Pac-12 Expands -- San Diego State, Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State are in

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we have a lot to talk about the Pack 12 has added four schools uh you've got San Diego State Boise State Fresno State Colorado state in the Pack 12 let's get some rapid reaction Wilner on this special edition of the show um what's your reaction my reaction is it's a big surprise and it's also not a surprise we figured this was the most likely scenario they were going to take the top football teams in the Mountain West and try to rebuild the Pack 12 and and that's what they did it just last night and this morning it wasn't the timing you expect but that's always true of realignment it kind of always comes out of nowhere yeah when is it a good time to to make this announcement or uh poach teams or you know make a pivot do you think they did on purpose because of the apple cup in Civil War I I wondered about that because you know 38,000 tickets sold at that neutral sight game the apple cup I wondered if Washington state would rally around this and sell a few thousand tickets all of a sudden and get people excited about it um and and certainly you're dropping this right in the lap of Oregon and Washington who uh you know there's some poetry there as these you know these two teams move forward but I also think that the Pack 12 learned something from the last time around right they waited too long they trusted too much they hmed and hawed it just kept going and going and you know I just kind of Wonder did they did they learn that the right time to make a move is when you're able to make a move and um you know the Teresa gold the Pack 12 commissioner saying that um you know just kind of all came together in the last 48 hours really ramped up I believe they were talking like six or eight weeks ago and then it's just kind of come to this moment yeah well that it's a stark contrast to the way realignment was handled by the pack 12 previously isn't it I mean yeah clearly you know she was a Deputy Commissioner and saw the things that went wrong and seems like she was determined not to repeat the mistakes because she had the urgency that was lacking previously they add four schools let's talk about those four schools what do they bring Wilner you got Boise State sand State Colorado State and Fresno State I think they bring at the at this level they bring good markets media markets San Diego gives you great recruiting access uh Boise is a very good football brand nationally they are you know that was the the schools to get although you wonder about UNLV I'm sure you probably wondered about that one too uh but they I think that they are going to with those that combination they're certainly going to raise their media value as high as it can get given what the options are yeah Bob Thompson our friend and uh frequent guest former Fox Sports networks's president told me he said look the only thing better than being at the front of the line in a media rights negotiation is being the only one in line and in this way um you know with the Mountain West sort of decimated they are the only ones in line uh you bring up UNLV I looked into UNLV last night because it was the first thing that I thought is this stuff was kind of starting to Cascade and you know they are tied to Nevada with their Board of region and the state of Nevada there may have been a little bit of pumping of the breaks there they may also just be a fallback option for team number seven or team number eight as they build towards that July 2026 deadline to get to eight teams you know first you've got to obviously look at Stanford and Cal to see if something implodes in the ACC and Stanford and Cal will dare get in the same room as boisey state and Fresno State academically um you know you you first you you you wait to see what happens there I think and then you start to hold this beauty contest between uh a bunch of the schools and you know you've outlined some of those schools as well but UNLV probably uh you know feels to me like they would be attractive but maybe a fallback option as the six schools kind of move together now to see who's number seven and who's number eight yeah they've got their foundation so are they they do have some time I think they may try to see if they can get into the central time zone here you know stord and Cal could be seven and eight but they could also be nine and 10 right if that it's if it's a longer term situation with the ACC so maybe they're gonna take a look at Tain uh UTSA Memphis some combination of Central Time Zone schools just to see if there's anything there if there's not then they can always go to UNLV and I don't know I would think Air Force probably uh and then stord Cal there's always going to be a landing spot because they would only be at nine schools do you think Stanford and Cal can wrap their heads around the academic part separating from the athletic part because that's what it would take you know we all know that maybe someday we're gonna have these super conferences maybe football splits away but for Stanford and Cal to get their heads around the idea of being in the Pack 12 with these other Schools they're going to have to let go of part of that you know research institution academic uh you know snobbery that has been there I mean they're in a conference with Louisville Clemson I mean it's not that's not like the ivy league some very good schools in the ACC but some of them aren't right some of them are not any different than you know San Diego State or UNLV or whoever so I think the the to me the thing for K and Stanford is that they have a lot of alums a lot of big dollar alums in the Washington New York Corridor and for those folks having the two schools compete athletically on the East Coast there's there's a lot of value the other piece is ACC is very good at the Olympic sports which means so much to Stanford and Cal I don't think this is going to cause Stanford and Cal to reverse course I think they're only coming back if there's absolutely no ACC no viable ACC for them to stay in I keep that seat warm though and and wait see as long as I can before I would move on because those those would be a tent that would be a tent pole move to to bring back the Bay Area into the fold um this uh this conference too you know you start talking about college football playoff there's a lot of confusion out there currently you know under the guidelines it's the top five ranked Conference champions who would get automatic births to the playoff now that you have raided the top of the Mountain West Conference the