Pac-12/Big 10/Big 12 Realignment

[Duck07]

Can you imagine if Kliavkoff came in day 1 and said that USC and UCLA needed a larger share of the revenue because they are in larger population centers? How would that have flown with Oregon fans?

Can you imagine if he came in on Day 1 with a clear plan in place that he presented to all 12 schools about how to boost their revenue for the next round of media rights so that USC wouldn't have felt the need to leave?

[Phalanx]

The L.A. schools had been threatening to leave for a few years before they actually pulled the trigger, so Kliavkoff at least knew it was on the table when he signed on.

Can you imagine if Kliavkoff came in day 1 and said that USC and UCLA needed a larger share of the revenue because they are in larger population centers? How would that have flown with Oregon fans?

Also, did that really happen? Can you link a source that there were serious threats by USC and UCLA to leave? If that was the case, why was everyone so shocked when it happened?

Joel Klatt used to openly talk about how USC and UCLA were threatening to leave on Colin Cowherd's show. I think the shocking part was them actually doing it, and joining the Big 10. I think Kliavkoff would have had to unevenly distribute revenue to keep them, and I agree, I don't think Oregon or the others would have gone for that.

I think moving to the Big 10 is an experiment, and we'll see how it works. Anyone who has been a college sports fan for any length of time has seen this jockeying around before. It's a bummer to break up the Pac, but I think good will come of it. Either USC will gain all the things they hope for and pave the way for further defections from Oregon and Washington, or the L.A. schools will fail and get taken down a few notches in terms of how they relate to other West Coast programs.

[DuckMastaFunk]

Can you imagine if Kliavkoff came in day 1 and said that USC and UCLA needed a larger share of the revenue because they are in larger population centers? How would that have flown with Oregon fans?

Can you imagine if he came in on Day 1 with a clear plan in place that he presented to all 12 schools about how to boost their revenue for the next round of media rights so that USC wouldn't have felt the need to leave?

Can you imagine if he came in day 1 with a plan to funnel all revenues into OXY stock then sell it ~ 1 year later for double the price?

I'm being facetious here, but what would that plan have been to keep USC and UCLA? They will get DOUBLE the revenue in the Big10. I agree, it would have been fantastic if GK had a plan to keep the LA schools, but short of knowing which stocks to buy that plan doesn't exist.

[DuckMastaFunk]

The L.A. schools had been threatening to leave for a few years before they actually pulled the trigger, so Kliavkoff at least knew it was on the table when he signed on.

Can you imagine if Kliavkoff came in day 1 and said that USC and UCLA needed a larger share of the revenue because they are in larger population centers? How would that have flown with Oregon fans?

Also, did that really happen? Can you link a source that there were serious threats by USC and UCLA to leave? If that was the case, why was everyone so shocked when it happened?

Joel Klatt used to openly talk about how USC and UCLA were threatening to leave on Colin Cowherd's show. I think the shocking part was them actually doing it, and joining the Big 10. I think Kliavkoff would have had to unevenly distribute revenue to keep them, and I agree, I don't think Oregon or the others would have gone for that.

I think moving to the Big 10 is an experiment, and we'll see how it works. Anyone who has been a college sports fan for any length of time has seen this jockeying around before. It's a bummer to break up the Pac, but I think good will come of it. Either USC will gain all the things they hope for and pave the way for further defections from Oregon and Washington, or the L.A. schools will fail and get taken down a few notches in terms of how they relate to other West Coast programs.

Sorry, bud, but I'm calling you out on this. Total BS.

Here is a clip of Joel Klatt talking about when he heard about the LA schools going to the Big10
https://youtu.be/PFbhULBUeDY?t=74
Spoiler :
Cowherd - "Were you (shocked by the news of USC and UCLA leaving)?"
Klatt - "Initially, yes, because I had not heard anything."

[Phalanx]

The L.A. schools had been threatening to leave for a few years before they actually pulled the trigger, so Kliavkoff at least knew it was on the table when he signed on.

Can you imagine if Kliavkoff came in day 1 and said that USC and UCLA needed a larger share of the revenue because they are in larger population centers? How would that have flown with Oregon fans?

