Pac-12 adding Mountain West schools sets new standard of pointlessness in college sports

In the annals of absurdity, financial mismanagement and ego-driven decision making that have long been the hallmarks of conference realignment, Thursday’s announcement of a rebuilt Pac-12 sets a new standard for pointlessness in college sports.

Left for dead a year ago when the rest of their league scattered to the wind, Oregon State and Washington State have convinced Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State to leave the Mountain West and join them under the Pac-12 banner in 2026. There will be more additions for sure — you’d think UNLV, Air Force, and perhaps New Mexico would be a starting point depending on how big they want to go — but the bottom line is so inconsequential you have to ask whether it’s even worth the trouble.

In breaking away from the Mountain West, all the Disloyal Four have truly done is joined a new league with an old name that is going to … look almost exactly like the Mountain West.

A view of the field at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas before the 2023 Pac-12 championship game between Washington and Oregon.

And the cost of making that move?

In excess of $100 million in exit fees and penalties associated with the scheduling agreement Oregon State and Washington State signed with the Mountain West last year, written explicitly to discourage this exact scenario where the remaining Pac-12 schools would wreck the conference that gave them a temporary football home.

A significant chunk of that money will, almost certainly, come from the Pac-12 war chest assembled from a mass of conference revenue the other 10 schools had to forfeit when they left for the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC. And in turn, the Mountain West will take that money to bolster its remaining members and adding members to ensure its own survival. Given how shallow the pool gets at that end of conference…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/pac-12-adding-mountain-west-150208382.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-09-12 15:02:08

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