Tag: Arizona Big 12

University of Arizona president roasts George Kliavkoff over Apple TV deal

Arizona’s president hammered Kliavkoff’s bad deal, but keep in mind: #Pac12 presidents rejected an ESPN deal last year. What a clown car.

We all know the Pac-12 fumbled, bumbled and stumbled in failing to get a media rights deal done.

We know this was a horrible process with a horrible, worst-case outcome, the death of the 108-year-old conference.

We know this was a train wreck.

Yet, each new report and revelation that drips out from a reporter makes it all seem worse. It’s very Pac-12. Everything can always get worse. Everything continues to look worse than it did a day ago or a week ago.

The latest “drip, drip, drip” revelation — Chinese water torture for anyone who loves or cares about the Pac-12 — comes from University of Arizona President Robert Robbins, who dropped a truth bomb on the Apple TV deal presented to the Pac-12 CEO Group by commissioner George Kliavkoff a few days ago.

The quote is a forceful takedown of the deal and the thought process behind it, but as one Phoenix-based media commentator noted, if the Pac-12 CEO Group knew this deal was so bad, why wasn’t it focused more on getting a better deal and on making sure the conference didn’t die?

Let’s dive into the reactions and criticisms that accompanied Robert Robbins’ takedown of George Kliavkoff in a Pac-12 that is going down in flames … and flame wars:

Twitter reaction to Arizona joining Big 12 as Pac-12 shrinks to four schools

As of Friday evening, the #Pac12 is a sad little four-pack. What an extraordinary turn of events in college sports.

In late July, we told you that if the Arizona schools left the Pac-12, that was the ballgame. It’s true that Oregon and Washington left the Pac-12 on Friday, but they left because they could see the conference was crumbling, in part because Arizona was almost out the door and Arizona State wasn’t far behind.

Now it’s official: Arizona is moving to the Big 12. The Pac-12 has four schools left: Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State.

We noted that the “Arizona schools need to have a presence in Texas, not just California, for recruiting. Arizona State football, under former coach Todd Graham a decade ago, made it a point to recruit the state of Texas. The Arizona schools would not be out of place in the Texas-anchored Big 12 (which has several schools in the state). USC in the Big Ten is a weird geographical reality, but the Arizona schools in the Big 12 would feel relatively natural by comparison.”

Now they’re in the Big 12.

X, formerly known as Twitter, was the place to be when these extraordinary events became official on a Friday we will remember for a long time.

Here we go:

Trojans Wire joins national YouTube show to discuss Arizona, ASU to the Big 12

We’re looking back but also forward with @MarkRogersTV. We discussed the #Pac12’s plight and compared Stanford to BYU.

The world of college sports realignment continues to swirl. It’s a dizzying, brain-busting, mind-bending environment in which everything seems fluid and the Pac-12 can’t do anything right.

What’s the status of Arizona and Arizona State as they consider a move to the Big 12? The Arizona Board of Regents has not yet granted final approval to those two schools to move to the Big 12, but the fans at both schools definitely want a Big 12 move. They want to get off the sinking ship that is the Pac-12.

In the midst of this chaos and what appears to be a full-on implosion, can the Pac-12 somehow save itself at the last minute? What scenarios are in play? What is the best the Pac-12 can aspire to? What are the Pac-12’s dwindling — but remaining — options in all of this? We’re talking about it at Trojans Wire. We joined our friend Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football on a special show. We wound up comparing Stanford and BYU, among many other things:

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Trojans Wire joins Big 12 analyst to discuss unfolding Pac-12 nightmare

#Big12 expert @TylerJonesLive has a great podcast. We joined the show to discuss #Pac12 stupidity and death, plus realignment.

The Pac-12 is on its deathbed. Will there be an 11th-hour cure produced by an intervention with a better media rights package, or at least a supplement to the Apple deal? Will the Pac-12 not really have any other options to offer to its remaining members? Will anyone get cold feet? Will Oregon and Washington be invited by the Big Ten? What about Stanford and Cal?

A lot of things are about to happen in college sports, but they haven’t yet happened. With a lot of events not yet finalized as of Friday morning, the situation is still fluid and things are up in the air. While the situation remains fluid, we might as well discuss some realignment scenarios and express in more concrete terms just how badly the Pac-12 messed everything up.

We joined Tyler Jones’ superb podcast to discuss these various topics. Tyler has covered the Big 12 for a long time, but he also covers the Seattle Seahawks and a few other NFL teams for Chat Sports. Tyler is excellent at what he does. Follow him and listen to his shows:

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Realignment: Will Arizona go to the Big 12?

More realignment banter with @Ducks_Wire. Is Arizona going to bolt for the #Big12 as most expect?

We are exploring realignment scenarios with our friends at Ducks Wire.

Next up in the queue: Will Arizona go to the Big 12 Conference?

Don Smalley, Ducks Wire: Yes, along with Utah and Colorado.

Matt Zemek, Trojans Wire: It sure seems like it. If the Pac-12 TV deal really is a streaming deal with no significant ESPN or Turner component, that’s the ballgame. Arizona will bolt. The solution should have been for ESPN to pay more money in a shorter time frame.

Zachary Neel, Ducks Wire: Every Oregon fan sure hopes so. It appears that the Ducks going to the Big Ten hinges on the Four Corner schools following Colorado to the Big 12. If that doesn’t happen, then I want the last 10 days of my life back.

Matt Wadleigh, Trojans and Buffaloes Wire: The Arizona rumors have been circulating, which makes sense because of the basketball program. Arizona State is a different story, and my money is on the Wildcats (if anybody), but not the Sun Devils.

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All eyes on Arizona State and Arizona as Pac-12’s fate hangs in the balance

If the #Pac12 loses only Colorado, it can survive. If the AZ schools bolt, however, #Pac12DeathWatch begins.

Last week, on July 19, University of Colorado Chancellor Phil DeStefano said this, per Buffaloes Wire:

“‘I’m eagerly awaiting to hear what the commissioner (George Kliavkoff) has to say (at Pac-12 media day). But at this point, the 10 (Pac-12) schools are staying together and awaiting a message from the commissioner,” DiStefano told The Post. “(CU’s) goal is to stay within the Pac-12 and have a media deal coming up shortly. That’s our goal. And I believe the presidents and chancellors of the Pac-12 are together on that.”

One week later — on July 26 — we have Colorado seemingly out the door to the Big 12, which creates an existential crisis for the Pac-12.

If George Kliavkoff cannot keep Colorado from bolting, which would represent a massive failure on his (and the Pac-12 CEO Group’s) part, there’s one scenario he has to be able to fend off to ensure the Pac-12’s survival.

Let’s talk about that huge scenario and the other many scenarios now in play, all because Kliavkoff and the Pac-12 could not land the plane and get a media deal done: