Tag: Pac-12

One year ago, San Diego State wanted to save the Pac-12, but CEOs said no thanks

On June 30, 2023, the deadline for San Diego State to leave the Mountain West for a lower exit fee came and went. The Pac-12 did nothing. The Pac-12 is dead.

June 30 is a very important date in college sports history and college sports administration. June 30, 2022, was the date when the USC-UCLA move to the Big Ten became known. June 30, 2023, was the date when the Pac-12 and the Pac-12 CEO Group had one last chance to invite San Diego State at a comparative bargain, help pay for SDSU’s Mountain West exit fee, and stabilize the conference with a Southern California-based member. San Diego State’s arrival in the Pac-12 would have appealed to ESPN, SMU, and various other entities which were monitoring the situation. When we consider why the Pac-12’s existence is ending today — June 30, 2024 — there are so many reasons to mention, but the failure to invite and on-board San Diego State was the last in a series of crucial mistakes which destabilized the conference and left it without a buffer to guard against other members fleeing.

We wrote this on June 20, 2023:

San Diego State University and the Pac-12 Conference want each other. At least, that is and has been the indication for several months.

San Diego State would love to move up from the Mountain West, a Group of Five league, to the Pac-12, a Power Five conference. The Pac-12, for its part, wants to maintain a presence in Southern California. The conference has expressed optimism that it can fetch a competitive price point for its new round of media rights deals based on having the added inventory provided by both San Diego State and SMU, the two schools it has heavily courted.

Now, however, the Mountain West is refusing to give San Diego State an extension on its timeline for leaving the conference without paying added exit fees beyond what it already owes. The current deadline is June 30. San Diego State would pay close to $17 million in additional exit penalties if it doesn’t leave the Mountain West by then.

Why hasn’t SDSU already left? The Pac-12 hasn’t extended an offer to join the conference. Why hasn’t the Pac-12 extended an offer? Because it hasn’t finalized its media rights deal.

If San Diego State wants out of the Mountain West, it shouldn’t feel the need to wait beyond June 30. If the Pac-12 is confident that San Diego State will deliver a good media rights deal, what is the remaining holdup at this point?

San Diego State was right there on a platter as insurance in case Colorado left. SDSU’s arrival probably would have enticed SMU or another Texas-based school, or possibly Fresno State, to join the conference and guard against a mass exodus, thereby keeping the conference intact. Yet, nothing happened. The Pac-12 was amateurish to the end … and the end is now here.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Everything must go — Pac-12 removes 10 departing schools from its website

The finality of the Pac-12’s death is truly setting in this weekend.

This is the saddest, most Pac-12 thing ever. It’s also one step in a larger process of shutting down the Pac-12 as we have known it. On Saturday afternoon, the Pac-12 removed the logos of the 10 schools departing the conference. On the Pac-12 website, as of June 29, 2024, at 7 p.m. Eastern time, the only school logos you will find on the site belong to Oregon State and Washington State.

The Pac-12 Network goes dark at the end of Sunday night, June 30. Pac-12 Network on-air talent is heading to other networks, including Big Ten Network. Final goodbyes are being said. A number of Pac-12 Network employees worked their final day on the job on Friday. The transition for those employees and others to new jobs — either within the college sports industry or in another, separate venture — is well underway. This is the weekend in which the finality of the Pac-12’s death is setting in for a lot of people.

It never needed to get to this point, but it did.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Pac-12 players who are better than Bronny James did not get picked in NBA draft

Teams who were prevented from picking Bronny James could have picked better Pac-12 players, but didn’t.

The second round of the 2024 NBA draft took place on Thursday afternoon. Bronny James landed with the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 55 overall. This was predictable, but the process leading to the pick contained a measure of controversy. Meanwhile, however, other Pac-12 basketball stars who could have been picked were not selected.

On the matter of Bronny James, start with this point: According to ESPN’s Bob Myers, James’ agent Rich Paul (Klutch Sports) is told teams not to draft Bronny James, and that if they did pick him, he would have gone to Australia rather than sign.

“Right now, Rich Paul is calling teams, don’t take Bronny James. He’s telling them to not take him. Saying don’t take him, if you take him, he’s going to Australia. So he has a plan and he has a place,” Myers reported on ESPN

Bronny only worked out for two teams during the pre-draft process, the Lakers and Phoenix Suns. A lot of people didn’t like this series of events, as though Bronny didn’t deserve to be taken at No. 55. However, other teams made questionable draft selections. There were good Pac-12 players on the board — players better than Bronny — but NBA teams passed them up. Isaac Jones of Washington State is one such player. Keshad Johnson of Arizona is another such player. Don’t blame Rich Paul or Bronny for engineering the draft. Other teams had plenty of choices and might not have done the best job they could.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Bryce Boettcher awarded with the collegiate Gold Glove

Oregon centerfielder Bryce Boettcher was awarded with the collegiate Gold Glove for the 2024 season.

