This is a section from Mitch Harper's write up on KSL. It covers Brock Huard's perception after his interaction with the BIG 12 and PAC 12 in Arizona.

Former Washington and NFL QB Brock Huard was at the Pac-12 and Big 12 meetings...........

Brock Huard impressed with the momentum from Big 12.

Huard, a current FOX college football analyst and radio host for Seattle Sports, was a guest on the KSL Sports Zone’s Hans & Scotty G to discuss the meetings. He saw a noticeable difference between the two leagues.

“I was in Arizona on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I got to see Kyle [Whittingham] and his wife on Monday night at dinner,” said Huard to the KSL Sports Zone’s Hans & Scotty G. “I got to mingle with a lot of the coaches and the ADs and the Commissioner (George Kliavkoff), and then we did the same the next night with the Big 12. And I will tell you, you could not have had two different environments.

“The Tuesday night get-together and shindig with the Big 12, there was so much momentum, so much energy. You know, the first-year Commissioner (Brett Yormark) is a driver. He is an expansionist … aggressive, and you feel it. The conference is following that lead as they got their TV deal, and they’re not done.”

Since Brett Yormark took over as the Big 12 Commissioner on August 1, the league has secured its future with a new media rights package with ESPN and Fox. The media rights money per team is projected to be $31.5 million, more than the league made with Texas and Oklahoma in the conference.

Yormark has also announced exhibition basketball events at Rucker Park, a conference-wide NFL Pro Day in Texas, and there have been reports on football and basketball games being played in Mexico.

Thoughts on Pac-12 meetings
Amidst all of those moves, the Pac-12 has remained silent as they continue to work on securing its future with a media rights package.

“On the flip side, the night before with the Pac-12, I’m not going to say survivalist, but it was not a lot of vision cast,” Huard said. “And how could it be with so much unknown in a media deal that, as one AD told me, ‘It’s close.’ But close is good for horseshoes and that’s not good in this business because we’ve got to get this deal done.”


Like the Big 12, the Pac-12 lost two bell cow brands when USC and UCLA announced they were going to the Big Ten. Since that day on June 30 last year, the Pac-12 has been working to secure its future. Huard, who is part of the Pac-12’s Football Alumni Council, shared his thoughts on the vision he heard from the league’s commissioner.

“Well, it was hard for me to listen to George Kliavkoff. I’ve been around him probably half a dozen times, and I sit on their alumni council. I’ve actually really appreciated much of his tone and tenor. I thought last year at Media Days he was bold, borderline gruff. … Showed his disappointment in USC and UCLA leaving, and all of that. I thought he handled it really well. This is the first time Monday night, where I’m like, ‘I don’t like the sound of that.’ I don’t need to hear about the water polo team and that you guys went 19-2 out of conference.”

Huard’s hunch: A media rights deal “is there” for the Pac-12
Huard then added what he feels the Pac-12 and its respective markets need to hear during this time of uncertainty.

“What they need to hear is the direction; what they need to hear is that we’re close to a deal. And now, obviously, [Kliavkoff] can’t do that publicly and you don’t negotiate through the public and all of that. My gut and my hunch, Scotty, is that there is a deal there. But it’s not at the numbers anywhere near the number they want. It’s likely a deal that’s going to be spliced amongst a bunch of the networks. I thought the company that I worked with at Fox was out. I got a sense over this week that they’re not because right now, I think a lot of these networks are feeling some blood in the water that there may be a number now that, at first, the Pac-12 scoffed at. But now may have to live with and it may be a number that doesn’t compete with the Big 12 but is a number that at least keeps this group together.”

With two open spots (and perhaps only one if Jake Wahlin flips as rumored) here's how things are shaping up. This assumes BC comes back as appears increasingly likely

PG - Wooster
SG - Madsen
SF - Cole Bajema
PF - Branden Carlson
C - Lawson Lovering

Bigs off the bench - Keita, Ben Carlson, Tarlac
Guards/wings - Deivon Smith, Exacte, Hunter Erickson

More scoring pop and better shooting with that roster than last year, for sure. More experience and size as well.

Marco Anthony "replaced" by Lovering
Stefanovic by Bajema
M. Saunders by Deivon Smith
B. Holt by Hunter Erickson

I think this roster looks better than last year's and there's solid reasons to expect the team to take another step forward. Depending on what happens with the open spot(s), the outlook could get even brighter.

