College Football traditions are disintegrating.
In 2025 the Oregon Ducks will play Indiana, Minnesota, USC, Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers, and Wisconsin.
But not Oregon State.
Let's take a break from political competition for a day. More people care more about college football than about politics, at least at this point in the political season. Nine million people watched some part of the 2nd GOP debate. Eleven million people watched just two of the dozens of televised college football games last week. (FYI: Georgia beat Florida 43-20. Ohio State beat Wisconsin 24-10.)
Jack Mullen was a multi-sport letterman for the Medford High Black Tornados. In elementary and junior high he practiced high jumps with Dick Fosbury, who became the Gold Medalist who re-invented the high jump. As high school quarterback Mullen played alongside Bill Enyart, who became an All American fullback at Oregon State, then played for the Buffalo Bills. Jack Mullen follows sports and politics from his home in Washington, D.C.
Guest Post by Jack Mullen
Last Saturday a sad tear dropped in the eye on all fans and alumni of Pac-12 football. None of the teams that played classic games on October 29, mostly in front of capacity crowds in storied stadiums, will ever meet again as part of the Pac-12, the “Conference of Champions.” The Pac-12 served the nation the following games last weekend.
Oregon 34 - Utah 6
Quarterback Bo Nix quieted the sold-out Utah crowd with a Heisman worthy performance.
USC 50 – Cal 49
Fans from Southern California and the Bay area enjoyed the final game between these two schools. Strawberry Canyon in Berkeley may be the most perfect setting for a college football game in the country. Cal almost upset Mighty SC as the sun set over the Golden Gate.
UCLA 28 – Colorado 16
ABC prime time viewing hit the roof as the nation was treated to an early Rose Bowl treat. Coach “Prime Time” Deion Sanders’ took his Buffalos to LaLa Land against UCLA. UCLA’s defense never looked better in defeating the Buffalos.
Washington 42 – Stanford 33
A dropped Stanford pass in a perfectly designed play meant the #5-nationally-ranked Huskies avoided being upset down on Leland Stanford’s Farm.
Arizona State 38 – Washington State 27
One of the intriguing parts of the Pac-12 is the geographic settings and climatic diversity of the member institutions. Unfortunately, Pacific Northwest teams seem to die in a Bermuda-type Triangle in the Arizona desert. The Cougs should never have lost to the Sun Devils, but hey, such is life in the Pac-12.
Arizona 27 – Oregon State 24
A devastating defeat for the Beavers as they too got lost in that Arizona Bermuda Triangle, this time in Tucson. Oregon State fans dream that the Beavers finish strong and play in one of the New Year’s Day Six Bowls (Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl). Oregon State faces a 2024 season as a remaining member in the Pac-2.
What caused the demise of the Pac-12, leaving the Beavers and Cougars to fend for themselves?
Cause Number One: Inattentive college presidents.
The turnover of university presidents in the Pac-12 has been unusually high in the last few years. No doubt new presidents have a full plate and spend limited time on college athletics. Most felt secure that the Pac-12 commissioners, selected by previous presidents, were up to the job. Bad mistake.
Cause Number Two: Pac-12 Commissioners.
Unlike the Commissioners of the other Power Five Athletic Conferences, the last two Pac-12 commissioners came from non-football backgrounds. Larry Scott was an elitist whose only athletic background was with women’s professional tennis. If he attended a college football game at all, he’d fly to the stadium in his private plane and leave at halftime.
Scott’s successor, George Kliavkoff, had a strong media background, but dithered as he failed to keep the university presidents up to date with his negotiations with ESPN and various streaming services. The new and inexperienced university presidents seemed perplexed if and when they ever engaged.
Cause Number Three: TV Networks declining incomes.
Weekend football games are cash cows for television networks. While the NFL is the top product, college football is a close second.
Fox, CBS, NBC and ABC have gobbled up the two top conferences, the SEC and Big Ten, along with the ACC, to long-term contracts. ESPN was pretty much left to choose between the Big 12 and the Pac-10 (USC and UCLA had already left for the Big Ten) to round out its contracting of televising major college football.
Brett Yormark is a football man through and through and as commissioner of the Big 12, Yorkmark went on the airwaves and trashed George Kliavkoff for negotiating with streaming services like Apple to televise Pac-10 games. Kliavkoff pitched school presidents that streaming was the future for televising football which left ESPN wondering what was up. Yorkmark said the Big 12 would accept a $31.5 million offer from ESPN. Kliavkoff told his university president Apple could only offer $23 million per school.
Angrily, the university presidents, feeling far superior to the Big 12, overbid, some say at $50 million per school to ESPN. An insulted ESPN cut off negotiations with the Pac-10 conference.
The money grab that first started with USC and UCLA defecting to the Big Ten for $71 million per school, ended with Cal and Stanford accepting a measly $23 million from the ACC. The Big Ten offered Oregon and Washington $31 million to join, while the two Arizona schools with Utah and Colorado went to the Big 12 for $31 million per school. Meanwhile, Oregon State and Washington State are left in the wilderness. Aren’t we all.
Thanks, Jack, for explaining this. The Pac-12 brouhaha was such a mess and you’ve made it clear.
Can you even imagine what kind of Thanksgiving it would be without the Oregon/Oregon State game?