HOT COUGAR ACTION: Moos Is 'Content' With No-Cali Division If TV Money Is Equal

by Jeff Nusser on Sep 3, 2010 11:11 AM PDT in WSU Athletics

I don't know if you're sick of talking about this and all the speculation surrounding it -- I sort of am -- but if you're not, here's something for discussion directly from Athletics Director Bill Moos that was a nugget in yesterday's linkpost and was basically repackaged for a story by Howie Stalwick for The Tacoma News Tribune:

Moos said he’s willing to pass up annual football road games to the Los Angeles or San Francisco areas – two traditional strongholds for WSU recruiting – if the Pac-12 spreads television revenue equally among schools.

"I’d be content with that," Moos said this week. The Cougars’ athletic budget of $30 million is easily the Pac-10’s smallest.

We've made it pretty clear how we feel about this (and if you're not clear, I wrote about it over here, too). We just don't think money alone is going to make this thing palatable. My guess is that Moos knows he's fighting a losing battle, and figures the money is more important than the divisional alignment, so he's going to use that as a negotiating point.

The good news is that we've seen what Moos can do with some money, and besides: Money impacts all the sports, not just football. So while I still think the ripple effect of not having any California schools in our football division is nothing to dismiss, I'm inclined to trust Moos that given the limited options before him, money is most important.

Still: Wouldn't it be that much better for the conference as a whole to have better divisional alignments and split the money equally, like the Big Ten and the SEC, which are (oddly enough) the two most profitable conferences in America?

Anyway, whatever. I'm so glad there's a football game tomorrow.

Speaking of the game, Jim Moore -- noted WSU alum, newspaper/online luminary and radio personality -- is a good friend of the site, so we figured we'd pass this along to you: He's going to be at Performance Grill in Auburn for a gigantic viewing party put on by the owner of the restaurant, a Coug who used to own the Village Pub in Magnolia. Moore will be there from 3 p.m. until the game ends. Butch will even be there.

If you're looking for a place to catch the game, that's where to be.

On to the other links!

WSU News

WSU freshmen must prepare for raucous OSU crowd - Spokesman.com - Sept. 3, 2010
The Cougars will rely on more than a handful of true freshmen in the season opener vs. Oklahoma State, which is also a little nerve-wracking for Paul Wulff, though not as bad as it could be. ... "I’m very confident in a lot of them. I know that, even though they’re true freshmen, they’re better players than what we’ve been working with in terms of adding to our depth." The Cougars will take 20 freshmen to Stillwater, including nine fresh out of high school.

In the Wild: Wazzu's Ol' Crimson is anything but elusive - Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports
Washington State is, charitably speaking, not a good football team. Cougar fans rank dead last among BCS conference universities in game attendance. When a program falls on hard times, it's not unusual to see the school's sporting traditions fall by the wayside as well. Not so in Pullman. Meet Ol' Crimson, banner of Washington State University.

Youth will serve at WSU - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Sept. 2, 2010
Tight end Zach Tatman, who was injured last year as a fifth-year senior, was finally awarded a sixth year by the NCAA on Thursday, according to coach Paul Wulff. Tatman lost more than two years of eligibility to injuries since starting his college career in Oregon playing basketball. He’s No. 3 on the depth chart, but is on a couple of special teams. In case you are wondering, even without the approval of the NCAA, he was able to practice and has since camp began.

WSU football: Some predictions, and a look at Jeff Tuel | Moscow-Pullman Daily News Blogs
There’s just too many question marks in Pullman to consider picking this one to be competitive. I don’t think there’s any question WSU will be better this year. But they’re traveling nine true freshmen who all have a shot to play, and in that kind of environment, I wonder how realistic it is to expect much from them.

Coug Friday Roundup
The videogame dork in me ran the old EA Super Sim, where the Cougs and Pokes got it on in NCAA Football '11. It was an exciting game, but OK State won, 31-23. The Pokes would race to a 31-7 third quarter lead before Tuel brought them back with some fourth-quarter TD's, but it wasn't enough.

President encourages WSU to observe Friday tradition - WSU Today
WSU will celebrate "College Colors Day" Sept. 3 and "My Color is Crimson Day" every Friday. WSU President Elson S. Floyd has signed a presidential decree in which he proclaimed every Friday during the academic year Spirit Day. He encouraged faculty, staff, alumni, students and supporters of WSU to wear apparel bearing the colors or insignias of the university.

Play Tennis With A Cougar Sept 10-11 - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
The Washington State women's tennis team is ready for its annual "Play Tennis With A Cougar" event the weekend of Sept. 10-11 at the WSU Outdoor Tennis Center. Fans of all ages can join the Cougs on the court for two days of fun activities followed by an auction and dinner.

Gurveen Clair Diary Day Eight - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - Blog
Washington State freshman goalkeeper Gurveen Clair is training with the Canadian National Team. You can follow her journey on the wsucougars.com blog.

Julian Named Head Coach for Cross Country Teams - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
PULLMAN, Wash. -- Pete Julian has been named the head coach of the Washington State University cross country teams, Director of Athletics Bill Moos and Cougar Track & Field Head Coach Rick Sloan announced Thursday. Julian is in his second season of coaching the Cougars' men and women middle distance, distance and cross country runners at WSU.

Pac-10 News

Campus Corner: Steve Sarkisian's Recruiting Simply Par For The UW Course - SB Nation Seattle
Hold your horses, Husky fans. You're right to be excited by the job Sarkisian is doing, but the reality is that he's not doing anything that much different than most of the coaches who came before him. (This is in here because I wrote it. I get to do that. Plus, I figured you'd like a Coug trying to tell Huskies to calm the heck down.)

Pac-10 football: Picks of the week | College Hotline

Other Random Stuff We Like

Understanding College Football Officiating - Why Don't They Call Holding? - Corn Nation
This is the last part of a four-part series on college football officiating. In this article, we discuss why the officials call what they call. You're wondering why they don't call holding, right?

Week 1 College Football Buffet: Previewing Every Game So You Know Which To Consume - SBNation.com
HE PREVIEWS EVERY GAME PEOPLE
You had your Thursday Night appetizer. It was nice to see the restaurant open for business again but let's face it...the main course hasn't been served just yet. Let's find out what looks tasty and what might be worth pushing to the side of your plate in this weekend's college football buffet. (All times are Eastern.)

Tweet Comment 3 comments | 0 recs |