Well, after months of speculation, the day is finally upon us: At 11:30 a.m. PDT, Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott will announce to the world just how it is that this newfangled Pac-12 will be divided up for football and just how these 12 institutions plan to play nice with all the piles of money they figure to be rolling in over the coming decades.
You can watch the press conference live (if you're interested in this sort of thing) via the embedded Ustream channel below:
Given that the presidents/chancellors are meeting this morning to hammer out the details and Scott has already scheduled the press conference to announce it, we can expect that the important details have already been worked out. Culled from various reports, here's what we expect to hear:
- The football divisions will be WSU, UW, Oregon, Oregon State, Cal and Stanford in the north; USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah in the south. There will not be divisions for the other sports.
- The conference will no longer use an appearance-based revenue sharing model. The revenue will be shared almost equally right away, with USC and UCLA each receiving $2 million more each year than everyone else until a threshold of total revenue for the conference is reached, then everyone shares equally. (Confused? Think of it this way: They're going to divide the pot 12 ways, but everyone not named USC and UCLA is going to give up $400,000 of their share, and that will go to the Trojans and Bruins. $4 million doesn't seem like all that much when you think of it that way.) The threshold, by the way, should be reached in the next couple of years, I would guess.
- The first football conference championship game will be played at the home field of the team with the better conference record, but that other options (such as a neutral site) will continue to be explored.
That's about it, at least in terms of the stuff that's important to you and I. Feel free to use this as an open discussion thread during the press conference and after.
On to the links!
WSU Football News
WSU a day closer to Stanford - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Oct. 20, 2010
There are a lot of reasons why coach Paul Wulff decided to skip the pads the past couple days, from injuries to a desire to have fresh bodies for Saturday. That will end on Thursday, though, as the Cougars will wearing some pads and do some hitting in their last Pullman workout before heading to Northern California.
There's more to Sekope Kaufusi than hair - Spokesman.com - Oct. 20, 2010
It shouldn’t be surprising. At 6-foot-3 and 233-pounds, he’s the size of a full-grown man. What is surprising is he has full-grown responsibilities off the field as well. He and girlfriend Sui Sami live together with their year-old son, Ziggy Atagi-Kaufusi, born in June, 2009, just before Sekope left for his freshman year at WSU.
Local News | Pick Six: Teams with brutal schedules | Seattle Times Newspaper
Some teams are simply doomed from the start, stuck with schedules that give them no hope of having a good seasons. (WSU is on the list.)
WSU Football Friday on Thursday - Stanford Cardinal Edition - WSU Football Blog
WSU Basketball News
Cougar Basketball to Hold Crimson and Gray Scrimmage - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
The Washington State University men's basketball team will give its fans another preview of the 2010-11 squad at its Crimson and Gray Scrimmage, Friday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at Bohler Gym. Admission is free of charge and doors open at 6 p.m.
Men's Basketball Adds to Television Schedule - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
Fox Sports Net Northwest has picked up the Nov. 23 meeting against Portland, as part of the Cougar Hardwood Classic at KeyArena in Seattle. The game will serve as the Cougars' television debut of the 2010-11 season. FSN Northwest will also televise five of WSU's Pacific-10 Conference games. The Cougars will be seen regionally when they travel to USC (Dec. 31), Oregon State (Feb. 5) and Arizona State (Feb. 19). Home contests against Oregon (Jan. 8) and Arizona (Jan. 22) were also added to this year's TV schedule and will be seen on FSN NW.
Pac-10 News
What to watch in the Pac-10: Week 8 - Pac-10 Blog - ESPN
Cougs D-line vs. Stanford O-line: Stanford has the most physical offensive line in the conference. The Cougars front seven showed some signs of improvement against a good Arizona O-line, but they still rank 119th in the nation in run defense. If you can't stop the run versus Stanford, well, suffice it to say, you are in big trouble, because Jim Harbaugh loves to be cruel -- which means running power at you over and over again until you wilt. You know, like he did to USC last year.
Pac-10 predictions: Week 8 - Pac-10 Blog - ESPN
Stanford 45, Washington State 27: The Cougars defense just isn't built to stop the Cardinal. And Jeff Tuel and company aren't going to outscore them.