SB Nation bloggers took to the internet yesterday following Larry Scott’s Pac-12 press conference to opine on the ramifications for their universities. The structure of the Pac-12 garnered much attention nationwide and our local bloggers had differing opinions on the matter. Most schools won in one way or another, whether it be due to scheduling, divisions or revenue sharing. Still, the change necessitated by the addition of two schools to the Pac-10 didn’t leave everyone happy.
Over at UW Dawg Pound, writer John Berkowitz thinks the Huskies gave up too much in the negotiations.
At first glance it looks like Washington gave up more than any other program in the conference under the realignment plan that was announced yesterday in San Francisco.
He goes on to bemoan the loss of a guaranteed game in Los Angeles and a loss of revenue — noting the Huskies were historically on the top-end of the revenue scale before falling well behind USC in the last revenue cycle.
So taken at face value Washington gives up playing in LA every year and a historically bigger piece of the conference TV revenue pie. In exchange UW gets membership in a stronger overall conference whose goal is to compete on an equal footing with the Big 10 and SEC going forward.
UW Dawg Pound’s Purple Reign 91 felt Colorado and Utah won big at the Huskies’ expense.
Well now, THAT about sums up my feelings regarding the latest rumors on Pac 10 expansion. Rocky Mountain and Arizona schools, we’re going to give you exactly what you want, and oh, by the way, we’re going to give your very own football division with the LA schools, a conference championship game, new television contracts, and whole boat-load more money for your troubles.
The tone from the Washington State side couldn’t be more different. The Cougs scored a major victory in equal revenue sharing, but CougCenter author Jeff Nusser thinks WSU won in every facet of the negotiations.
Think about what WSU could do with an extra $5 million to $10 million a year in its athletic budget. As we’ve said before, this money means more to WSU than perhaps any other school in the conference, because the cash will increase its budget by the largest percentage. Money was the most important thing for WSU to secure in this deal, and the Cougars got it.
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Honestly, I can’t find any downsides to any of this. Money trumps everything, and everything else is just gravy. And there’s lots of gravy here. This is a great day for WSU.
And finally, I took some of the fantastic work one of our readers did and made it into a faux-interview with athletic director Bill Moos.
There’s been plenty of reaction from fans, coaches and athletic director to the details of the Pac-12 that Larry Scott laid out yesterday. Our own Bill Moos came out a big winner in the negotiations, securing equal revenue for WSU. The Cougars have historically been at an extreme financial disadvantage under the old appearance based system, but will now be on equal footing with the rest of the conference.
Read on for the picture montage of Moos.
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