What looked like a hopeful morning crumbled quickly.
If you woke up early enough on Friday morning, you saw something a little unexpected: hope that the Pac-12, against all odds, was actually going to stick together. Reporters from several media outlets said a Grant of Rights was now on the table in front of Pac-12 presidents as they met before most of their alums were awake.
Then it all came crashing down. Quickly.
Action Network’s Brett McMurphy was the first to report the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies would be bolting for the Big Ten. The school presidents reportedly got on the call this morning but Oregon and Washington expressed more concern over the deal with Apple for the Pac-12.
At this point, it appears to have been a leverage play to get more than whatever partial share they’d been offered by the Big Ten.
Kirk Schulz and Pat Chun released the following joint statement at 12:15pm PT today:
Cougs, please see this statement from @pat_chun and I regarding recent @pac12 developments. pic.twitter.com/giJwjXQF2P
— WSU Office of the President (@WSU_Cougar_Pres) August 4, 2023
Everything has been happening very quickly this week, hell, even just today. But what this likely represents, with some finality, is the death of college football as we knew it. No one is asking for this; only the TV executives who want to line their pockets as quickly as possible before linear cable subscriptions reach tenuous levels want this.
Do they care one iota about anything that makes college football special? Absolutely not. They happy to take a blow torch to the schools who can least afford it in an effort to increase their EBITDA for a quarter or two.
Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, y’all.