Pack 12 is well positioned so your strategy of going into the American makes a lot of sense too because if you go in and you take Memphis or you take tan or you take UTSA out of the American all of a sudden like you know you're pretty much guaranteeing that you're going to be among those top five automatic births uh as it pertains to the playoff you are although the playoff is a fluid animal and we don't know exactly what the SEC and Big 10 are going to try to do you know later in the when the new contract cycle starts with ESPN in 2026 and then there's there's a look in Clause a lookin window I think it's after 27 so you know I I think that the the winner of the rebuilt Pack 12 will will probably be okay for a couple years but things could change quickly given how much influence the SEC and Big 10 have over that whole situation yeah and I think if I'm the Pack 12 I'm going to use that look in to try to increase my leverage and sure see what you know what what are your members now uh what what can you negotiate in that form um Saturday we've got apple cup we've got Civil War got this stuff going on in the background you and I have talked about how important those games are do you think that changes at all now I I think there's just an uptick of enthusiasm yeah from the for schools that are joining uh I'm hearing from a lot of those fans and a lot of media members in those markets were reaching out to go what do I need to know and but I'm also you know I think you Washington State and Oregon State fans they've been through hell I mean they're like John Wick here all right they've they've seen some stuff they've been victimized and they're fighting back like Y and it's you know I'm trying to evaluate what they're doing realistically because you know like you said it was about the best they could hope for it was probably the most likely scenario it isn't relegation but they're taking the top half of the Mountain West and they're going to try to make a go of it and they've got two seats empty now and they're they're going to try to figure out how to fill those I think it's really intriguing it's really exciting I need to see the next move before I declare this this uh you know a massive win for the Pack 12 need to see the media rights money but Winer let me ask you this there 177 million per school exit fee $43 million in poaching penalties it looks to me like those four schools are running towards something what did the Pack 12 tell those four schools did are they selling them uh you know this is what our media rights package is going to be worth what are they selling I don't know that they have enough info they they've probably done some modeling on the media rights but boy it's that is hard to tell at this early stage I I think that they are running toward the fact that there will everything is compared to the Mountain West it's a bigger platform there's going to be more Revenue opportunities the brand is stronger uh I just I think that the to a certain extent Boise and San Diego State we talked about this the other day too Boise and San Diego State they were done with the Mountain West they were done getting the same amount of TV money as Utah State and Nevada and San Jose State right so now they are they're stepping up and it's going to be a better TV deal how much better I don't know but I also wonder you know the realignment billable hours undefeated and I have a sense that you know the attorneys will find a way Hammer some of those exit fees down that happens all the time with uh departing schools and realignment so I tallied it up I think I got to about 110 million for the four I bet it's not 110 million when the lawyers are done uh look I I also think we all know it's going somewhere else that this this is potentially a bridge to Super conferences and so one of the things I like about this is the Pack 12 that largely has been viewed as sitting still and being left behind is being proactive here and they're taking a move that grabs the best available schools in their region and says you know are you with us and you know we're moving somewhere and so I like it from that standpoint as well um make sure the other thing I was wondering though are there any other outside the box options right and I think about basketball right they have that the deal with the Mountain West or with West Coast conference right so you have to assume now that pack 12 basketball is back with a few decent basketball schools San Diego State for sure could they try to be real creative and and invite basketball only going you're going to Gonzaga could they is Gonzaga an option is Gonzaga an option I think that's some but other schools like that could they do something a little bit different with basketball to try to increase their value Gonzaga is sitting there like Yukon desperate for invite into the Big 12 that I'm not sure is coming anytime soon but I just think that that's something for us to keep in mind too is they're going to be creative I mean as as creative as possible they don't have you know in some ways they have a lot of freedom that they wouldn't have had in the old pack 12 which was you know so traditional now it's like all bets are off and and they can do some stuff that that we haven't really thought about I think you got to give some credit too to Oregon State and Washington State and the presidents there yeah to a point they were very Nimble uh the fact that this came together so quickly um they you know they look smart they've been through some stuff you know what did they do they fought for the assets of the conference they you know won those lawsuits um in the face of everybody telling them just to accept relegation they refused to do that um they can't they promoted Teresa Gould they went out and found a consulting firm that is uh you know a power broker and uh they are sitting today in a position where they look like uh they want to be at you know opportunistic and so I I got to give some credit to Oregon State and Washington State as well they have they've made a lot lot of very very shrewd moves in the last 13 months there's no doubt about that if the if the Pack 12 had made as many smart moves as the beavers and cougars Pack 12 would still exist as we knew it yeah I think they learned something yes they make sure that you subscribe if you're watching on YouTube hit the Subscribe button and uh tell us in the comment section what you think of this what do you make of this what should the Pack 12 do next and if you're listening uh via podcast audio podcast uh make sure you subscribe as well we'll be back with another episode next week thanks very much