LOS ANGELES — From behind the Pac-12 Media Day buffet line on Friday afternoon, an attendant watched as people in team-issued gear paraded for two hours. rice field.
Finally, the attendant leaned over a plate of chicken fajitas and asked a question in a low, one-on-one whisper.
“What is Pac-12?”
it’s complicated.
what is actually Pac-12? As it turns out, here on Friday’s annual Media Day celebration, many will be playing the league. Pac-10.
of Pac-12 A cohesive collection of like-minded West Coast colleges, steeped in a century of history and tradition, home to America’s oldest bowl game, champion and central hub of the nation’s Olympic sport was rightly named the League of Champions. Here, it’s built around his two big brands: USC and UCLA.
of Pac-10 A group of colleges scattered west of the Rocky Mountains, vying for solutions to patch each other. Publicly stable but privately restless, it is a league that feels victimized by its eastern neighbors, the Big Ten and Big 12, and a conference with its finest jewels. The city turned into a reminder of broken promises.
The fact that the employees responsible for the conference’s own Media Day event weren’t sure about the league itself speaks to the precarious situation that Commissioner George Kryavkov found himself in.
So what exactly is a Pac-12, or, even better, a Pac-10?
“Nomenclature doesn’t matter,” jokes Kliavkoff. “There is a bigger fire.”
Kurifkov is tasked with keeping the rest of Pac-12 intact amidst the uncertainty of regrouping.
AP Photo/Damien Devarganes
The hottest of them all is confirming that his league will still exist after 2024. UCLA and USC are expected to compete in the Big Ten And that’s the same year that Pac-12’s current media rights deal expires. To keep these 10s intact, he must negotiate new media deals that provide enough annual income for the school and metaphorically keep him from jumping over the Rocky Mountains into the Big 12.
league, lower New Commissioner Brett Yeomarkhas been pursuing the Pac-12 program so aggressively that the president of the Big 12 recently sent a message to President Kurivkov this week to persuade them to take the leap. Kryavkov knows this. Because the same president and his staff sent the message.
Basically he has the receipt.
Kliavkoff calls these “grenades” from the realm of the Big 12, blasts he has dodged, at least so far.of The Big 12 are trying to ‘destabilize’ the conference, he says. Ironically, he comes a year after Kurifkov and his president decided not to raid the Big 12 after Oklahoma and Texas’ withdrawals to the SEC were announced.
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At the time, it seemed like the right move, he says. But what if USC and he knew UCLA was due to graduate 11 months after him? “I could have come to a different decision,” he said sports illustrated in an extensive interview on Friday.
“If the Big 12 and Pac-12 are both healthy, strong Power 5 conferences, I think that would be really good for college athletics,” he says. “Their vote in the CFP room and their vote in the FBS room matter.”
At least publicly, those who attended the Pac-12 Media Day scoff at the Big 12 overtures. Utah’s sports director, Mark Harlan, calls the Big 12 effort a “calculated PR campaign.” Stanford University coach David Shaw called the Big 12 topic “comical.”
And the reports of the failed merger of the Big 12 and Pac-12 earlier this month? They were exaggerated, says Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir. “We didn’t talk about merging with them,” he says. “It never came from us.”
“Sometimes you have to return a punch,” quipped Oregon State Athletic Director Rob Mullens about Kliavkoff’s spicy comments about the Big 12. Additionally, Washington State Athletic Director Pat Chun said he and the rest of the conference thought his remaining 10 Pac-12 members were stronger and more valuable than the Big 12 members. said that
Soon they will know for sure. The intense exchanges between the two leagues have captivated media days, but much depends on Pac-12’s media rights negotiations. Muir said his 30-day exclusivity negotiation period for the league will end next week, after which it will hit the market.
“Hopefully we can get and get the media attention we think. I’ve heard overtures that this is worth it,” he says. “Right now there is a lot of uncertainty about what 10 of us can produce. What will it do if it decides to expand? [number] It seems? From there, I think each individual school will decide individually what is best for their program. “
It’s all about TV money, the most important source of income for the power five in college football. That’s the big problem.
