools that were not playing nice. The catch though is that almost everyone wants the first weekend for their rivalry too. If any other rivalry games demand only pre-Thanksgiving weekend for their game, then it no longer fits. And at least one rivalry game needs to be bumped each year.
FWIW - Stanford has the most compelling post-Thanksgiving challenge in the conference, so that helps justify the stance. But it is still a stance that does not help the conference schedule.
Thanks to ND, Big Game will be on that first weekend in Stanford years. The challenge will remain with the Berkeley years. If every other conference team plays nice, then Big Game will be fine in that week before Thanksgiving. If not, then the conference needs to leave open the possibility that rivalry games get bumped into October.