Could the Mountain West and Pac-12 merge into a single, 16-team conference?

[ZooCougar]

Assisted access <<

-> One option is an old-fashioned corporate takeover, where one league raids the other. The remnants of the Pac-12 — Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State — could play the prestige card and restock from the cream of the Mountain West and American Athletic Conference. Or the Mountain West, being the larger and more stable entity, could simply swallow the Pac-12 leftovers.

Those scenarios come with drawbacks, though. There isn’t enough financial upside for Mountain West schools to each pay an estimated $34 million exit fee to depart by 2024. And abandoning the Pac-12 could leave behind tens of millions of dollars in College Football Playoff and NCAA Tournament distributions, along with a seat at the table of college sports’ powerbrokers as an “autonomous five” — aka Power 5 — conference.

The other option, which multiple Mountain West sources said is gaining traction, is more merger than acquisition. You dissolve the Mountain West in name only to eliminate exit fees, then move most or all members (and their NCAA Tournament units) into the Pac-12 shell so you can retain its name and power conference status. Then entice Gonzaga to join as a non-football affiliate to further enhance an already solid collection of men’s basketball programs.

Sources said several athletic directors and presidents from both conferences discussed the idea on a preliminary level Saturday. More substantive talks are expected Monday. <-

That’s the smartest play.

 

[noeynox]

They take all the MWC teams into the PAC then there is no one to pay exit fees to no?

 

[Rufus]

The smart move is to keep the PAC-12 name. That way, the schools continue to receive their NCAA unit payouts. The PAC-12 will become the top Group of 5 conference. If not a full-on merger with the Mountain West, we can expect the top MW schools to join eventually. The top remaining AAC teams will also likely join. Not sure if Stanford is interested in palling around with some of these schools, but it might be all they can do unless they decide to go independent in football and join the WCC in most other sports. Stanford will win the conference title in most every sport no matter which conference it joins.

 

[uchusky32]

They take all the MWC teams into the PAC then there is no one to pay exit fees to no?

If I'm the commissioner of the MWC. I'm holding out for a lump sum paid to...me.

 

[Rufus]

If I'm the commissioner of the MWC. I'm holding out for a lump sum paid to...me.

My guess is she will be the commissioner if there is a merger. No way GK is sticking around. He will leave college athletics as quickly as he arrived while going down in the lores of history as one of the most inept commissioners of all-time.

 

[Vowelguy]

They take all the MWC teams into the PAC then there is no one to pay exit fees to no?

Yes but then you get a lot of dead weight. They may have no choice, but preferred option would be to get enough teams to dissolve the MW but no more.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

what if the best of the remaining schools nationwide merge and get okay but not perfect tv deal. if uconn has no home for football we may want to consider.

 

[Husky92]

what if the best of the remaining schools nationwide merge and get okay but not perfect tv deal. if uconn has no home for football we may want to consider.

I asked this in another thread. Seems logical to me. If there are enough “leftovers” can’t we get a deal that’s better than we have even if not up to BIG standards?

 

[LoyalFanCT]

I asked this in another thread. Seems logical to me. If there are enough “leftovers” can’t we get a deal that’s better than we have even if not up to BIG standards?

It also can be added to when the ACC implodes.

 

[bendm]

https://www.si.com/college/2023/08/06/potential-power-five-exclusion-stanford-cal-team-usa-olympicsPotential Power Five Exclusion of Stanford, Cal Is a Bad Sign for Team USA’s Olympic Prospects

 

[WestHartHusk]

I’m personally watching Wazzu. They got torched by a fellow state U and has basically no hope going forward. They have nothing to lose.

 

[bendm]

9 of the 12 schools need to leave to dissolve the Mtn West so as not to pay exit fees. might as well take em all at the point unless the PAC 4 want to screw over Hawaii, San Jose St, and Utah St like they just got screwed over.

 

[metsfan2323]

9 of the 12 schools need to leave to dissolve the Mtn West so as not to pay exit fees. might as well take em all at the point unless the PAC 4 want to screw over Hawaii, San Jose St, and Utah St like they just got screwed over.