Also, did that really happen? Can you link a source that there were serious threats by USC and UCLA to leave? If that was the case, why was everyone so shocked when it happened?

Joel Klatt used to openly talk about how USC and UCLA were threatening to leave on Colin Cowherd's show. I think the shocking part was them actually doing it, and joining the Big 10. I think Kliavkoff would have had to unevenly distribute revenue to keep them, and I agree, I don't think Oregon or the others would have gone for that.

I think moving to the Big 10 is an experiment, and we'll see how it works. Anyone who has been a college sports fan for any length of time has seen this jockeying around before. It's a bummer to break up the Pac, but I think good will come of it. Either USC will gain all the things they hope for and pave the way for further defections from Oregon and Washington, or the L.A. schools will fail and get taken down a few notches in terms of how they relate to other West Coast programs.

Sorry, bud, but I'm calling you out on this. Total BS.

Here is a clip of Joel Klatt talking about when he heard about the LA schools going to the Big10
https://youtu.be/PFbhULBUeDY?t=74
Spoiler :
Cowherd - "Were you (shocked by the news of USC and UCLA leaving)?"
Klatt - "Initially, yes, because I had not heard anything."

You are answering a point I didn't make, so I added an underline to help you. My point was that Kliavkoff could have known (and likely did know) that USC was threatening to leave the conference. I never said that he knew USC was planning to join the Big 10 in the summer of 2022, etc. The threat was not surprising to anyone, the shock was in carrying out the threat. Even if someone knew of the threat, they would still be surprised that it was actually happening. That's why both Cowherd and Klatt are 'surprised, but not surprised' in the clip you posted.

[DuckMastaFunk]

The L.A. schools had been threatening to leave for a few years before they actually pulled the trigger, so Kliavkoff at least knew it was on the table when he signed on.

Can you imagine if Kliavkoff came in day 1 and said that USC and UCLA needed a larger share of the revenue because they are in larger population centers? How would that have flown with Oregon fans?

Also, did that really happen? Can you link a source that there were serious threats by USC and UCLA to leave? If that was the case, why was everyone so shocked when it happened?

Joel Klatt used to openly talk about how USC and UCLA were threatening to leave on Colin Cowherd's show. I think the shocking part was them actually doing it, and joining the Big 10. I think Kliavkoff would have had to unevenly distribute revenue to keep them, and I agree, I don't think Oregon or the others would have gone for that.

I think moving to the Big 10 is an experiment, and we'll see how it works. Anyone who has been a college sports fan for any length of time has seen this jockeying around before. It's a bummer to break up the Pac, but I think good will come of it. Either USC will gain all the things they hope for and pave the way for further defections from Oregon and Washington, or the L.A. schools will fail and get taken down a few notches in terms of how they relate to other West Coast programs.

Sorry, bud, but I'm calling you out on this. Total BS.

Here is a clip of Joel Klatt talking about when he heard about the LA schools going to the Big10
https://youtu.be/PFbhULBUeDY?t=74
Spoiler :
Cowherd - "Were you (shocked by the news of USC and UCLA leaving)?"
Klatt - "Initially, yes, because I had not heard anything."

You are answering a point I didn't make, so I added an underline to help you. My point was that Kliavkoff could have known (and likely did know) that USC was threatening to leave the conference. I never said that he knew USC was planning to join the Big 10 in the summer of 2022, etc. The threat was not surprising to anyone, the shock was in carrying out the threat. Even if someone knew of the threat, they would still be surprised that it was actually happening. That's why both Cowherd and Klatt are 'surprised, but not surprised' in the clip you posted.

Dude, you're not right on this one. Let me do a play-by-play for you.

You: The L.A. schools had been threatening to leave for a few years... Kliavkoff at least knew it was on the table when he signed on
Me: Did that really happen? Can you link a source...?
You: Joel Klatt used to openly talk about how USC and UCLA were threatening to leave on Colin Cowherd's show.
Me. (Provides evidence from said show that completely disproves your claim.)
You: You are answering a point I didn't make... (You then underline an ancillary point that only makes sense if your original argument was valid). I never said that he knew USC was planning to join the Big 10... (please refer to line 1)

You probably just misremembered the Klatt thing. No worries though - we all make mistakes. There was an incident with an assistant coach that I got wrong a few months back and someone on the board pointed it out to me. It was a little embarrassing, but I guess it happens to everyone. I appreciate your contributions to the board and enjoy your posts. No hard feelings & let's move on.

