I’ve bounced this off multiple sources who are either hearing or telling me the same thing…
The belief at the moment — and things can change like Colorado doing an about-face — is that they’ll add one more if everyone else stays. Two more if Arizona bounces. The remaining teams would sign shorter term TV deal and the new team(s) would take a decent amount less. If it’s one team, it very likely could be SMU and not SDSU, because the belief is it’s easier for SMU to get out of their current deal.
Additionally, something that’s been talked about on the board by me or others close to it, is that I’ve been told in the last year that Utah has had B1G discussions, where they’ve been given guidelines on what the B1G wants to see for their next round of expansion. 1) Increase the research funding by a few million per year (doable). 2) Maintain their football competitiveness, being in the top 12-16 or better of the CFP conversation and in the thick of it for the Pac-12 title. They’re not looking for them to win the Pac every year. It’s really reasonable expectations. Also, USC, Michigan, and Ohio State are among the B1G schools that are advocates for Utah.
Can all of this be flipped on its head in a week? Sure, but Utah and other top schools like Oregon, Washington, and Stanford, have eyes towards adding and not making rash decisions.
Breathe, don’t panic. No one at the U is really panicking, nor is there really any need to.
The belief at the moment — and things can change like Colorado doing an about-face — is that they’ll add one more if everyone else stays. Two more if Arizona bounces. The remaining teams would sign shorter term TV deal and the new team(s) would take a decent amount less. If it’s one team, it very likely could be SMU and not SDSU, because the belief is it’s easier for SMU to get out of their current deal.
Additionally, something that’s been talked about on the board by me or others close to it, is that I’ve been told in the last year that Utah has had B1G discussions, where they’ve been given guidelines on what the B1G wants to see for their next round of expansion. 1) Increase the research funding by a few million per year (doable). 2) Maintain their football competitiveness, being in the top 12-16 or better of the CFP conversation and in the thick of it for the Pac-12 title. They’re not looking for them to win the Pac every year. It’s really reasonable expectations. Also, USC, Michigan, and Ohio State are among the B1G schools that are advocates for Utah.
Can all of this be flipped on its head in a week? Sure, but Utah and other top schools like Oregon, Washington, and Stanford, have eyes towards adding and not making rash decisions.
Breathe, don’t panic. No one at the U is really panicking, nor is there really any need to.
