#pac14

[sportsminorityreport]

What if the PAC-2 play their cards right?

I want to talk about something really interesting. I have long believed there are 2 optimal and realistic paths for Oregon State and Washington State.

Many believe an offer from the ACC is reasonably likely. I do not (although I also didn't think UT would suddenly decide academics don't matter anymore and go join the big old southern dummy conference. Or that the PAC-12 would ACTUALLY implode and not figure out that Colorado was going to sink their conference. I mean jesus... I actually called their PR guy and laid it out for him step by step over about 40 minutes... pretty much exactly how it happened. But they were only set up to follower their internal group think... whatever...)

I think the two paths are partner with Memphis and carry in the apple of Big 12 commisoner Brett Yormark's eye ---- UCONN into the big 12 --- or build a slightly lesser version of the ACC out of a handful of AAC, MWC, and various 5G5 schools.

The PAC2 is sitting on $222M PAC dollars from the 10 PAC turncoats. They could afford to skip media payouts in the Big 12 for a cycle. As could Memphis. Fed Ex has already offered to foot the Big 12 media payouts years ago when they were bigger. This would allow Yormark to take Oregon State, Washington State, Memphis, and Uconn's media rights to ESPN and beg for enough to pay UConn SOMETHING.

On the positive side this potentially passes the sniff test for ESPN --- they currently don't have any schools in the PAC NW --- and ESPN will make a ton of money selling Big 12 basketball in NY at almost no money down. ESPN could use closing this deal as a way to shut down an unwanted push that could gut the ACC.

ESPN isn't spending now, because movies are broken and Disney can't turn on their Marvel and Star Wars engines yet.

Yormark wants to use that NYC gateway on his next TV deal. ESPN may feel they are "watering down" the Big 12 enough to offset that. But....

Do the 4 turncoats in the Big 12 want to vote in WSU and OSU? in some ways it could be said that each PAC turncoat school paid the last 2 $22M each. I could see Arizona specifically pushing to slam the breaks over that.

So that leaves expansion. I've written a lot here recently about what a Pac-2 driven expansion could look like. I think if they go to 14 it will be OK. If they go bigger, it will be better.

But what will it leave behind? A crushed MWC and a gutted AAC.

Now that might not mean anything to you but consider the fact they are talking about creating a g5 playoffs. That proposal suggests turning the G5 into giant g5 conference with regional divisions. Just flushing the old conferences.

Well that is out of the question with the MWC making 6.5M per school and the ACC almost $10M per school today.

But what if the Pac14+ happens?

What if you are dealing with the remaining MWC schools making $2.5M each and the AAC schools making $3M each....?

Suddenly the financial differences by conference are not that telling.

Suddenly the idea of flushing the current conference and having regional commissioner becomes more realistic. Now the commissioners would push back on this, but maybe it could be made to work. Incoming new AAC commissioner ---- shark tank private equity guy --- could pull dual duty. He could be a regional commish and in charge of upgrading the 10 strongest potential brands using private equity to increase their next tv deal.

image him helping Temple into a near-campus stadium. Imagine ECU with an expanded stadium. Imagine Liberty accelerating their push to become the evangelical Notre Dame. Imagine USF with and on campus stadium. Imagine UMass wiith a sensible 30K on campus stadium.

The Sun Belt commissioner could be tasked with pulling in the best FCS schools to upgrade the G5. Imagine South and Notth Dakota State, Montana, Montana State, Sacramento State, Cal Poly, and UC Davis, Villinova, Stony Brook, and historically Black colleges and Universities like Jackson State and Florida A&M moving up.

CUSA's commissioner could be tasked with telling schools they need to move down to the FCS because they lack the fan support. Sam Houston State. UL-Monroe, Eastern Michigan... a handful of schools.

They could set up to offer schools the opportunity to move from the FCS to the FBS and vice versa.

So many ideas that make some sense but were likely non-starters could now be legitimately considered.... if the PAC2 end up building a 14 or more member conference.

[sportsbypc]

PC’s PICKS: NCAA Week 1, Part 3

In a Week 3 tilt in 2017, San Diego State edged Stanford at home in a thriller, scoring a late touchdown for a 20-17 win after a delay for a power outage.