On the day after the greatest centerfielder that ever played the game, Willie Mays, passed away at the age of 93, Oregon’s own centerfielder was recognized for having a little of Mays inside him.

Bryce Boettcher was awarded with the Division I Collegiate Gold Glove.

Oregon fans are used to watching Boettcher run through running backs as a linebacker on the football field, but on the diamond, he runs though and goes above walls to rob home runs and make diving catches.

Boettcher was most recently seen in Arizona showing off his skills at the MLB combine where he hopes to catch some eyes in order to be drafted later this month. He had a fielding percentage of 1.000 as Boettcher didn’t make an error all season and had six assists in the outfield.

At the plate, the senior from Eugene hit .276 with 12 homers and 35 runs batted in.

The last Pac-12 game of any kind has ended — it’s all over

The last Pac-12 game ended in Lexington, Kentucky, at 9:33 p.m. Pacific time on June 9, 2024.

The Pac-12 has officially played its last game in any sport. The conference’s sporting existence ended — at least for the next several years — on Sunday night at 9:33 p.m. Pacific time. That was the time of death for the conference. It was the moment when the last game of the Pac-12 college baseball season ended. Oregon State’s 3-2 loss to Kentucky in the NCAA baseball super regionals was the final Pac-12 sporting event of the 2023-2024 college sports cycle, before realignment officially takes effect this summer and the 2024-2025 cycle begins.

UK Wildcats Wire has more on the super regional.

The game which ended the Pac-12 on Sunday night was a tense pitching duel. Controversy emerged in the bottom of the ninth with Oregon State trailing 3-2 and trying to tie the score. A Kentucky infielder impeded an Oregon State baserunner’s attempt to reach second base after making the turn around first. Yet, the umpires did not award second base to the runner. With the tying run at third, Oregon State could have — and probably should have — had the winning run at second base, which might have applied more game pressure to Kentucky’s pitcher. With runners on first and third and two outs, UK was able to get the final out and end the Beavers’ — and the Pac-12’s — hopes of making one last journey to Omaha for the College World Series.

It is now all over for the Pac-12. Farewell, Conference of Champions.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Sunday could be the very last day of Pac-12 sports competition

We might have arrived at the very last day of Pac-12 sports. We’ll find out as the day unfolds.

Tick, tock, tick, tock. The clock is ticking on the Pac-12. Its existence has dwindled down to two NCAA baseball games on Sunday, June 9, 2024. Sunday could be the very last day of live Pac-12 sports competition. If Oregon and Oregon State both lose their NCAA super regional games, that’s it. That’s all she wrote for the Pac-12 Conference in all sports.

Oregon is down 1-0 to Texas A&M heading into its Game 2 of the super regionals. Oregon State is down 1-0 to Kentucky going into its own Game 2.

Wildcats Wire is covering the Kentucky-Oregon State series. Ducks Wire and Aggies Wire are covering the Oregon-A&M series.

Here’s what Aggies Wire noted about A&M’s 10-6 win over Oregon on Saturday:

“Texas A&M trailed 6-3 after two innings but scored 7 unanswered runs to defeat the Ducks in the series opener. Oregon plated 2 in the first and 4 in the second. The Aggies scored 3 in the first, fourth and fifth, respectively, and 1 in the third frame.

“Junior outfielder Braden Montgomery suffered a right leg injury in the bottom of the first inning, appearing to hurt his ankle. Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle told ESPN during the broadcast that Montgomery is “banged up pretty good.” A formal update will be provided to the media postgame.

“Sophomore left-handed pitcher Ryan Prager had a tough start. He pitched 1.2 frames and allowed 7 hits and 6 runs with 1 strikeout on 41 pitches. Junior RHP Chris Cortez came in, was lights out and saved the day per usual to earn the win.”

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Oregon joins Oregon State as the last Pac-12 baseball teams still playing

The Ducks and the Beavers are all that’s left of Pac-12 baseball, and the Pac-12 itself.

