Well, the PAC just added new affiliated members for soccer.

I found this article about the problems USU is having in raising funs for today's new revenue sharing model. It is a microcosm of what all G6 schools are probably going through to raise money for athletics. It would be interesting to know exactly how BSU is doing with Dickey and his fund-raising chops. It does validate the issues of building high revenue seating for football and basketball to raise funds. You can't go to the student fee well forever.

I would think that when they rebuild the lower bowl this will also be made into premium seating with loge seating to get more funds. Like it or not, college sports is heading the way of the pros in many ways to survive.

https://www.courthousenews.com/mountain-west-counterclaims-survive-in-pac-12-antitrust-suit/

I updated the old MWC Links page. Let me know if I should add anything!

Will it be similar for the PAC or will there be reduced coverage?

Available online if you want to listen to it.

Few interesting takes.

Conference expansion:

Wilner says any future expansion will be driven by the schools ability to participate in post season tournaments, the NCAA and CFP.

He says that St. Mary's isn't going to be added as a basketball only school, they would have already been added if the conference wanted them

Lawsuits:

Says that now that the discovery period is over and both parties have seen the others cards there could be a settlement in from 6 to 9 months. He thinks the PAC has a better argument than the MWC in the poaching case and that the MWC has a better argument in the exit fees case. He also says that both cases will be settled at the same time.

NFL effect:

The NFL apparently wants to renegotiate their TV rights and if CBS and FOX lose the NFL they are toast because so much of their advertising income comes from the NFL. He expects the NFL to get a lot more money from all their networks and that will greatly reduce the money they are willing to pay to the college athletic conferences. He doesn't think the networks will have interest in anything but premium content in college athletics.

Concerning private equity, he thinks everything is on hold. The other schools are all waiting to see how Utah structures their private equity plans. If it turns out it's a financial success for UTAH everyone else will do it and if not everyone else will run and hide.

But that aside there's quite a bit of speculation that the payout is going to drop from 3.5 to 2.5 million per school.

Supposedly they are in the final stages of finalizing deals with CBS, Fox and ESPN and the ESPN part would be streaming games on ESPN+.

Seems kinda odd that they'd be taking a 33% haircut when the big guys are all part of the conversation but I guess it's predictable considering that the five schools leaving are responsible for most of the interest in the conference.

They have till the end of June or there'll be no coverage, five months.

Here is a sneak preview of what their TV coverage will look like in 2026

https://pac-12.com/news/2025/9/30/pac-12-wrestling-welcomes-the-addition-of-northern-illinois-university.aspx

My prediction is he will end up at Wazzu with his former OC Kirby Moore.

Teams of Concern

Oregon State

Obviously, a disaster of a season for 2025, where their tough home loss to Houston deflated them for pretty much the rest of the season (with an inexplicable win over Washington State being their lone highlight game). Their offense is a hot, hot mess, with what is the weakest QB room in the new PAC12. The hope for the Beavers is the hiring of JaMarcus Shephard, a true roll of the dice, as their new HC--he evidently hit it out of the ballpark through the interviews, and he's assembling a really interesting mix of a staff, both new bloods and veterans from a wide range of programs, including a reported hire of Lee Marks as their RB coach. They just hired Enron Hoges as their GM, who has his work cut out for him, as the Beavers have been able to sign only 10 high school recruits during the early signing period. They have seen three important contributors declare for the portal, which isn't a surprise at all.

The good news, such as it may be, is that they DO have Reiser renovated, and they have terrific facilities amongst the G6. So much will depend on Shephard and his staff to recruit high schoolers and be able to use the portal wisely. Oregon State, like Wazzu, has some of the PAC 12 largesse available to them, though they are also in a position of having to make cuts for long-term solvency as an athletic program. 2026 starts brutally for them, with a road date at Houston, followed by a home game against Texas Tech. And even their FCS opponent is not going to be a walk in the park: Montana. UTEP will be their easiest opponent for the year.

Colorado State

The Rams have taken the opposite route of Oregon State in hiring a proven, winning head coach in Jim Mora. Now, Mora has been much slower in putting together a staff, although it's likely he'll be bringing some of his staff from UConn, like Pryce Tracy, and he's retained the Rams DC in his current position. They have lost both starting OTs to the portal, which is of a concern, given how mediocre their offense was for the season. Having said that, the Rams,thanks to Alex Collins as their GM and Mora being hired before the early signing period, were able to manage a very good high school class for 2026, with 25 signees.

As with Oregon State, the Rams enjoy excellent facilities and a nifty stadium, and they have a strong booster base. So much will depend on what the portal may bring to Colorado State in terms of a short-term rebound, but Mora ought to get the Ram offense back in contention. They have a really favorable OOC, with three home games and one road date at UTSA. Their home opener against Wyoming should be an immediate barometer of Mora's work. While I have them as a "team of concern," I think they have a good prospect of taking a step forward back to relevancy.

Washington State

Wazzu had the oddest campaign last year, a team I could not figure out, what with close road losses to Virginia, James Madison, and Ole Miss, and an impressive beatdown of San Diego State, only to get schooled by North Texas and losing to Oregon State. A few breaks, and they could be a 10-win program coming into the inaugural year of the new PAC12. They have had an issue of being a revolving door for head coaches, and it's a challenging location for recruiting. Having said that, they made a terrific hire in Kirby Moore, although he has his work cut out for him in pulling together a staff. But their problem will be with replacing all the graduating seniors (mostly portal transfers) who were starters, and they have 15 players in the portal (only two, though, seem to be significant contributors).

The portal will likely have to be something Kirby dives into for 2026, and so having his staff together is going to be huge come the first week of January. For me, they will be little like Colorado State--and they are not dealing with quite as deep deficit in terms of record--I am concerned about how they will do in 2026, but I think they'll be fine thereafter. Their OOC for 2026 includes road games to Washington and Kansas State, with a home date against Arizona. That'll be a tough slate, for sure.

Teams That Should Rebound/Improve

Texas State

True, the Bobcats finished a disappointing 6-6 in the regular season, but they had two overtime losses, and losses by 1 and 3 points. This could point to a lack of grit, but they did win their final three games by wide margins. Like Wazzu, they could have been a 10-win team. There's nothing wrong with their offensive attack, but their defense is a true concern. Their so-so season probably warded off suitors for Kinne. Kinne fired their DC, and he'll be hiring a new DC, their third DC in four years. No doubt, he's called up Coach K, I would think. This will be a consequential hire for Texas State. If they can get their defense on track, they could be a surprise team for 2026.

In terms of personnel, so far only three Bobcats have declared for the portal, all buried in the depth chart. And while they have some key losses to graduation, they look to be in position to fill those gaps with second teamers or selective portal recruits. They also have a good high school recruiting class, landing at #70 nationally with only 19 signees (including one four star and three other highly rated recruits). While they will travel to Texas in 2026, they have three very winnable home games against UTSA, a weaker North Texas, and Incarnate Word.

Utah State

With Bronco Mendenhall, the Aggies have definitely righted their ship in 2025, finishing the year with very close games against UNLV and Boise State which easily could have gone in Utah State's favor. And over their last three games, their defense played decent ball. Now, they will lose Barnes at QB to graduation and they have lost their best WR to the portal, but so far, they seem to be hanging on to many of their key players. It'll be mostly about replenishing their skills players, finding a new QB, and developing replacements. They signed a low-rated high school class, but Mendenhall and staff have a track record of finding those diamonds in the rough.

They have road games to Utah and Washington, but they have Troy and Idaho State at home in 2026. The QB battle should be interesting, as they will have a talented true freshman at camp in the Spring to compete against Anthony Garcia. In all, I expect some overall improvement for the Aggies, although they will have growing pains for their new QB most likely.

Decent Prospects

Fresno State

Entz will start his second year at Fresno State having some key holes to fill in the O-line and the secondary, but so far only three bench warmers have declared for the portal, and Fresno was able to sign a decent class, including flipping a QB commit from Oregon State. Of course, QB play for the Bulldogs in 2025 could be pretty dismal, and they have Carson Conklin returning who completed less than 50% of his passes. I have to think Entz may dive into the portal or pick up a JC QB. Yes, some schools have a bigger QB problem than what we do. But I expect Fresno defense to continue to be sound, and if they can indeed pick up a decent QB in the portal, they should be in title contention.