[Phalanx]

I don't care if I am right or not, but it's just a fact that USC was threatening to leave the conference if they didn't see an improvement, and Klatt did bring that up on Cowherd's show well in advance of USC actually leaving. He was not the only one talking about it though. Lots of articles from that time were speculating about whether USC would leave or not. Recall that Oklahoma and Texas had just announced they were leaving for the SEC, and there was a lot of talk about conference restructuring anyway.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... nce-again/

That leaves USC. The Trojans have options. USC has one of the most recognizable brands in sports. It resides in the nation's second-biggest television market. It possesses desirable academics and athletics. It would likely enhance any conference's media rights contract.

USC could remain in the Pac-12, strike out on its own as an independent or join another league -- with or without partners from the Pac-12.

"We're listening [to what's going on elsewhere]," a high-profile USC official told CBS Sports. "We're just trying to listen and learn like everybody else."

Clearly, that's not a firm commitment that USC is staying put. But why would any school with options declare its loyalty so early? Look at the windfall run into by Texas and Oklahoma.

The remark from that USC official highlights Kliavkoff's immediate focus as a new round of realignment begins: secure the conference by securing USC first.

I quoted this one because it more or less depicts the posture USC was taking publicly leading up to Kliavkoff's hire. Here are some others:

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2021/7/3 ... ndependent

https://insideusc.blog/2020/02/26/morni ... he-pac-12/

https://extrapoints.substack.com/p/coul ... ve-the-pac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qReWTxEQ7Y (start around 3:50)

Now granted, other than Bohn's infamous quote about all options being on the table, these articles don't say USC was overtly threatening to leave, they were just signaling that they were considering it among their options (or 'veiled threats' as the insideUSC author put it). I happen to read a lot of USC fans (boosters) and they were a little more dogmatic about leaving. I don't know that USC had the idea to go to the Big 10 at that time, but they were definitely making demands, and Kliavkoff definitely saw appeasing USC as among his top priorities going into the job, which was my point.

Anyway, I didn't mean for that to turn into a big argument, and I see you changed the tenor of your post while I was writing, so maybe just take this for whatever it is worth.

[DuckzRule]

Nothing to do with us, but apparently the Big 12 will let OU and Texas leave one year earlier to the SEC, the scary part is that the Big 12's commissioner will aggresively pursue expansion according to this reporter, the Four Corners schools are expected to be the chosen ones, but I've heard people saying that us and Washington are dark-horse candidates, especially if we can't join the Big Ten.

https://twitter.com/RossDellenger/statu ... 5205104640

[squintsdd]

Nothing to do with us, but apparently the Big 12 will let OU and Texas leave one year earlier to the SEC, the scary part is that the Big 12's commissioner will aggresively pursue expansion according to this reporter, the Four Corners schools are expected to be the chosen ones, but I've heard people saying that us and Washington are dark-horse candidates, especially if we can't join the Big Ten.

https://twitter.com/RossDellenger/statu ... 5205104640

Geographically speaking those schools make sense, but not if they want to take in more viewers. I seriously doubt the 4 corner schools are their top targets if they're looking to poach the pac, especially since they're losing millions of viewers with Texas and Oklahoma leaving

[bdkipe]

What’s fascinating to me and also just makes me SMH:

FACTS: Oregon is consistently proven to be one of the largest drawing brands in College Football in terms of the all-important TV broadcast ratings. We have also consistently performed in other outlying & minor areas like road attendance at all major sports, the “O” as a recognized marketing icon/identity among consumers, overall athletic innovation, experience in staging huge events with USTAF, etc.

- YET: We hear from “experts” on TV deals that we just don’t bring enough “TV market size” to matter to the schools that make up the B1G or SEC.

- THEN: We as Duck fans counter with “oh yeah, the total TV households in the entire state of Oklahoma is massive right?”

- BUT THEN: We hear crickets followed by “well, but Oklahoma is an ‘iconic brand’…”

- OKAY SO: We point back to the facts that bear out our TV numbers & brand imaging (see first paragraph)

Rinse. Repeat. Sigh.