The existence of the Pac-12 is dwindling down to a final set of games. Pac-12 sports as we know them are coming to an end. The very last Pac-12 softball game was played a few days ago when Stanford beat UCLA. The last Pac-12 baseball games are being played this month. There is one more guaranteed weekend of Pac-12 baseball competition, with a chance that two teams could represent the conference one last time in the College World Series. One team is Oregon State. The other team is Oregon, which won its NCAA regional over the weekend to clinch a spot in the super regionals versus Texas A&M.

Ducks Wire has more on the story:

“The Oregon Ducks made history on Sunday night, beating Santa Barbara in the regional final to advance to the Super Regionals for the second straight year. This is the first time in program history that Oregon has made a super regional in back-to-back seasons and just the third time they’ve made it this far in school history.

“Kevin Seitter had the game of his life, throwing a complete-game shutout while giving up only four hits in total. After the game, he said it undoubtedly was the biggest achievement of his career.”

Follow Ducks Wire and Aggies Wire for coverage of the Oregon-A&M super regional this coming weekend. It could be the last Pac-12 baseball series in recorded history.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Oregon State tries to make one more College World Series before Pac-12 ends

Oregon State keeps Pac-12 baseball alive for one more weekend. The Beavers hope to make it two more weekends.

The USC Trojans are the all-time leader in College World Series championships, with 12. They are the kings of the nation, not just the Pac-12, in college baseball. The Oregon State Beavers aren’t too shabby, however. They have won three College World Series titles. Could they make it four? They have a chance of making one more College World Series before the Pac-12 folds up shop. The Beavers won their NCAA baseball regional over the weekend and have advanced to the NCAA super regional against Kentucky.

Our partners at UK Wildcats Wire have more on the story:

“On Sunday, Kentucky baseball shut out the Indiana State Sycamores to win the Lexington Regional, guaranteeing them a spot in the super regional. Even better, they’d be hosting a super regional for the first time ever.

“Now, the Wildcats also know their opponent. They’ll meet the Oregon State Beavers for a shot at making their first ever appearance at the College World Series.”

The other Pac-12 team still alive in the NCAA Baseball Tournament is Oregon. The Ducks face Texas A&M in an NCAA super regional this coming weekend.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Pac-12 doomsday clock counts down as final softball game ends

Another Pac-12 sport ends its existence, at least for the foreseeable future. Only baseball is left.

It is bizarre and surreal, but it is happening. A sense of finality is setting in. The Pac-12 is dying. It is ending. The clock is ticking down on the conference’s existence. Pac-12 softball has now officially seen its last game — maybe not in human history, but certainly for the next several years. Maybe the Pac-12 will be reborn in several years, but for the next half-decade at the very least, there will not be a Pac-12 in which USC and UCLA play Stanford and Cal and Arizona State and Arizona. That era is ending. In softball, it’s all over. Stanford beat UCLA at the Women’s College World Series softball event to make the semifinals. It’s the last time — at least for now — that any two Pac-12 teams will meet as conference members in a softball game.

UCLA Wire has more:

“After beating the Stanford Cardinal three times during the 2024 season, the UCLA Bruins softball team got eliminated by their Pac-12 rival on Sunday night. In the final meeting as conference foes, before the Bruins go to the Big Ten this fall, the Cardinal came away with a 3-1 win in Oklahoma City. The loss ended the Bruins’ season. UCLA ended the season at 43-12.

“The offense went silent for UCLA as Megan Grant hit a solo home run, which was one of just four hits for UCLA in the game. Jadelyn Allchin, Thessa Malau’ulu and Janelle Meono were the others with hits for the Bruins.”

That closes the book on Pac-12 softball. Pac-12 baseball is all that’s left of the Pac-12 era in terms of live sports competition.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Pac-12 was doomed and USC couldn’t save it

You can be sad about the Pac-12 dying and still admit USC really had no choice but to join the Big Ten.

Are some people still trying to process the fact that USC and the Pac-12 couldn’t make things work out? Is it still sad that the Pac-12, a conference we all grew up with out here in the West, couldn’t survive? Yes. The answer is yes. This is still something that will take some getting used to. However, the fact that the death of the Pac-12 destroys a number of cherished college football traditions (such as the Big Ten versus the Pac-12 in the Rose Bowl) doesn’t mean USC should have stayed in the Pac-12. The Trojans had to do what they needed to do. The Pac-12 didn’t make life easier for USC.

At 17:30 in the video below from our recent YouTube show at The Voice of College Football, you’ll get more insights on how USC joined the Big Ten because the Trojans were jobbed by the Pac-12. They weren’t going to go down with the sinking ship. The Pac-12 was falling behind whether USC stayed or not.

https://www.youtube.com/live/4wTnFA4l8QU

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.