For 2026, they open at USC, but the rest of their OOC is very favorable, going onto the road against San Jose, and facing Rice and Sacramento State at home.

San Diego State

Two inexplicable lopsided losses to Hawai'i and Wazzu marred what otherwise could have been a magical season for the Aztecs. And who would've predicted that Sean Lewis would be able to put together an elite defense? Of course, the success there meant their DC Rob Aurich got poached by Nebraska as well as their edge coach Manning. Those will be important replacements for Lewis (and again, I imagine a program that has put a call out to Coach K). The main personnel losses will be graduation amongst the O-line and D-line, but there the Aztecs appear to have good depth to draw from. The Aztecs signed a decent high school class, and they have only two players declaring for the portal so far.

The Aztecs have only three OOC games announced for 2026, road games at UCLA and Toledo, and a home date against Portland State. I'm assuming Lewis will be able to make good hires for his defensive staff, and it appears Jayden Denegal was playing through a significant injury to his nonthrowing shoulder for practically the entire 2025 season--assuming he's healthy, he should be more consistent as the Aztec starting QB.

The PAC tv deal was finalized a while ago. Still no mention of how much it is worth, no word of how much money ea school will be getting.

An interesting read.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/11/17/lack-of-leak-in-pac-12-media-deal-hints-at-low-dollar-figure/

Some Podcasts and Analysts have refined that reason to be "She couldn't raise NIL Money", with some of those also saying that (allegedly) Wazzu was near the bottom of the new PAC12 in NIL Collective Money.

Now, I can believe she wasn't a fundraiser, and wasn't raising enough NIL for their liking, but "Among the Lowest NIL in the PAC? Really? Lower than Texas State, Utah State, CSU? Is that believable? If that's actually True, then Wazzu is in Vandals DOOM territory with their isolated location and difficulty for Alumni to attend games, because it sure seems like a longtime PAC school with an Alumni Base that big should have a MUCH easier time raising NIL funds than USU or Boise State.

EssentiallySports

Thoughts?

The lawsuit claims that the PAC 2 agreed to the terms of the scheduling agreement with full knowledge of the poaching fees and never had any intention of paying the poaching fees after the expansion took place.

The MWC states that the PAC 2 entered into tortious interference by harming the conferences financial future.

You don't suppose the PAC 2 would do that do you?

We are about to join the PAC 12, so I went ahead and changed the name.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/46553869/big-ten-closes-2-billion-capital-agreement-vote-per-sources

# 2 ranked Miami lost (at home) to unranked Louisville 21-24

# 5 ranked Mississippi lost 35-43 to # 9 ranked Georgia

# 7 ranked Texas Tech lost 22-26 to unranked Arizona State

# 10 ranked L.S.U. lost 24-32 to # 17 ranked Vanderbilt

# 11 ranked Tennessee lost 20-37 to # 6 ranked Alabama

# 20 ranked U.S.C. lost 24-34 to # 13 ranked Notre Dame

# 22 ranked Memphis lost 24-31 to unranked Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham

# 23 ranked Utah lost 21-24 to # 15 ranked B.Y.U.

# 25 ranked Nebraska lost 6-24 to unranked Minnesota

Both Air Force and UNLV have to be wondering if they'll ever see their incentive money.

The other members have got to be pissed off watching Gloria hand out money to everyone but them.

And the incoming schools have got to be asking themselves what the hell is going on?

Seems like there's a pretty good chance the MWC isn't going last much longer. They sure don't look like they will be getting near the amount of settlement money they were counting on and that's might be too much to overcome.

So in a few months there just might be some schools looking for a new conference home and they wouldn't be in a position to make any demands.

Who would you want?

https://d1baseball.com/stories/rogers-dallas-baptist-set-to-join-pac-12-conference-in-2027/

Maybe this is a precursor to something down the road…

https://broncosports.com/news/2025/9/24/womens-beach-volleyball-boise-state-beach-volleyball-officially-joins-big-12-conference

If they succeed it would be a big win for them. The judge could make her decision today or sometime in the near future. Keep an eye on this.