My own feeling, right or wrong, is that the old money/blue bloods will always view Oregon as a lurking threat and do whatever they can to keep us from sharing in their pie because of the supposed advantages they all think we possess thanks to Uncle Phil and ye olde Swoosh.

[StevensTechU]

My own feeling, right or wrong, is that the old money/blue bloods will always view Oregon as a lurking threat and do whatever they can to keep us from sharing in their pie because of the supposed advantages they all think we possess thanks to Uncle Phil and ye olde Swoosh.

I think that really is a good part of it. The Southeastern Conference doesn't need Oregon - they have so many eyeballs, they're set. And then to your point, the B1G West would much rather not get their asses handed to them regularly. If you're Minnesota, Iowa, etc. why would you want Oregon in your conference? It might make sense for the B1G if you're the commissioner (another elite brand, wider market, a true competitor to the Southeastern Conference), but it doesn't make sense for all the individual ADs and presidents (travel costs, competitive disadvantage).

[OregonFan4Life]

What’s fascinating to me and also just makes me SMH:

FACTS: Oregon is consistently proven to be one of the largest drawing brands in College Football in terms of the all-important TV broadcast ratings. We have also consistently performed in other outlying & minor areas like road attendance at all major sports, the “O” as a recognized marketing icon/identity among consumers, overall athletic innovation, experience in staging huge events with USTAF, etc.

- YET: We hear from “experts” on TV deals that we just don’t bring enough “TV market size” to matter to the schools that make up the B1G or SEC.

- THEN: We as Duck fans counter with “oh yeah, the total TV households in the entire state of Oklahoma is massive right?”

- BUT THEN: We hear crickets followed by “well, but Oklahoma is an ‘iconic brand’…”

- OKAY SO: We point back to the facts that bear out our TV numbers & brand imaging (see first paragraph)

Rinse. Repeat. Sigh.

My own feeling, right or wrong, is that the old money/blue bloods will always view Oregon as a lurking threat and do whatever they can to keep us from sharing in their pie because of the supposed advantages they all think we possess thanks to Uncle Phil and ye olde Swoosh.

I think the B1G will be in for a surprise at how little USC and UCLA does for their conference views. They’ll have a load of 9:00 AM games and nobody in LA is watching 9:00 AM games, especially if it’s UCLA vs Northwestern. To me this comes down to OSU, Michigan, and PSU wanting more exposure to LA recruits so they can poach them. After Caleb Williams goes pro, I don’t see USC ever getting close to sniffing the playoffs, UCLA will consistently have 4-6 win season and USC will have 6-8 wins.

At this point the commissioners of the Big-12 and ACC and Kliavkoff need to stop being stupid with this expansion, don’t bring in any more deadweight than we already have, and create annual matchups that will bring in viewership. Oregon vs Clemson will bring in a lot more views than USC or UCLA vs anyone in the B1G. The PAC doesn’t need the Houston market, they need big brand teams playing each other.

[duck92]

How long is the USC/UCLA Big 10 agreement for? My rose colored glasses scenario-is that after a few years, they decide the money isn't worth all the disruptions in scheduling and class disruptions. It's very easy to see how these things benefit Football and Men's basketball, very difficult to see how Lacrosse and Baseball benefit.

[Alan]

Conzano had a segment on his show a couple of days ago, I only scanned the last few pages to see if this has completed covered so forgive me if it was. In short he listed his top four additions to the PAC 12. He called it a no brainer, his first was San Jose St. SJS is already a mid leve pac 12 team with a huge TV revenue in the San Jose and SF.. second and third we’re Rice and SMU, brings us the Houston TV market and gives the PAC a bigger footprint in Texas recruiting. Fourth and he sounded wishy washy on this but it was UNLV. You have Vegas and surrounding area,TV and it is the glamour of Vegas bring in recruits helpin the PAC. I agree with some or a lot of it because the PAC simply needs to make a move and quit dragging ass.

[StevensTechU]

I think the focus on metros instead of fanbase/interest level is completely asinine.

Texas A&M draws more eyeballs than Houston - duh.