07-02-2022, 09:04 AM
It is troubling Stanford has put out no statement about USCLA leaving the Pac.
Anyway, the chessboard at least in part, appears to be:
* The Big Ten is doing nothing more until Notre Dame decides if it will join the Big Ten or not. I read Notre Dame has to pay the ACC $120M to get out of its ACC membership agreement. It might make more sense in the long run to bolt, but writing a check for $120 million to leave the ACC probably is not an easy decision to make.
* Given Clemson and Florida State are now banging on the SEC's door and Miami, maybe UNC won't be far behind, that decision probably gets a lot less difficult for ND, no matter how painful it is in the near term and how badly they don't want to join a conference.
* Oregon & Washington must be in same conference as OSU and WSU, per their state governments.
* Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and ASU all seem like natural fits for the Big 12, so I'd be concerned the Big 12 will poach those schools, leaving the Pac with 6 members, but it's also possible the Big XII could move on all the remaining Pac schools too.
* Cal and Stanford could balk at playing in a conference with Baylor and TCU.
* It seems logical USCLA would want to get Cal and Stanford in the Big Ten if at all possible, to mitigate travel and preserve the north/south dynamic they've always had.
* I read on the Cal board that the UC Regents may see UCLA going to the Big Ten as a means to get the money to pay off Ca's stadium debt that the regents are responsible for if Cal can't pay. I don't know how this factors into conference alignment, but it is a consideration for UC.
* Stanford probably has the most attractive profile of any other remaining Pac team for the Big Ten given Oregon and Washington's "poison pills."
Personally, the Pac will be dead to me if any of Boise, SDSU, Fresno, SJS, Nevada, UNLV, or BYU are in the same conference with Stanford.
Anyway, the chessboard at least in part, appears to be:
* The Big Ten is doing nothing more until Notre Dame decides if it will join the Big Ten or not. I read Notre Dame has to pay the ACC $120M to get out of its ACC membership agreement. It might make more sense in the long run to bolt, but writing a check for $120 million to leave the ACC probably is not an easy decision to make.
* Given Clemson and Florida State are now banging on the SEC's door and Miami, maybe UNC won't be far behind, that decision probably gets a lot less difficult for ND, no matter how painful it is in the near term and how badly they don't want to join a conference.
* Oregon & Washington must be in same conference as OSU and WSU, per their state governments.
* Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and ASU all seem like natural fits for the Big 12, so I'd be concerned the Big 12 will poach those schools, leaving the Pac with 6 members, but it's also possible the Big XII could move on all the remaining Pac schools too.
* Cal and Stanford could balk at playing in a conference with Baylor and TCU.
* It seems logical USCLA would want to get Cal and Stanford in the Big Ten if at all possible, to mitigate travel and preserve the north/south dynamic they've always had.
* I read on the Cal board that the UC Regents may see UCLA going to the Big Ten as a means to get the money to pay off Ca's stadium debt that the regents are responsible for if Cal can't pay. I don't know how this factors into conference alignment, but it is a consideration for UC.
* Stanford probably has the most attractive profile of any other remaining Pac team for the Big Ten given Oregon and Washington's "poison pills."
Personally, the Pac will be dead to me if any of Boise, SDSU, Fresno, SJS, Nevada, UNLV, or BYU are in the same conference with Stanford.