If true then you have laid out the most probable scenario, get nine teams to move in unison.

 

[How Sway?!]

The four remaining PAC 12 schools should invite the top 6 WCC schools and SDSU plus Fresno State. Makes the most sense for all Olympic sports.

For football, send football only offers to UConn, UMass and Army. Solves the lack of visibility in the east coast and limits crazy travel to one sport.

This of course is half in jest.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Carnac]

They take all the MWC teams into the PAC then there is no one to pay exit fees to no?

That's fine if you take the MW commissioner along. The PAC 12 commissioner has got to go.

 

[Carnac]

9 of the 12 schools need to leave to dissolve the Mtn West so as not to pay exit fees. might as well take em all at the point unless the PAC 4 want to screw over Hawaii, San Jose St, and Utah St like they just got screwed over.

I see it the other way. Allow the 4 remaining PAC schools to merge into the MW. The MW is not in trouble, They don't need those "orphans." What's left of the PAC has zero bargaining power and an inept commissioner. The MW conference MUST remain united and firm on this merger possibility. Let the PAC come groveling to you, not the other way around.

 

[Carnac]

The four remaining PAC 12 schools should invite the top 6 WCC schools and SDSU plus Fresno State. Makes the most sense for all Olympic sports.

For football, send football only offers to UConn, UMass and Army. Solves the lack of visibility in the east coast and limits crazy travel to one sport.

This of course is half in jest.

Yeah....I was laughing before I finished reading the first sentence.

 

[bendm]

I see it the other way. Allow the 4 remaining PAC schools to merge into the MW. The MW is not in trouble, They don't need those "orphans." What's left of the PAC has zero bargaining power and an inept commissioner. The MW conference MUST remain united and firm on this merger possibility. Let the PAC come groveling to you, not the other way around.

philospohically i agree, but the OP stated "abandoning the Pac-12 could leave behind tens of millions of dollars in College Football Playoff and NCAA Tournament distributions, along with a seat at the table of college sports’ powerbrokers as an “autonomous five” — aka Power 5 — conference." I disagree with the last part, whether you call it the PAC or MW shouldnt matter theyd be the 5th best conference regardless, but leaving all that money on the table is a legit consideration

 

[Mots010]

This is really sad for Stanford. Can’t wait for the Cardinal to play colorado state on the cw on a Tuesday. Ugh.

Fwiw, this is the equivalent to the acc taking James Madison and app state.

As a Uconn fan, it's been a while since we've seen schools get dumped on our island of conference purgatory.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

He gets it.

 

[Vowelguy]

WY needs to be out there advocating for status quo, because if anyone gets dropped it’s gonna be them.

But it’s short sighted to say PAC 2.0 is not a P5. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t, but they should at least argue like crazy that it is. With Boise and a couple others, there are teams that could be respectable in the CFP. There’s no reason to voluntarily give up their seat — let the others have take it away.

 

[huskymedic]

->An initiative led by San Diego State to essentially create a new conference that would have sought "Power Five" designation in the aftermath of radical conference realignment failed this week, sources tell CBS Sports.

SDSU president Adela de la Torre was leading a push to assemble what would have amounted to a breakaway of the best schools from the Mountain West and American conferences along with some combination of Pac-12 leftovers California, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State, sources said.

However, the idea died after Monday night after Mountain West presidents held a call that ended with the leadership showing unity. <-

-> "Does it make sense to take the best of the American, remaining Pac and best of the Mountain West and create a new conference that [would] potentially fight for A5 designation? In general, I think it does," an industry source said. "I just am not sure what value that would bring from a network standpoint. ESPN and Fox … have already spent their money." <-

 

[bendm]

->An initiative led by San Diego State to essentially create a new conference that would have sought "Power Five" designation in the aftermath of radical conference realignment failed this week, sources tell CBS Sports.

and then there were 3 (options for Cal & Stanford):

1) join the MW
2) join the ACC
3) indy for football and join WCC for all other sports