The Pac-12 Falls Off a Cliff

 

Written By: Sage Rubin, of Swish Tribune

Nine days ago Colorado delivered the Pac-12 a crushing blow by their board of trustees voting to depart the Pac for the Big 12 and while Colorado isn’t new to the Big 12 as over a decade ago they left the Big 12 for the pac, this time the conference is filled with completely different teams than there were in 2011. 

While shifting conferences is very much a big deal, this comes as no surprise to many because of the Pac-12’s ongoing negotiations with media rights. Starting last year, the Pac-12’s viability was questioned when USC and UCLA made the shocking move to the Big Ten. This movement couldn’t have happened at a worse time because the Pac was just about to begin negotiations with the networks. Losing the two biggest brands in the conference led many to wonder who is next and we just found out a year later.

For Colorado, this has been a program altering offseason in which the program had just introduced NFL hall of famer, Deion Sanders as their new head coach, sold out their spring game for the first time in program history, and made a move to return to their old conference that will allow them to get a more stable tv deal. 

On the other hand, for the Pac-12 this most likely marks the end of the road for the conference as Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Arizona State are all looking for a way out of the PAC and will more likely than not find a way out. It’s crazy to believe that just 10 years ago the Pac-12 had an opportunity to bring Texas, one of if not the biggest football brands in the country, to the conference but decided not to at the last minute. Maybe if they got Texas then maybe the Big 12 would’ve fallen apart and the SEC wouldn’t be the juggernaut it is today or even the Big Ten doesn’t get Maryland or Rutgers in expansion. 

Overall, it is clear that while the Big 12 got a huge victory in the world of realignment, but the bigger story is how the Pac-12 seemingly once had the college football world in their hands but let it all go and fell to mediocrity after poor decisions after another. I think this will be a good lesson to conferences in the future that sometimes it’s worth taking a leap of faith when in the short term it may not seem like a good idea, but long term it could pan out.