Allen was a highly regarded safety out of HS, but he suffered a knee injury in 2021 and was still coming back from it in 2022. Right now this is a depth play and Utah is banking on two things: his health and the fact fact that their defensive player development is better than USC’s.

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This addition is a gamble worth taking. If Allen can stay healthy, he could develop into another great Utah safety. Staying healthy hasn’t been easy for him, however.

https://utah.rivals.com/news/what-i...their-defensive-depth-with-usc-transfer-allen

A few quick things:

-Deivon Smith is THE no. 1 target for them right now. I’m told they believe he’s their missing piece.

-Carlson should be announcing soon that he’s coming back. The NBA Combine list was released recently and he wasn’t on it.

-Forward and former BYU commit Jake Wahlin is still expected to be a Ute. I think he gets back off his mission at the end of this month or next.

-If all of the above happens, Utah will have one spot left, but the heavy focus right now is on landing Smith.

This is an important get as Utah looks to add more athleticism and a true point guard to the lineup. In Smith’s recruitment, the one thing teams were using against Utah is that they said Utah preferred a point guard like Rollie Worster. That’s not necessarily the case, as now they can hopefully move him elsewhere is potentially even a point forward.

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Here’s what the addition of Deivon Smith means for the Runnin’ Utes:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/what-it-means-deivon-smith-transfers-to-utah

A video like this makes me feel like Deivon Smith is committing soon. We’ll see soon…

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This was an important get for Utah. Here’s what the commitment means:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/what-it-means-king-announces-transfer-to-utah

He’ll play TE instead of WR. Great get.

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I’m looking into it. Stay tuned…

So now Iowa and Iowa State have been caught up in a gambling improprieties issue. I think this is going to turn out to be very wide-spread. Honestly, I’ll be a little surprised not to get touched by this. I think influencing prop bets is going to be a thing.

Too lazy to find a Ute release, but after winning the regular season Utah has won the conference tournament as well. Can they manage an invite to the NCAA tournament (16 spots and ranked 18)?

He posted tonight:

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Auburn was insistent on using him as a WR. Utah wants him as a TE, which is his preferred position. Stay tuned…

Hooks is a stud. He recently committed but then decommitted from Ole Miss:

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Here’s his ESPN page:

https://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/4722328/shane-hooks

This to me tells me that Seydou isn’t having the easiest time in the portal, this time around.

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Additionally, there are no guarantees that Utah goes hard after him like they did last time. I have heard that he wants to be a Ute. Before Colorado swooped in late, he was a near sure bet to Utah. Some of his antics since then as well as being called out by his Colorado might be coming back to bite him when it comes to portal interest.

Pittman has his on channel to connect with fans, and in this instance, he talks about his recent surgery:

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It's been over a month since we have brought up TV rights and solidification of a supposed deal from anybody here on Ute Nation. For me, leaving it alone since then felt right since there was a strong burnout on this topic from a considerable percentage here. At least that's how I viewed it.

Does anybody want to discuss this anymore or just wait until whatever happens? How long do we go along with convincing ourselves that a good deal is in place that the conference is on board with and we are just waiting for lawyers to go over details for finalization?

Sorry guys, it just seems delusional to me to just wave pom poms of hope based on contacts who have incentive to sell a positive PAC outcome.

On the flip side, of course Dodd is absolutely full of major shit. He always has been. And BIG 12 propaganda has been everywhere. It still is. Nevertheless, with smoke, isn't there an undercurrent of fire somewhere? Seriously, it's not as if the media and reporting in favor of a solid PAC has anymore credibility than those preying upon the PAC during this stagnant delay process.

Do we as a group, really want to leave this discussion alone? If so, I guess I can wait another month or MORE to bring it up again.

I know some of you are more connected than I am in terms of what's going on behind the curtain. But does anybody really have a beat on an outcome here. Sources for and against all have loyalties to an agenda. Nobody is credible. Convince me otherwise.

This is NOT a doom and gloom post. I will be overjoyed if the TV deal is worth what heartless has stated it will be all along. That being somewhere in the $35-40 Million range per team with viewing outcomes resulting in some satisfactory streaming to linear combination. Is that what we are all really waiting on? Or does anybody want to reopen this conversation?

Again, I can continue to let this all rest like I have this last month. That is if that's what is desired on Ute Nation.

Here’s what Pittman’s commitment means for the Utes:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/what-it-means-mycah-pittman-to-transfer-to-utah