Ian Miller
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Should the Big 12 Conference just rename itself the Pac-7?
Just a few days ago, conference Commissioner Brett Yormark seemed to make a definitive statement that the conference would not expand further.
READ: BIG 12 COMMISSIONER DUMPS COLD WATER ON STANFORD AND CAL
Yormark essentially said that the conference had executed its vision for expansion and wasn’t interested in adding more. And yet on Saturday, a new report suggested that the door might not be shut for Stanford and Cal.
The ACC continues to drag its feet on adding the two Bay Area schools, despite their best efforts. And according to San Francisco Chronicle reporter Mike Silver, Yormark may pounce yet again.
Silver said the Big 12 has “surfaced as another potential landing spot,” in a scenario that would also see Oregon State and Washington State jump ship.
If that happens, seven of the former Pac-12 teams would have joined the Big-12 conference over the past months. Pretty wild.
Big 12 Conference Possibilities Highlight Absurdities Of Realignment
If this rumor comes to fruition, a majority of the former Pac-12 would move to the Big 12.
At that point, why not just…merge conferences.
West coast schools will now be spread out across the country, with absurd pairings like USC and Rutgers, Stanford and West Virginia or Cal and Florida State. Why not just merge the Pacific Conference with another one that has a competent media rights deal?
Instead we now have this unholy hybrid, with Cal and Stanford fighting for scraps and the Oregon and Washington schools separated despite decades of rivalry.
Every day seems to move college football closer to the prediction of Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham.
READ: KYLE WHITTINGHAM SHARES FASCINATING PREDICTION FOR FUTURE OF NCAA FOOTBALL
For better or for worse.
I kinda have mixed feelings about bringing in the remaining PACifist 4 schools, mainly because of Stanford and Cal Comma Berkeley and their arrogance in general. And I’m not 100 percent sold on raising the Big 12 to 20 schools at this rate (by the way, it’s *eight* former PACifist 12 schools who are making their way to the Big 12, not seven).
From a Big 12 perspective, Wazzou and Oregon State might bring more to the table than Stanford and Cal Comma Berkeley. The big question is how much ESPN/FOX are willing to pay to add the remaining PACifist 4 schools and if how much revenue the current Big 12 schools are willing to sacrifice to add the PACifist 4.
All that and culturally, Cal Communist Berkeley and CCP Stanford fit better with the private schools of the ACC. Can you imagine the first time Cal Communist Berkely or CCP Stanford travels to say, Lubbock, Morgantown or Manhattan? Talk about culture shock. Cal Communist Berkeley and CCP Stanford can go with SMU to the ACC, that fits better. Who cares about revenue those two schools (Cal Communist Berkeley and CCP Stanford) don’t bring much in the revenue sports. WASU or Oregon St would be the only two that should be considered for further expansion by the Big 12/14/16/18 or 20.
If you had the option of being governed by the current Big XII leadership or the current PAC-12 leadership, would you choose the former or a hybrid of the two?
Forget a ‘merger.’ This is a takeover.