2022 conference realignment (7/6 rumors: Big 12 to add 4-6 Pac-12 teams?)

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I am going to become the Joker

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Who would leave the Conference of Champions to play in a truck stop conference?

West Lafayette? East Lansing? Not even real Lafayette and Lansing?

College Park? State College? Please, how about a college that is part of civilization and plays in a real city, caring about the community around them.

Twin Cities? Because one isn't big enough to have their own team?

Northwestern will always be living in the shadow of Washington and Washington State. I've spent a lot of time in the Northwest, and I've never met a Northwestern fan.

I'd give the others a chance if they weren't surrounded by 5 miles of cornstalks. Now I know what it's like to sit behind me at a concert.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

The real question is - what happens to the Rose Bowl? I mean, you could technically keep the conference tie-ins, but it doesn't make sense when the two sexiest brands in the Pac-12 join the other conference. I guess this might make the purists (myself included) let the Rose Bowl go to become just another CFP bowl game?

The Rose Bowl becomes the Big Ten championship game. Oregon and Washington will get accepted shortly, and no one will care what Utah* or Stanford has to say about it

What even is a 20 team conference? That's just a sports league. You may as well go 24 teams with 4 divisions and semifinals at that point. You'll literally never play other teams in your league, even in non-revenue sports.

Seems like we are headed towards a duopoly led by competing television networks putting their best teams head-to-head in a title like the American League and National League circa 1900. Everyone will have to choose an allegiance. Really depressing stuff. I was in denial that it wouldn't come to this.


*Sounds like I made a smart investment in a Utah 2021 Rose Bowl vintage shirt. Will be vintage very soon!

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

UCF to the ACC is 100 percent ridiculous. West Virginia and Cincinnati borderline ridiculous. The conference has academic standards that it isn't going to throw out the window without good reason. The Grant of Rights is all they need to survive.

The whole point of the Pac-12 exodus appears to get away from Oregon State and Washington State which are money holes adding little value. The four mountain schools would be smart to switch to the current look Big XII (Iowa State and Kansas State are only marginally better dregs, but the former has been a contender despite it's stature with a few more fans.) The big sell is that the conference has 3.5 serious contenders plus BYU/Utah (hesitant to call UCF or Iowa State a contender long-term).


Hard to imagine Berkeley sharing a conference with BYU. I think they'd de-emphasize sports sooner. Big Ten or bust for them - bust being the Pac-12/MWC merger that excludes SJSU, Wyoming and maybe 1-2 others. Oregon State and Washington State become more like the Utah State program nationally, though perhaps not as good immediately. That's all they deserve to be.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Hard to imagine Berkeley sharing a conference with BYU. I think they'd de-emphasize sports sooner. Big Ten or bust for them - bust being the Pac-12/MWC merger that excludes SJSU, Wyoming and maybe 1-2 others. Oregon State and Washington State become more like the Utah State program nationally, though perhaps not as good immediately. That's all they deserve to be.

A rump PAC-3 with Cal, WSU, and OSU would still probably have their choice of MWC schools, but I don't think they would immediately grab more than 6, just because the others aren't really ready for a PAC call up. Wyo and USU don't have the market, Nevada and SJSU don't have the support or facilities, and Hawaii and New Mexico have potential but have had recent issues with support/facilities/success that would probably keep them out at first, plus travel issues. I guess that would leave your new PAC-9:

California
Washington St.
Oregon St.
Boise St.
San Diego St.
Fresno St.
UNLV
Colorado St.
Air Force

As a Fresno St. fan I'd love to see it, despite knowing that there are huge destabilizing forces within the conference that would demand constant concessions and look to depart immediately, and it's not just Boise this time.

Hawaii is land grant university with a fine football tradition that is just totally screwed by travel issues.

It's mostly the lack of a stadium these days, otherwise they'd be a frontrunner.