Tag: College Sports Roundup

On Tuesday, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff held a highly anticipated meeting with the conference’s nine remaining universities regarding a potential media rights deal. 

Coming out of that meeting on Tuesday, no agreement has been made, but details have surfaced regarding the deal itself.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that the media deal discussed was primarily built around Apple TV streaming, including “incentivized tiers, which would give it a strong upside if certain subscription numbers are met.”

Of course, the problem with an Apple TV streaming-based media deal would be incentivizing fans enough to pay for a streaming deal.

Currently, Apple TV carries the MLS season pass on their platform, which currently runs $79 a season for Apple TV+ subscribers and $99 a season for non-Apple TV+ subscribers. The MLS season pass recently saw a massive increase in subscribers when soccer superstar Lionel Messi signed with Inter Miami.

However, it would seem unlikely that a similar incentive would appear for college football fans to subscribe to a potential Pac-12 package. Without such an incentive, would college football fans be willing to pay a subscription fee to watch Pac-12 football?

Nonetheless, Thamel also reported on ESPN Tuesday afternoon that Kliavkoff made it known that with potential subscriber numbers, the television deal could surpass the Big 12’s revenue numbers of $31.7 million per year per school. On the flip side, a failure to miss specific subscriber numbers could mean disaster for the remaining Pac-12 programs.

Will school presidents be comfortable agreeing to a deal primarily based on projections? That’s the central question coming out of Tuesday’s meetings.

There does appear to be hope for the Pac-12 as insider John Canzano reported that the conference board meeting was “positive” and that his source included “the phrase ‘excited and aligned.”

For the Pac-12, getting a television rights deal done sooner than later will be pivotal for creating stability in the conference.

Last week, the University of Colorado announced its departure from the conference following this season. At the same time, Southern California and UCLA are headed to the Big Ten following the 2023-2024 academic calendar.

There is also uncertainty surrounding the trio of Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah. Thamel reported on Monday evening that the trio of universities are expected to stick together, whether that is to stay in the Pac-12 or move to the Big 12. The Arizona Board of Regents also met Tuesday evening, though what was discussed in that meeting remains unclear.

Overall, Tuesday’s media deal presentation for the Pac-12 is a step in the right direction for the conference, but plenty of work remains ahead for Kliavkoff and the conference.

Check out the other top stories on Wednesday from around the College Wire network:

It is a massive day in the future of the Pac-12.

On Monday, it was first reported by college football insider John Canzano and confirmed by Stewart Mandel of The Athletic that Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff will be presenting a television rights deal to the conference’s nine remaining schools.

Additionally, the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees both Arizona and Arizona State, has scheduled a 3:30 p.m. meeting on Tuesday afternoon. It is currently unclear what that meeting is regarding.

The television rights presentation will play a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of college football amid conference realignment and expansion.

In addition to that, ESPN’s Pete Thamel released an article on ESPN on Monday that takes a look at potential future conference realignment ongoings. One hint Thamel gave on Twitter was that Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah could “band together in solidarity” regarding their respective futures. Other reports, including one from ESPN Radio’s Ian Fitzsimmons, report that Utah “isn’t exactly returning the phone calls.”

What will ultimately happen with Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah remains to be seen. Still, the Pac-12 media rights deal that is being presented on Tuesday will certainly have a significant impact on those three universities and their future decisions.

If those three universities were to leave the conference, only six universities would remain in the conference. Those universities would be Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, and Washington State.

Colorado previously announced last week their departure for the Big 12 starting in July of 2024, while Southern California and UCLA will both leave for the Big Ten next July as well.

If those three schools were to leave, however, the Pac-12 would have plenty of options to choose from in conference expansion. According to college sports insider Jim Williams, who is a columnist for multiple outlets including Forbes and Zenger, the Pac-12 has received paperwork from nearly a dozen universities looking to potentially join the conference.

The Maxwell Award Watch List for the 2023 college football season has been released.

On Monday, the Maxwell Football Club released its annual watch list of 60+ student-athletes nationwide. The award is presented annually to the best player in college football and is given out at the ESPN College Football Awards Show every December. It

Last season, USC’s Caleb Williams won the award, giving USC their fourth winner ever but first in nearly 40 years. Williams joined a trio of Trojan running backs, O.J. Simpson, Charles White, and Marcus Allen.

USC’s four winners are tied with Navy and Texas for the fourth most of any college football program. Ahead of those three is Alabama with five, while Penn State and Notre Dame are tied for first with seven winners all-time.

Williams, this fall, will look to become just the third player all-time to win the award twice. Previously, Notre Dame’s Johnny Lattner and Florida’s Tim Tebow won the award twice in their collegiate careers.

On this year’s preseason watch list, notable names include Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson, Clemson running back Will Shipley, Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, Florida State QB Jordan Travis, Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, LSU QB Jayden Janis, Michigan QB and RB combo J.J.McCarthy and Blake Corum.

Also included are Heisman contenders such as North Carolina QB Drake Maye, Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman, and USC QB Caleb Williams. The complete list is on the Maxwell Football Club’s official website.

The Maxwell Football Club also presents the Chuck Bednarik Award, which is annually given out to the best defensive player in College Football.

The Pac-12’s slow and painful collapse continued on Wednesday evening as the University of Colorado is finalizing a move from the Pac-12 back to the Big 12.  Action Network’s Brett McMurphy first reported the news. The university previously was part of the Big 12 from 1996 through 2010 before joining the Pac-12 in 2011.

The news is just the latest troubling news for the Pac-12 under Commissioner George Kliavkoff. Hired to bring stability to the conference, the Pac-12 has only continued to fall into instability.

