Ayomide Bamisile is a big dude for a walkon. One of the main reasons I’m posting this is so everyone knows it doesn’t use up the last scholarship.

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Starting a new thread for the realignment part but I think Brock is good analyst with good opinions and a thoughtful approach. That said... Much ado about nothing in his thread and comments. TV deal matters but not much.... Why? Because another shake up is coming , no one wants (nor should) to tie themselves down too much because the shake up is coming.... Schools should tread cautiously, slowly, and with one foot already out the door.

Here is what I think we can expect in the next years:

The Big10 Expands. North Carolina, Virginia, Norte Dame, and Duke go to there. Big is now a 20 team conference.
The SEC Expands. Clemson, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma State go there. SEC is now a 20 team conference.

That leaves a complete mess in its wake.... Speaking of wake..., they are left out (more on that in a minute). Everyone scrambles, panic ensues, alignments are squashed and here is what is left. The left out column could be wrong but then plug or play with others. You need to be worried if you are on the left.... And if your name is BYU, Texas Tech, Kansas State, etc. you could swap them out and replace them with someone in the "Left Out" column. There should be 12 to 15 teams worried. But I fully expect something like this will happen. It will be a game of musical chairs and someone isn't going to get one.

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Utah just landed an important piece to the puzzle:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/what-it-means-wahlin-flips-to-runnin-utes

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They won the regional and are on to the Super Regional (sweet 16 for those like me wondering how many are left). What a great season so far and a great year to be a Ute.

I just saw his message on Twitter. It didn’t sound like it was his decision. I wonder what the Trib is thinking? Newman did a good job covering the Utes.

Does anyone know the whole story? Was it just a cost-cutting move?

I know many of you like to read Michelle Bodkin and respect her. I also know some of you see KSL Sports and run away.

Either way, this is news for those interested in the coverage structure of the future PAC-12 broadcast on TV, once a TV deal is finalized.

There sure are incremental steps of TV/Streaming FOREPLAY involved in all of this. "Trust the Process" I guess. This feels like a negotiation branch.

With basically one spot remaining, there are a few guys to keep an eye on this week:

-Lamar’s Nate Calmese visited yesterday, so that the program could take a longer look at him.

-Teoledo’s RayJ Dennis, PG. One of the absolute top targets in the portal. It’s a fight between Baylor, Michigan and Illinois. Utah is his last visit. He’s visiting today.

-With a brief dead period coming up, Utah is close to bringing in D’Marco Dunn, SG, from North Carolina. Hopefully a week from Saturday.

I’m being told he was at Utah yesterday. I wouldn’t be surprised to see something pop soon. Stay tuned…

Right here:

Matt caught up with Davis. Also, here’s what the commitment means:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/what-it-means-davis-talks-utah-commitment

nm

You love to see another conference title roll into Salt Lake
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This is a great video. Check it out.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsPLRjjr9pq/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I hope the day is being made extra special for you and thank you for all the contributions on here. Fellas, take care of the special ladies in your lives today.

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