Don’t underestimate the politics in this. I’m sure Cal powers that be are pushing every angle to keep UCLA in the fold, especially with the PAC becoming a former shell of itself.
Chris if A&M didn’t know about UT going to the SEC, it means our Gov didn’t know either.
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I guarantee you atm knew about them coming in. Furthermore they knew for one reason. Lock up the Texas media market. What both did not know for that Bowlsby was going to invite us. That is a huge/mega sticking point for both. This is the last thing that they expected. Remember Fertitta put pressure on Bowlsby otherwise we were left in the cold again.
He did not get recalled. Actually won that race 62-38.
In CA you can literally get a recall on the ballot with 12 percent of the votes cast in the previous election. CA has like 20 million registered voters, and like 11 million voted in 2018, so they only needed 1.5 million to get a recall petition on the ballot.
If I am the Big 10, this is what I would target:
Expand to 24 with Stanford, Cal, Washington, Oregon, ND, Duke, UNC, Virginia.
West Pod
Four Cali schools + Wash/Ore
ACC Pod
Duke, UNC, Virginia, ND, Maryland, Rutgers
MW Pod
Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa
ME Pod
Michigan, Ohio St, Penn St, Mich St, Indiana, Purdue
Georgia Tech, Miami and Houston barely miss the cut and would remain the most attractive non-B1G TV markets along with DFW.
My only question is how do these mega conferences increase the eyeballs on the product? You have taken a regional sport built on historical rivalries and charm and turned it into the USFL. A minor league with no rules.
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The real issue for Newsome and many UCLA and UC alum is that they are uneasy being in a conference so centered in the Midwest. The problem is, their student base doesn’t care about football (or really, any sports) and so they just don’t have the base of support they need to support high-level college sports on their own, unless they cut other sports, like fencing, women’s volleyball, rowing, etc. In CA, that won’t fly.
This is a long term issue for all colleges, but especially on the West Coast. Remember, CA eliminated race based preferences in college admissions in the mid-1990’s. As a result, there has been a drop in the number of Whites and Blacks getting into the UC system. That is your main base of not only athletic support, but athletes. Many of those kids are now going out of state for school (i.e., UT, OR, AZ, TX, GA etc.), and many of those students are staying in those states after graduating. Add in the fact that CA’s pop is dropping with many middle class families leaving due to COL, and UCLA is going to have a very difficult time fielding competitive football teams without massive infusions of outside support to pay NIL. You will need a larger, more economically powerful conference to make that happen. So, that is the BIG.
This will have less of an impact on USC or Stanford, because they are private schools and are not impacted by the prohibition on race-based preferences at any level, at least for now.
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You summed it up. espn and FOX are creating an NFL minor league. This has been in play for a while now. This is clearly indicated by the media market slash historical program’s value. I wrote it a few times already but unfortunately I see a 32 schools college football on the horizon. Both media giants could care less about local rivalries. They do if it complements media regions.
We have seen the slow death of college football since 1984. Most of these schools operates in the red. Only a very few operates with a net revenue. At the same time the vast majority get our tax payers money through federal help.
Every school that are part of this espn/FOX ought to be audited. Let’s open the books and see how these schools are financing their sports program. Why should one penny of our tax money be given to them?
What made college football?
Local rivalries and family arguments when family members go to different schools. What WV students have anything in common with someone in Lubbock? Do ttech students have something in common with U of H? You betcha.
I think they are as well but why? No one in LA cares about midwest rivalries. The Old Oaken Bucket doesn’t mean anything to anybody in LA.
The late night time slot? Unless USC and UCLA are going to alternate home and on the road that means Minnesota v Nebraska will be playing at 10pm central tine and NO ONE on the west coast or east coast is going to watch.
This is another example of our society marching to dumbarse armageddon. Why? Because no one asks why anymore.
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Our society is on the race to bottom based on money, love of money is the root of much evil., Seeing it being played out before our very eyes in CFB. Destroying a regional sport as pointed out, based on rivalries…
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More like 20 million registered voters, but 30 million cast ballots.
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Let us not forget old Landslide Lyndon when it comes to stuffing the ballot box.
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No lie…Duval County delivered like Cook County, Illinois…
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Being born and raised in Cook County, I can agree with that statement.
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Didn’t one of Lyndon’s opponents kill himself with a shotgun…. Shooting himself 4 times.
If true, that was one tuff SOB !!
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This reminds me of the intern spelling the beans on the clintons…he allegedly committed suicide.
Power is like holding a wolf by it’s ears that’s trying to tear your throat out.
Saw this show last year. Tech, Baylor, TCU crying to the state to force UT to stay in the Big 12 while completely ignoring every other university in Texas. I do think that sh*t show helped us because those schools unknowingly laid out our case in front of the state legislature. If those Cali schools push harder and get a hearing like the Texas schools did, probably good news for San Diego St and maybe others.
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Speaking as someone who lived there for 25 years, California is a different planet. USC can do anything they want, but it’s the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA @ Los Angeles. Californians really care about UCLA basketball, and some have boatloads of money. There could be some legal issues there that UCLA may not want to deal with.
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As I’ve said if UCLA stays and Stanford goes that’s great for the Pac-10.
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