[CTcard]

I can’t fault much of your analysis but it leads to the conclusion that we PAC 12 members are just screwed 

Well, if your deepest desire is to see Pac 12 football more popular, generating more revenue, and on more mid-day Saturday eastern time telecasts than the SEC and Big Ten, then yeah you are screwed. 

Fortunately that is not definitive for performance, and the Pac 12 is on relatively even footing with the ACC and Big 12. 

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I don't like Larry Scott either, but agree with 2006alum that some of the complaints here are off-base. 

First I defer to 2006alum's post on popularity/size of the fan base and thus the basic requirement for making money. 

As far as I know the conferences did not themselves mount Heesman campaigns for Griffin, Mayfield, Newton, Henry or Ingram, just like the Pac 12 did not do so for Mariota. Seems to me conferences are not well placed to do this, and they would face serious internal dissension if they chose one conference player to promote over another. 

Getting into the playoff (and the BCS title game previously) has relatively little to do with publicity efforts, and a lot to do with lucking out with a conference champ with one or fewer losses. There has never been a two-loss team in the playoff. There has never been a one-loss Pac 12 champ who has missed the playoff. The one loss teams that have had some claim to "missing out" include TCU and Baylor in 2014 … and just maybe Wisconsin in 2017. 

And, the basic decision to screw the actual fans showing up in favor of TV money came from the conference presidents, not Larry Scott. Scott just carried it out.

[CTcard]

I can’t fault much of your analysis but it leads to the conclusion that we PAC 12 members are just screwed 

Well, if your deepest desire is to see Pac 12 football more popular, generating more revenue, and on more mid-day Saturday eastern time telecasts than the SEC and Big Ten, then yeah you are screwed. 

Fortunately that is not definitive for performance, and the Pac 12 is on relatively even footing with the ACC and Big 12. 

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I don't like Larry Scott either, but agree with 2006alum that some of the complaints here are off-base. 

First I defer to 2006alum's post on popularity/size of the fan base and thus the basic requirement for making money. 

As far as I know the conferences did not themselves mount Heesman campaigns for Griffin, Mayfield, Newton, Henry or Ingram, just like the Pac 12 did not do so for Mariota. Seems to me conferences are not well placed to do this, and they would face serious internal dissension if they chose one conference player to promote over another. 

Getting into the playoff (and the BCS title game previously) has relatively little to do with publicity efforts, and a lot to do with lucking out with a conference champ with one or fewer losses. There has never been a two-loss team in the playoff. There has never been a one-loss Pac 12 champ who has missed the playoff. The one loss teams that have had some claim to "missing out" include TCU and Baylor in 2014 … and just maybe Wisconsin in 2017. 

And, the basic decision to screw the actual fans showing up in favor of TV money came from the conference presidents, not Larry Scott. Scott just carried it out.