Herm Edwards, coach at Arizona State University, said: “Honestly, that’s who’s running it. That’s where you get the funding, which is TV. We can’t put our heads in the sand. It’s the network, and who you are with. Are you partnered and what does that look like?”
Last year, Pac-12 distributed approximately $33 million to schools and Big 12 donated $43 million. Pac-12 loses USC and UCLA. The Big 12 loses Oklahoma and Texas to Cincinnati, UCF, BYU and Houston.
Predicting and predicting future revenue sharing is risky, especially since Big Ten trading has not yet taken place. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham believes the “baseline” for new distributions of the Pac-12 will be around $40 million.
Kliavkoff didn’t give a specific amount, but said, “We’ll definitely be in the middle of the Power 5 conference in the next few years when it’s all done.”
This is well behind the Big Ten and the SEC. The SEC’s new TV deal offers more than $70 million in revenue sharing per school. Separation is obvious, but there are ways to offset such differences.
for example, Pac-12 in talks with ACC Something about scheduling and network partnerships, including ESPN SI According to Pac-12 and ACC officials, it was reported earlier this summer and the deal is still very much in force. Many doubt whether such a move is worth it.
others are behind it.
“It has its merits,” says Harlan. “We might schedule a doubleheader in Vegas. We were able to increase not only their value, but our own as well.”
Is this a new alliance? who knows, but the old is dead, Kryavkov saysThe three-league alliance of Pac-12, ACC, and the Big Ten fell apart when Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren poached Trojans and Bruins to move chess this summer.
People here are calling the move broken promises, not just from Warren, but from the presidents of UCLA and USC. Kryavkov declined to give details about his future relationship with Warren, but he said: SI“My way of living is to give people respect and trust until I prove they don’t deserve it.”
Kryavkov came out on an attacking Friday. In fact, he claims most of the UCLA constituency is angry about his move to the Big Ten. This includes recruits, his current UCLA athletes, their parents, faculty and even his coaching staff. “Who’s happy at UCLA, except for the president and his AD?” he deadpans.
Politicians are also angry. The University of California Regents and Governor Gavin Newsom called for a review of UCLA’s Big His Ten move. A meeting is set for next week. One of the biggest ramifications for Bruins’ decision is his leaving behind his fellow UC member and his Pac-12 partner, Cal.
Few believe the regent can block UCLA’s move to the Big Ten, but could the board ask UCLA to distribute revenue to the Bears? Jim Knowlton, Cal’s athletic director, politely declined when asked such a question.
Knowlton calls UCLA the Bears’ “sister school.” Stakeholders from each program are in daily contact and have worked together under the UC umbrella for 98 years, he said. how is their relationship now? “It will change a lot,” he says.
Four years ago, Cal faced similar financial problems that UCLA is battling now, Knowlton says. California officials have spent the last few months helping guide the Bruins through budget issues. That work is currently on “pause,” he says.
Perhaps the most worrying move for LA schools is Pac-12 losing its membership presence in Southern California, the primary recruiting ground for many of its programs. As such, league administrators are discussing playing the conference-neutral site game here. “The idea of abandoning Los Angeles because USC and UCLA aren’t at the conference just doesn’t make sense to me,” he says Kliavkoff.
Kryavkov bopped confidently on Friday despite the harsh reality in front of him and the steep hills he had to climb. It’s been a long time. On his June 30th when news of USC and his UCLA broke, he was in Montana on his second day of his first true vacation in 13 months as commissioner of the conference.
That first week was the worst. His members acted “irrationally” and were “terrified,” he says. After a week, the situation improved. Now there is stillness.
In Los Angeles on Thursday, the athletic director held a meeting with Kurivkov. About half of them met in person here and a few more on his Zoom. It was described as a transparent and honest discussion about the future. Out of Room: USC and UCLA Administrators.
“We have a real belief that we are better together,” Harlan says. “We wanted George to know that he had our support.”
And then there are questions like: What is Pac-12?
Many believe it is dead, or eventually dead and buried deep underground, with the remaining members being poached by the Big Ten and Big 12. SI Reporters are required to wear black on Pac-12 Media Day “for the funeral”.
Saying that, Muir held her stomach and laughed.
“No way!” he shouts. “This is not the end!”
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