Everyone has chimed in on the mess surrounding the demise of the Pac-12 and I thought I would approach it from a Mountain West perspective.
It’s appearing more and more likely that Stanford and Cal will be moving on to the ACC, which leaves the once- vaunted conference down to the “Pac-2”: Oregon State and Washington State.
None of the options are especially great for these two schools. It appears that with nowhere better to go, they may have to go to the Mountain West.
Being a graduate of Fresno State, I love the Mountain West Conference, though it has a couple of weak schools athletically in the University of New Mexico and the University of Hawaii. Most of the other schools in the conference are pretty much the equal of Washington State and Oregon State, at least in football and men’s basketball, the two most high-profile sports. Trust me, the Cougs and Beavers wouldn’t waltz into that league and own it. They’d be among the top teams, but they wouldn’t own it.
Keep in mind, the Mountain West’s San Diego State was in the NCAA men’s basketball championship game last year.
The Mountain West itself has nearly cracked up the past couple of years with Boise State, San Diego State and Fresno State all clamoring to be in a bigger conference. There was some thought that the three schools might move into the Pac-12 after UCLA and USC left, but that dream is over now. Now the conference would love to have WSU and OSU and has also been in talks to add UTEP and UT-San Antonio. And there’s always Gonzaga out there lurking for basketball and other non-football sports.
I’m a big fan of both the Cougars and the Beavers because they play in small cities and always get overshadowed by Washington and Oregon. I lived in Corvallis for a year in the 1990s and saw first-hand how insufferable the Ducks fans can be toward the Beavers.
It would be a tough pill for the Cougars and Beavers to swallow, but right now I’m not seeing a better option. The “Power Four” conferences — the Big 10, the Big 12, the ACC and the SEC — aren’t knocking on the door. They’re full at the moment.
On the plus side, it’s a fun, wild conference with some pretty powerful men’s basketball and football teams, though it’s definitely a big notch below the Power Four. It is also the best of the “Group of Five” conferences, especially now with Central Florida, Houston and Cincinnati all moving to the Big 12.
It has intense rivalries, especially the three-way hatefest between Fresno State, Boise State and San Diego State.
The Mountain West has a $270 million media rights deal with Fox Sports and CBS Sports. I can catch all the Fresno State football games on either FS1, CBS or the CBS Sports Network. That deal is far below the billions being thrown at the Big 10 and SEC, but somehow still better than the risky, subscription-dependent Apple-TV deal the Pac-12 negotiated, which is what caused the conference to crack up to begin with. Schools get an annual payout of just $4 million, less than the $30 million-plus Washington and Oregon are going to get from the Big 10.
But, the deal only runs to 2026, when a vastly better media rights deal could be worked out with high-profile teams like WSU and OSU in the conference.
Other than never having to hear Bill Walton bellow, “Conference of champions!” ever again, it’s a bit sad to see the Pac-12 die.
Personally, I knew it was inevitable when I saw the details of the Apple-TV deal. When I first read the story about the deal, I actually said out loud, “The Pac-12 is done.” I was surprised it fell apart as quickly as it did. There has been a lot of mismanagement for at least a decade in the Pac-12 with a lousy conference TV network you can’t even get on satellite and not a single Pac-12 team winning an NCAA men’s basketball or football title in nearly 20 years.
Both schools have tough decisions awaiting them and I don’t envy them, and yes, the Mountain West will feel like a step down.
But, like the Rolling Stones said, you can’t always get what you want, Washington State and Oregon State. But if you try sometimes, well, you’ll find that you get what you need.
________
Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