CW will broadcast 13 football games, 35 men's basketball games and 15 women's basketball games during the regular season. They will also broadcast the women's basketball semifinal and championship games.

All production to be done by PAC 12 enterprises.

Interesting tidbits on future media rights announcements, future bowl tie ins, and Dallas Baptist possibly joining for baseball.

You still have to be a 24/7 VIP to fully open the article. I have placed a copy/paste of full article below.

IT HAS BEEN nearly two months since the Pac-12 and CBS announced their media rights partnership in 2026, but there has been no word on the other TV partners the league will be working with next season. John Canzano had said he expected word by the end of last week, but that didn't happen. On Monday, he said an announcement remains close.

"I did expect news on that front last week, but it didn't materialize," Canzano said. "A source told me on Friday, 'we're very, very close on the next piece, and the rest of the deal probably won't be far behind.' A second media-world source told me late last week that he also heard the next partner in the Pac-12 deal was done and close to being announced."

Canzano said the next partner announced won’t be a surprise.

"I still expect it to be The CW,” he writes. "The network makes the most sense."

The final details taking more time is also not a surprise, Canzano says.

"The logistics of these things appear to progress at a snail's pace in the 11th hour, particularly with the Pac-12,” he writes. "The league got burned in the George Kliavkoff era and appears hesitant to announce anything before the ink is dry. I think it's a bit of an overcorrection ... I've wondered if the Pac-12 is missing an opportunity to tell its story by being so conservative. The league is scarred by what went down in the Kliavkoff era, and the slow roll here is part of it."

Canzano added that he has been told the logistics are being finalized.

PART OF WHAT remains intertwined in the Pac-12's plans: the legal issues with the Mountain West over antitrust laws and poaching fees. The two sides have become engaged in a drawn out battle with a legal hearing scheduled for Sep. 9.

"A judge is set to rule on the Mountain West's motion to dismiss the Pac-12's antitrust lawsuit," Canzano said. "Legal experts I've talked with don't expect that to be successful, which will cause a leverage shift and result in a flurry of settlement talks. Both sides tell me they're prepared to go to court and feel strongly about their positions. I do not expect this to go to trial."

BOWL GAMES ARE another piece of the puzzle.

In 2025, the Pac-12's bowl partnerships remain with the Alamo Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, LA Bowl, Sun Bowl, and Independence Bowl. That doesn't just apply to WSU and OSU, but to all of the former Pac-12 schools as well, at least through this year.

"The LA Bowl (Pac-12 vs. Mountain West) feels like it might carry over in 2026 and beyond and include some extra spice," Canzano said. "I expect the Holiday Bowl might also prefer to remain affiliated with the Pac-12. It makes sense geographically.

"The Las Vegas Bowl is a "maybe" in my eyes. The Sun Bowl is also TBD. The Alamo Bowl makes sense for the Big 12. But who knows? It's still early. What does the Pac-12 do if it loses a couple of bowl games? It backfills. Keep an eye on some of the current Mountain West tie-ins (i.e., Arizona Bowl and Potato Bowl) as replacements."

CANZANO WAS ASKED by a reader about buzz that Dallas Baptist could join the Pac-12 as a baseball-only member. The question came from a concerned Texas State fan, but Canzano made it abundantly clear that DBU would be a major coup for the Pac-12 as far as baseball is concerned.

"The Pac-12 currently has six baseball-playing members," Canzano said. "The addition of Texas State, a nice baseball program, helped the conference reach the minimum number of teams for the league champion to be an NCAA automatic qualifier. The Pac-12 doesn't need another baseball-playing school, but that said, there's meat to this rumor.

"Dallas Baptist currently plays in Conference USA. It has reached the NCAA Tournament for five straight seasons and posted an RPI of No. 20 last season. The school has consistently won, had players drafted, reached the Regionals and Super Regionals, and provides some scheduling depth, a quality league opponent for Oregon State and others to play, and a second Texas-based baseball program."