What’s next for college football in the West? That’s a question no one seems to have an answer to. With the Pac-12 down to four schools and most other athletic departments across the region in shock, something has to be done.
The fate of Oregon State and Washington State is most pressing because both schools have been royally screwed by the implosion of the Pac-12. The worst part of this shuffling is that none of it’s based on merit or doing the right thing. For those in the back yelling Capitalism, I’ll get to you in a bit.
Oregon State and Washington State embody what college sports should be. Beautiful campuses in wonderful towns with loyal fanbases. They aren’t the biggest or best and never will be. But each school has been more than able to compete at the Power 5 level and beat teams from those quote-unquote more prestigious conferences.
Hell, last season alone Wazzu upset Wisconsin and Oregon State boat-raced Florida. What are their rewards for all this? Nada. Nothing. Basically, a giant middle finger from those that run college football which is a bunch of TV networks and random old folks who only care about making themselves money while mumbling something or other about tradition.
College football’s only real tradition over the past 20 years is a bunch of leeches calling themselves stakeholders attaching themselves to the sport for self-gain. But I digress.
There aren’t many options on the table for college football in the West, especially as it relates to the Pac-12. The California schools have floated independence. Oregon State and Washington State have basically been penciled in for the Mountain West.
Another idea mooted has been the Mountain West dissolving and those schools backfilling the Pac-12. The problem is that this just creates another gap in terms of college athletics in the West. The region will only have one FBS conference when it should have three.
None of these are particularly good or even viable options. More importantly, it is the same reactive actions that saw the Pac-12 implode in the first place. No vision. No leadership. Just take the easiest possible path toward short-term survival. That must change.
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Next for the Pac-12 and college football in the West…starting over
There needs to be a vision and strategic road map for college football in the West that can create a sustainable future. As bad as the situation is now, there is also a massive opportunity for something new and better to emerge.
This starts with George Kliavkoff being relieved of his duties. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Next, the remaining Pac-12 schools combine with the Mountain West and the WAC to form a single entity. Essentially, three conferences under one umbrella. Conferences and schools in the West can’t afford to compete with each other. There is a desperate need for unity. Leaving others behind when that is exactly what led to this moment is dumb.
The logistics of this would need to be worked. Still, the one organizing body, three unique conferences approach can allow for the better alignment of schools while skirting some of the NCAA and College Football Playoffs monopoly-violating rules on conferences.
From here, you have to get FCS programs in key Western markets to move up. UC Davis and Sacramento State from California. Idaho, Eastern Washington and the Montana schools from the Northwest. Southern Utah and Utah Tech in Utah. Whatever Texas university in FCS that wants to make the jump.
These programs all have various reasons for not wanting to be FBS. But this is also their last chance to have a seat at the table and the visibility that comes with it. More importantly, moving up in mass and as part of something new provides additional support along with greater sustainability.
This should all be done in conjunction with a TV or streaming partner. They must be an integral part of these plans. The upside is that they have access to a vast inventory of college sports in the last FBS conference on the market. It may take some time to get everything off the ground but the upside here is massive.
The presence of a committed broadcast partner as part of a long-term arrangement also provides peace of mind to those schools moving up that this won’t crumble in a few years. In fact, instead of being a rights holder, they could even hold an ownership stake in the new entity. Again, the goal is to create something sustainable.
Better yet, seek out an investment or VC firm to support the formation of a reimagined Western FBS structure. They are seemingly desperate to acquire stakes in sporting interests. Importantly, they offer some much-needed business nuance.
What this allows for is a rarity in sports. A fresh start. A chance to shed the yoke of past mistakes and build a better future. It will enable schools in the West to reimagine what it wants college sports be within the context of the current era.
Of course, a lack of foresight or proactivity is what got Western college football here in the first place. It is wishful thinking to believe the presidents and athletic directors at these schools are willing to embark on a ten-year roadmap. Not when the only thing people seem to care about is themselves.
However, a long-term approach with partnerships between schools, TV networks, financial firms and student-athletes would create a solid foundation and one not found elsewhere. The other conferences are built upon feudal relationships between schools, television and players. That entire system is bound to fail.
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The reason realignment sucks
The most annoying thing about what happens next for Oregon State, Washington State and other FBS sides in the West is the fact realignment has not been a meritocracy. People always want to say this is capitalism at play. That’s stupid.
The Beavers and Cougars have been able to do more with less resources over the years. Washington, USC and UCLA have pissed away huge amounts of money on athletics with very little to show. None have been clearly superior to their counterparts in Pullman or Corvallis.
You can’t help but think of what those athletic departments would be able to accomplish with more expansive budgets. Certainly, the return on investment would be better.
However, none of that matters because capitalism in sports, and in particular college sports, is a fool’s errand. Results don’t matter. It’s all about who you know and how they view your brand. The entire situation reeks of cronyism. I suppose that truly is what capitalism represents at its core–people claiming merit drives the market when, in reality, that has nothing to do with it.
Because if we were judging things on merit, Washington State and Oregon State would be getting Power 5 conference bid and not scrapping for survival. They don’t get a seat at the table, but Rutgers and Arizona State do? That makes sense.
Final thoughts
At the end of the day, what’s next for college football in the West can’t be more of the same. That hasn’t worked. We have reached Hail Mary time. Go big, bring football in the west together and see if it can be salvaged. Even if it fails, trying to do something better always beats repeating past mistakes.
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