The win propelled San Diego State to a 10-3 season, falling only to Boise State, Fresno State, and upstart Army in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Hanging out with Coach Rocky Long at the Del Mar Fair!❤️🏈 • • •#GoAztecs#InRockyWeTrust#SDSUfootball#delmarfair pic.twitter.com/YUHulBIuoB

— SDSU Dance Team (@SDSUDanceTeam) June 23, 2018

PROGRAM TO WATCH: Already in his eighth year at San Diego State, head coach Rocky Long has made the Aztecs one of the most consistently-underrated programs on the west coast.

The Aztecs lost star running back Rashaad Penny, a first-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks, but return a third-year starter at quarterback in senior Christian Chapman, a strong, veteran offensive line and seven starters on defense.

San Diego State is poised to fight for the Mountain West crown again, but head coach Rocky Long's squad may not have enough firepower to upset Stanford this time around in a fair fight, particularly when the Cardinal have had all of the offseason to prepare for the Aztecs' troublesome 3-3-5 defense.

Stanford senior running back Bryce Love, the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2017, returns to lead the Cardinal.

Many around the program haven't been happy with the way David Shaw's Stanford teams have finished the past few years and the San Jose Mercury News believes he's on the hot seat.

I'm not sure that's accurate – the administration at Stanford's typically as conservative as its offense when it comes to coaches and allows a longer leash in all its sports in favor of consistent relative success. The Cardinal have only won fewer than nine games once (8 in 2014) since Shaw took the helm from Jim Harbaugh in 2011 and Shaw keeps Stanford in the national conversation time and time again.

To me, it's not hard to see Shaw's an elite coach and should honestly be in the NFL.

Sophomore K.J. Costello gets the call as Shaw's quarterback this season, coming off a campaign with a 59 percent completion percentage to go with his 14 touchdowns and 1,573 passing yards. He had split time Keller Chryst, a graduate transfer to Tennessee this past offseason who had come back from a knee injury sustained the season before.

Costello gets Stanford's top four receivers from a year ago all back to couple with Love coming out of the backfield behind Phil Steele's No. 4-rated offensive line. Pairing that with Stanford's systematic defense which returns six starters, the Cardinal and Love are expecting big things as they rightfully should in a winnable Pac-14.

In his own words. Why Wake Forest’s Bryce Love skipped the NFL draft to stay at #Stanford.https://t.co/beEGwIsfL8 pic.twitter.com/cyGseJzDY1

— Jessaca Giglio (@jessacagiglio) August 30, 2018

BACK AGAIN: North Carolina native Bryce Love is still hanging out at Stanford after the Heisman Trophy runner-up stuck around for another year rather than heading to the NFL.

“The sky’s the limit this year,” Love told the Associated Press. “We definitely have some experience. We have the weapons. It should be fun.”

Fourteen points tonight, however, is a lot for Stanford to cover in a game where Costello will be gaining his footing as the full-fledged starter and where he'll be limited due to the stingy 3-3-5 configuration of the Aztecs. That puts the onus on Love, and while he's undoubtedly capable, it's the opener and there's a lot riding on where Stanford could be long-term.

I'm not saying Love will be limited, but with Southern California already on the docket in Week 2, I don't anticipate he'll see more than 17 or 18 carries.

This is a roundabout way of saying San Diego State will keep it tight. Look for a Stanford win, but something along the lines of 24-17 or 33-23.

*****

Through last night, my picks have not yet posted a loss (Wake Forest and Tulane was a push after the Demon Deacons prevailed in overtime).

Overall, I'm 5-0-1 with LOCKS so far going 2-0.

Here's tonight's board for Week 1, Part 3.:

Syracuse*+ (-5.5) at Western Michigan

Army at Duke* (-13.5)

Utah State* at Michigan State (-23.5)

San Diego State at Stanford* (-14)

Western Kentucky* at Wisconsin (-35.5)

Colorado*+ (-7.5) at Colorado State

KEY:

*denotes pick versus the spread.

+denotes pick that is one of my LOCKS.

[bobculver-blog]

County Executive Bob Culver sits down with One on One

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SALISBURY, MD – Wicomico County Executive Bob Culver sits down with PAC14’s One on One with Greg Bassett to field many questions people have had about what he’s been doing while in office as well as some of the hotbed controversial topics of recent. In a candid interview, Executive Culver explains his stance on the Fire Station topic which has cause much division within the…