'Just call us the MAC': Pac 12 diehards are not happy about the conference shake-up
Former Arizona State Sun Devil and College Football Hall of Famer David Fulcher was having dinner with his wife and daughter when he first heard the news that USC and UCLA were planning on leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. He thought that had to be a mistake.
Fulcher, a native of Los Angeles, is a Pac-12 diehard. He couldn't imagine the conference without its two marquee brands. He soon found out that move was not a rumor; it was happening. And it hit him hard.
The same can be said for others who have played or coached in the Pac-12, dubbed the Conference of Champions because of the more than 500 NCAA championships it has amassed, leading the nation in 56 of the past 62 years.
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"I was thinking why in the world would they leave the Pac-12," said Fulcher, who went on to a prolific career in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals. "It was disheartening. You grow up in Los Angeles and you dream of playing for USC or UCLA, being in the Pac-12, playing in the Rose Bowl. That's all going away. There is no loyalty anymore — players, coaches, owners, schools, conferences. As soon as someone comes waving some money, everybody jumps."
That does indeed appear to be the case with the move, effective in 2024, by the Los Angeles schools. The two schools will get a bigger portion of a media rights pie, which is a sore spot for the Pac-12 because the deal pales in comparison to the other major conferences.
The Pac-12 reportedly distributed $344 million among its members in the 2021 fiscal year, while the Big Ten generated an estimated $680 million. The Pac-12's poorly negotiated media rights deal with ESPN and Fox expires in 2024.
Even before the reverberations from the USC-UCLA announcement had subsided, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, who succeeded Larry Scott a year ago, announced that the conference would start negotiations for a new deal immediately. Losing the largest market in the West isn't going to enhance that undertaking, however.
Fulcher wasn't the only one who took the news hard, but the Pac-12 put a gag order on its current coaches.
Charli Turner Thorne resigned as ASU's women's basketball in March after heading the program for 25 years. She also played under legendary coach Tara VanDerveer at Stanford and worked as an assistant at Washington early in her career.
"I played in this conference, coached in it for 30 years, so this is really a gut punch," Turner Thorne said. "I still don't quite get it. Yes, the move is all about money, but there are so many factors like travel and time missed from school for games. We used to talk about the interest of the student-athletes. But that really doesn't seem to matter as much anymore."
While the USC and UCLA move was driven by the major sports, it will affect the minor sports, but at least they will have those sports. Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times, who covers UCLA, reported that the school would likely have had to drop sports had it not hop-scotched to the Big Ten. Other media members have said the Big Ten handed UCLA a "lifeline".
UCLA’s athletic department was reportedly hemorrhaging money to the tune of a $102.8-million deficit, due in part to the COVID-19 seasons and exacerbated by poor football attendance and the Pac-12's inferior payouts when it comes to media rights issues. Now, the Bruins stand to bring in $100 million from the Big Ten per year if the new expanded conference can secure the projected $1-billion media rights deal for 2024.
Money is the main reason, but the defectors probably have something to gain in moving to what is no doubt a more prestigious conference. Among Power Five conferences, the Pac-12 has had the fewest appearances in the College Football Playoff with just two.
UCLA and USC account for 230 of the Pac-12's national championship teams and 671 individual national championships.
There has been a lot of speculation as to what happens now with the Pac-12. Does it proceed as a 10-team conference, add schools, or merge with another conference such as the Big-12?
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Adding schools doesn't seem to be the preferable option. Kliavkoff dismissed that notion when asked about it at Pac-12 football media day last July and Scott, his predecessor, had the same thoughts when it came to that subject.
The latest buzz centered on "four corner" schools — Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah — and possibly Oregon and Washington going over to the Big 12. Though, it seems that talk has been generated more from the Big 12 than the mentioned schools.
Michael Yam, who was part of the Pac-12 Network when it launched in 2012 until 2020, thinks that might be the only option. Yam now works for the NFL Network but has monitored the latest happenings.
"You do the math and it's probably the only option," he said. "You're looking at the Pac-12 schools getting maybe 30 million and then other conferences are getting twice that, even more if UCLA and USC end up getting what it looks like they're going to be getting. It makes it very difficult to compete. It's not an even playing field."
Kyle Murphy, another former ASU standout, played left guard from 1993 to 1997 and was part of the Rose Bowl team that also featured Jake Plummer and Pat Tillman. He also hates to see the Pac-12 relegated to second-tier status and thinks the best option is probably the one involving the Big 12.
"At this point, you may as well just call us the MAC," he said referring to the low-profile Mid-American Conference. "I hate what this has become, but at this point, it might be better to be part of a bigger super conference. Let Oklahoma State carry the flag for your conference or you're in danger of being left behind. This is a disaster of epic proportions."
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Another option would be to find another way to add revenue. The latest talk is about a "loose partnership" between the Pac-12 and the ACC, another conference left behind and caught in the cross hairs of the college football realignment bingo game. The ACC is reportedly $50 million per year behind the SEC and Big Ten in terms of annual rights fees and an ironclad grant of rights keeps schools in the conference until 2036 unless they pay a hefty buyout.
The marquee event of that partnership would be a showdown between the football champions of the two conferences, most likely at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, which already serves as host for the Pac-12 title game as well as the Las Vegas Bowl in which ASU played last season.
The partnership would likely involve crossover games early in the season in football and men's basketball.
The potential benefits of moving conferences varies based on the sport. Wrestling is one of those that could improve its lot.
There are only six schools that compete in wrestling in the Pac-12 and three of those — Cal State Bakersfield, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Arkansas-Little Rock — are affiliate members from other conferences. The only true Pac-12 schools with the sport are Oregon State, Stanford and ASU.
The Big 12 is solid when it comes to that particular sport with a full complement of schools actually fielding a team.
"From a selfish standpoint, it would be great for wrestling," said former ASU wrestler Anthony Robles, who will be part of the school's next athletic Hall of Fame induction class. "Those programs are pretty solid and I think ASU would do well and it would be great competition but leaving the Pac-12 would be bittersweet."
The remaining schools are presenting a united front. All comments from the Pac-12 lean toward the 10 schools staying together. Most concede the survival of the conference depends largely on Oregon and Washington, the highest-profile programs remaining. The two find themselves in a predicament. They aren't going to bring in enough of a media market for the Big Ten to add them and have to share revenue.
But they've probably outgrown what is left of the Pac-12. Most think it is only a matter of time before they find an escape plan.
"I can't see Oregon and Phil Knight being OK with being the big fish in such a small pond," Yam said, referring to the Nike founder who is a big donor to the Oregon program. "It is tough to see what has happened to the Pac-12, but there is no easy answer, no easy fix."
Reach the reporter at Michelle.Gardner@gannett.com or 602 444-4783. Follow her on Twitter @MGardnerSports.