Tag: SMU Pac-12

Could there be a Pac-11 with only San Diego State and not SMU?

Insiders think the Pac-12 adding just one member but not two is highly unlikely. San Diego State and SMU would probably be a package deal.

There is no hard-and-fast rule saying that if a conference expands (or contracts) to 11 members, it has to add a 12th member. In the 2022-2023 college sports cycle (the one which will end on June 30), the American Athletic Conference has had 11 members.

(For the record, those members were UCF, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, South Florida, SMU, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, and Wichita State. UCF, Cincinnati and Houston will compete in the Big 12 in the 2023-2024 cycle which begins on July 1 and includes the 2023 college football season.)

However, having 12 teams instead of 11 makes scheduling easier in various sports and reduces various logistical challenges. In the Pac-12’s case, it would add television money.

John Canzano, at his Substack, talked to sources in the Pac-12 and at SMU. Here’s his latest work on the San Diego State-SMU situation:

“Would the Pac-12 add San Diego State via expansion but not SMU? Maybe, but I find it increasingly unlikely. A source on campus at the Dallas-based institution told me the Pac-12 continued to engage with SMU after the Kliavkoff visit,” Canzano reported.

“Unless I am missing something, the media-rights range I keep hearing doesn’t work without the DFW television households included. Also, SMU is so intensely motivated to join that it would definitely join at a discount.

“As one well-placed source at SMU told me on Friday morning: ‘My sense continues to be that we will be included if they expand.’”

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Pac-12 will be badly stung if it doesn’t land San Diego State and SMU

We’re not predicting whether the #Pac12 will actually gain the #Aztecs and #SMU, but we can say it will be a big defeat if the league can’t pull it off.

The realignment saga continues in the second half of June, in the final days of both the fiscal year and the college sports cycle which ends alongside it. June 30 is the date by which San Diego State needs to leave the Mountain West or pay an exit fee of nearly $16 million more than what it would owe the conference.

Everyone in the college sports world is waiting to see how this game of high-stakes poker plays out. The smart money says it’s more likely than not that San Diego State and SMU will join the Pac-12, but what should logically happen is not what regularly happens. This is college sports, after all.

It’s not a done deal until it’s actually done. We’ll hold off on making specific predictions, though we obviously have our own sense of what is likely and what isn’t.

What we can say is that if the Pac-12 can’t actually secure San Diego State and SMU, it won’t only feel like a defeat for George Kliavkoff and the Pac-12 CEO Group; it will indeed be a defeat.

John Canzano offered this detail at his Substack:

“Nobody I spoke with believes the Pac-12 can eclipse a $32 million-per-school average distribution without including both San Diego State and SMU,” Canzano wrote.

“The networks and streaming services are looking for not only quality programming but quantity in terms of available games. The Pac-12 presidents might want to stay at 10 schools, but they need the inventory that a 12-team conference brings to get paid. That’s important for football as well as basketball.”

Keep in mind that, per Canzano’s reporting, the Pac-12 hasn’t vetted Boise State, Fresno State, or UNLV.

The Pac-12 has explored and gamed out a lot of scenarios. We have no idea if the Pac-12’s media rights deal will reach the target the conference is looking for, but we can say that if San Diego State and SMU aren’t in the conference, there’s no way the Pac-12 will reach or even come close to the price point it wants. The Pac-12 clearly thinks Boise State, Fresno State, and UNLV won’t be remotely as competitive in terms of media dollars as SDSU and SMU will be. All indications point to the Pac-12 being sold on the value of SDSU and SMU. Anything less — or anything else — would rate as a comparative disappointment and a real defeat for the conference on numerous levels.

It’s crunch time. Let’s see whether the Pac-12 brings in this duo or swings and misses.

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Trojans Wire joins national YouTube show to discuss the Pac-12’s future

We joined @MarkRogersTV at the @VoiceOfCFB to discuss the #Aztecs, #SMU, and potential #Pac12 realignment.

The intrigue swirling around San Diego State, the Mountain West Conference, and the Pac-12 raises all sorts of questions about the Aztecs, their future, and the Pac-12’s expansion plans.

Will the Pac-12 lock down a media rights deal soon? Will that deal immediately lead to San Diego State and SMU joining the conference? Will SDSU and SMU join the Pac-12 concurrently, or is SMU waiting for San Diego State to make its move?

Will San Diego State and SMU enable the Pac-12 to get a competitive price point on a media rights deal? What will the Mountain West do in response to San Diego State’s initial overture?

These are just some of the questions within a much more complicated and evolving picture connected to the latest realignment drama in college sports.

Get more insights on this broadcast with Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football. We joined Mark to provide an analysis of this latest twist in college sports realignment.

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Boise State, Fresno State and UNLV reportedly not on Pac-12’s radar screen

If you’re in Boise, Fresno, or Las Vegas, sorry — the #Pac12 doesn’t seem to be interested in you.

Want to know where college sports realignment is heading, specifically in the Pac-12? More details are emerging in the wake of San Diego State’s declared intent to leave the Mountain West Conference. SDSU has not officially left the MWC, but it definitely wants out, which is creating plenty of Pac-12 rumors and questions.

You might reasonably wonder, “Are any other schools in strong contention for a possible Pac-12 invitation, or is this just a two-school deal involving San Diego State and SMU?”