The conference has previously seen Southern California and UCLA decide to leave the program for the Big Ten following this upcoming season but also saw a failure to add San Diego State to the conference after the conference could not complete its next media deal before the beginning of July.

As of July 27, discussions regarding the media deal continue, with Commissioner George Kliavkoff telling the media, “The longer we wait for the media deal, the better our options get.”

While that certainly could be true, the longer the Pac-12 waits, the more trouble the conference may ultimately find itself in.

The Big 12 and their commissioner, Brett Yormark, have been very transparent that they will look to continue to expand the conference, and the Pac-12 could once again be the conference that suffers. With Colorado in the mix, the Big 12 could target other programs in the Pac-12, such as Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah.

Of course, other programs within the Pac-12 could be on their way out for greener pastures, including Oregon, Washington, and Stanford. This leads to the next portion of today’s roundup.

The Big Ten’s first day of media days got underway on Wednesday morning as the conference prepares for this upcoming season.

It will be an eventful two days of media day both from an on and off-the-field perspective.

On the field, Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State look like potential College Football Playoff contenders this fall. In contrast, schools like Wisconsin and Michigan State are looking for bounce-back seasons after struggling in 2022.

Off the field, Northwestern’s David Braun will speak for the first time since becoming the interim head coach of the Wildcats following Pat Fitzgerald’s firing. Additionally, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh is likely facing a four-game suspension for this upcoming season; we’ll have more below.

While the Big Ten does not have an official media poll, Cleveland.com has conducted its own for the last 13 years. The poll takes votes from 37 writers, with at least one beat writer for each program.

The poll results show that Michigan is the overwhelming favorite to win the Big Ten East and the Big Ten championship for a third straight season.

The Wolverines earned 27 first-place votes in the East division in the poll. Ohio State received eight, and Penn State received two. Maryland, Michigan State, Rutgers, and Indiana rounded out the Big Ten East projected standings.

In the West, Wisconsin totaled 20 first-place votes, Iowa earned 16 from writers, while Minnesota was the only other Big Ten West school to nab a first-place vote. Those three schools would finish first, second, and third in the projected standings, with Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue, and Northwestern filling out the rest of the division.

The Louisville Cardinals and Miami Hurricanes’ future matchups against each other have a little bit more meaning to them in the future.

On Monday, it was announced that the two ACC programs will now be a trophy game with “The Schellenberger Trophy” on the line for each matchup.

The trophy features a bronze version of Schellenberger’s famous cowboy boots.

Howard Schellenberger coached at Miami, Louisville, Oklahoma, and FAU over his head coaching career, but his best years came with the Hurricanes and Cardinals.

Schellenberger coached at Miami from 1979 through 1983, where he went 41-16 over five seasons and led the program to a national championship in 1983. Following the 1983 season, Schellenberger looked to join the USFL’s “The Spirit of Miami” as their general manager, head coach, part-owner, and president. He would resign just a few months into the job after the USFL shifted its schedule from the spring to the fall. However, by then, Jimmy Johnson was already named the next head coach at Miami.

After taking off the 1984 season, Schellenberger would take over the Louisville Cardinals program in 1985.  The Cardinals had just two winning seasons in the ten years before he took over the program. It wouldn’t be a smooth operation for Schellenberger with the Cardinals; he would win just eight combined games in his first three seasons.

The Cardinals would win eight games alone in 1988 before going 6-5 in 1999. His best season with the program came in 1990, leading the Cardinals to a 10-1 record and a Fiest Bowl victory over Alabama; the Cardinals would finish 14th in the country that season, their best final ranking to that point in program history.

He stayed at Louisville until 1994, when he was hired to replace Gary Gibbs at Oklahoma, but resigned after one season in which he went 5-5-1. He would return to coaching in 2001 with Florida Atlantic, helping the school build its football program from scratch and make the transition from FCS to FBS. He would stay with the Owls until 2011.

The Schnellenberger Trophy

It's official! We are set to play Miami annually for the trophy, which features the boots worn by Coach Howard Schnellenberger. #GoCards pic.twitter.com/CPWEExUjKM

— Louisville Football (@LouisvilleFB) July 24, 2023

While Schellenberg is not in the college football hall of fame, mainly due to his 158-151-3 record (coaches must have at least a .600 winning percentage), very few head coaches have had impacts like Schellenberger.

Last year, Caleb Williams and the USC Trojans were just one win away from the College Football Playoffs.

All the Trojans would have to do to earn their first trip to the College Football Playoffs was beat the Utah Utes in the Pac-12 Championship Game, who narrowly defeated the Trojans earlier in the season 43-42.

For USC, it looked like they were well on their way, up 14-3 after the first 15 minutes of play. However, Utah would outscore the Trojans in the second and third quarters 21-3 to take a 24-17 lead heading into the fourth quarter. In the final stanza, the game got entirely away from USC as Utah scored 23 fourth-quarter points to pull away and win 47-24.

USC would go on to play Tulane in the Cotton Bowl, losing 46-45.

For USC quarterback Caleb Williams, it marked the second year that the Heisman Trophy winner looked poised to make it to college football’s biggest stage but ultimately came up short.

“It bothers me because I play for championships. I don’t play for anything else. So not being able to have the chance and being so close frustrates me,” Williams said in an interview with ESPN. The potential first-overall pick in next year’s NFL Draft says he’s “very determined” to get there this fall.

The Trojans will start their quest for a College Football Playoff berth on August 26 against the San Jose State Spartans. The Trojans should be able to start the season 6-0 with games against San Jose State, Nevada, Stanford, Arizona State, Colorado, and Arizona. Their schedule will get much more challenging in the second half of their season with matchups that include Notre Dame, Utah, Washington, and Oregon.