The sense of the moment seems very clear, based on reporting from John Canzano at his Substack.

“I am told that UNLV, Fresno State and Boise State were NOT among the schools officially vetted by the Pac-12,” Canzano wrote.

“I was initially surprised that UNLV didn’t get a serious look, but Las Vegas only has 757,000 television homes. TV homes are the love language of conference expansion. The other two schools I mentioned were not great academic fits in the minds of the presidents/chancellors, per sources.”

Canzano’s reporting indicates that San Diego State and SMU are miles ahead of any other possible candidates. Those are the two clear-cut leaders in the Pac-12 expansion sweepstakes.

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Eye-opening quote provides some clarity on Pac-12 expansion goals, plans

A member of the #Pac12 CEO Group told @JohnCanzanoBFT, “I think it’s fair to say there was a gap to No. 3 and No. 4″ after SDSU and SMU.

The recent letter sent by San Diego State University to the Mountain West Conference has reignited realignment talk.

San Diego State didn’t formally exit the Mountain West, but it made it clear it wants to leave. All eyes are on SDSU, the Mountain West and the Pac-12. Will a fresh round of realignment occur in the coming weeks? It’s now a real possibility since San Diego State has finally made its intentions clear.

With San Diego State wanting out of the Mountain West, people in the college sports industry are turning to SMU as another school that could be on the move. SMU and San Diego State have long been rumored as Pac-12 expansion targets. The obvious and important question: Where do they Mustangs and Aztecs stand within the Pac-12 and its leadership team?

We aren’t paying much attention to the question of whether the Pac-12 will match the Big 12’s “dollars per school per year” number in a media rights deal. That story has been accompanied by endless speculation, with no real way to know who is right (or wrong). We have largely stayed away from each new rumor about the dollar figure or whether Colorado might leave for the Big 12. That’s all smoke.

This new report, however, on San Diego State and SMU, contains more substance.

John Canzano, reporting at his Substack, talked to Pac-12 sources and, more specifically, members of the Pac-12 CEO Group.

This rates as legitimate news, not idle speculation or gossip:

“Speculate all you’d like about No. 3 and No. 4. Colorado State? Gonzaga? I’m not sure it matters at this point. It remains a two-school conversation (with San Diego State and SMU). As a member of the Pac-12’s CEO Group told me on Friday morning: ‘I think it’s fair to say there was a gap to No. 3 and No. 4.’”

So there you have it, folks: It’s San Diego State and SMU well in front of everyone else. If San Diego State does move to the Pac-12, which we’re not guaranteeing, by the way, SMU should be expected to accompany the Aztecs. Whether those moves would be concurrent or sequential (Aztecs first, Mustangs second) remains to be seen.

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Trojan legend John Robinson finally got his man … by leaving USC

John Robinson is a great and beloved Trojan, but he coached Eric Dickerson only by leaving USC. @LBCTrojan knows the story.

The twists and turns of football history are fascinating to contemplate.

On Friday, we passed along a story told by Rick Anaya, the co-host of Trojan Conquest Live, the USC YouTube show which airs Sundays at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific at The Voice of College Football. Anaya told this story during his interview — with co-host Tim Prangley — of USC legend Anthony Munoz.

Here’s the short story, for those who missed it:

“The day was January 1, 1980. USC, Anthony Munoz, and Charles White played No. 1 and unbeaten Ohio State in the 1980 Rose Bowl. Munoz talked about this game and many other subjects in his recent conversation at Trojan Conquest Live with co-hosts Rick Anaya and Tim Prangley.

“On this Anthony Munoz show, Rick Anaya mentioned that John Jackson — the USC receiver who was an important part of the late-1980s Rose Bowl teams under then-coach Larry Smith — was just 12 years old on New Year’s Day of 1980. Jackson told Anaya that he attended the 1980 Rose Bowl in person. Who was sitting next to him? None other than SMU running back Eric Dickerson, who played his freshman season with the Mustangs in 1979.”

Eric Dickerson watched USC coach John Robinson win a third Rose Bowl and finish in the national top two of the polls for the third time in four years. There was obviously some degree of mutual admiration, if not curiosity, between Robinson and Dickerson for the running back to make his way to the 1980 Rose Bowl Game and watch in person.

Well, a few short years later, the player and the coach would be united.

Robinson left USC after the 1982 season to coach the Los Angeles Rams over in Anaheim. Dickerson’s magnificent SMU career ended with the 1983 Cotton Bowl against another NFL legend-to-be, Dan Marino of the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Who was the first Ram taken in Robinson’s first NFL draft as the Rams’ head coach? Eric Dickerson with the No. 2 overall pick. Dickerson helped Robinson reach the NFC Championship Game in what was a very successful NFL run for the former USC coach. Had the Joe Montana-led San Francisco 49ers not become a dynasty in the 1980s, Robinson and the Rams probably would have made the Super Bowl at some point.

John Robinson and Eric Dickerson — both inside the stadium at the 1980 Rose Bowl — never worked together as player and coach in college, but their paths ultimately did intersect in the pros. They are both grateful it happened.

Be sure to catch the next episode of Trojan Conquest Live on Sunday, June 18, at 8 Eastern and 5 Pacific at The Voice of College Football.

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