CougCenter: All Posts by Michael PrestonWhy Washington State? Well that's a stupid question.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47853/fave.png2024-03-21T16:00:00-07:00https://www.cougcenter.com/authors/michael-preston/rss2024-03-21T16:00:00-07:002024-03-21T16:00:00-07:00With so much unknown, enjoy the hell of out of this
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<img alt="NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament First Round-Omaha Practice" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/k503L_7Mf-4eXT_dd3YsrW77gCc=/0x0:4454x2969/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73224457/usa_today_22819783.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>It’s not often Washington State basketball is this good. With so much still unknown, we should all relish in their unexpected appearance.</p> <p id="kIhRz4">She held my hand for the first time there. </p>
<p id="hPk3zN">I can’t remember if it was on the way to, or in our seats, at Beasley Coliseum- but I felt the hand tuck into mine. I tried to poker face my way through a heart pounding inadvisably fast, but soon we could at least pay attention to a barrage of buckets from Kyle Weaver, brick after brick from O.J. Mayo, and deafening chants of “O.J.’s GUILTY” any time he picked up a foul. </p>
<p id="gK0EHe">We’d both been awake for 28 or so hours by the time we walked to my apartment. She kissed me. We put an old episode of Family Guy and fell asleep about four seconds after the intro ended. </p>
<p id="ru3Jec">As I write this 16 years later, I’m watching her chase our daughter around the yard at our home. </p>
<p id="7xwkpE">When the Cougs are good at basketball, there’s a reason why it fills my heart to the brim. </p>
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<p id="tLrTN5">It’s really, really hard to have a good basketball team in Pullman. Maybe more than any other sports, men’s or women’s. That’s not to say good teams come and go like the tides in other sports but remember back to your days in school, no matter how long ago, and you can probably remember at least one sport that went toe-to-toe with the best in the conference. </p>
<p id="MIBiF4">Football, baseball, volleyball, soccer, rowing. All dominate from at least time-to-time. </p>
<p id="qb0Slo">Basketball? Not so much. </p>
<p id="6qW9JE">They did plenty of winning under Fred Bohler and Jack Friel, including a national championship in 1917, but frequent trips to the postseason were not something the program enjoyed. Prior to Dick Bennett’s arrival in Pullman, the team had only been to the NCAA Tournament four times, and only once had they made multiple trips under the same coach (George Raveling in 1980 and 1983). </p>
<p id="KkYeWn">There were still great names to come out of the program. Steve Puidokas, Craig Ehlo, Mark Hendrickson, James Donaldson, Ike Fontaine, and Don Collins to name just a few. But postseason success just wasn’t something with a long history for the <a href="https://www.cougcenter.com">Washington State</a> basketball program. </p>
<p id="IhNdIw">It’s why, with two straight tournament appearances under Tony Bennett, our era of Washington State fans are still the only that think “basketball” first when it comes to who you remember being <em>the </em>program when you were in school. </p>
<p id="ONrvSP">We spent hours bundled up in the freezing cold, waiting in line to get into Beasley two hours before tip. We ran extension cords longer than OHSA approved lengths into the building to power not heat lamps, but televisions and N64s. We studied in the wind, we threw snowballs at opposing team busses, we saved up all the voice we could to make Beasley the most intimidating environment in the Pac-10. There was truly just one row of taped off chairs separating players from the students. Someone, and it’s impossible to say who, was nearly kicked out of a game at the request of Kevin Love’s dad. But again, who’s to say who?</p>
<p id="H1KH2T">Those tournament runs were so special. Even with a gut-punching double OT loss to the <a href="https://www.anchorofgold.com">Vanderbilt Commodores</a> in 2007, I looked forward to the next season so much. They dispatched the Winthrop Eagles with ease, made even easier work of the <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com">Notre Dame Fighting Irish</a>, a feat Digger Phelps is surely still shaken by to this day. They drew North Carolina’s bracket in Charlotte, something no one was overcoming but hot damn, they’d made it to the Sweet 16. Who knew what could be next? </p>
<p id="h9diAW">Well, we all know. </p>
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<p id="NGwJBI">Everything had to come together this year. In the modern age of college athletics, Washington State is at even more of a disadvantage, because the old “Best Way to Make Runs to the Tournament” of building a team through good recruiting, spending years learning excellent offensive and defensive systems, is a thing of the past. </p>
<p id="1gTiaz">D.J. Rodman? Gone. T.J. Bamba? Philly bound. Mo Gueye? Off to the NBA. </p>
<p id="pByBXy">How the hell do you replace all of that talent and have any hope of breaking the longest NCAA tournament drought in the Power Five? </p>
<p id="kj62ZZ">Boy, did Kyle Smith ever do it. </p>
<p id="8pdro4">This team is full of so many wonderful stories. Myles Rice returning from chemo. Jaylen Wells going from overlooked Division II All-American to a three point sniper. Isaac Jones becoming one of the best big men in the conference. Isaiah Watts, Oscar Cluff, and Rueben Chinyelu all making massive contributions. </p>
<p id="pHgMpd">It just doesn’t come together like this very often for Washington State. </p>
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<p id="HWA3lH">Even if it only lasts a couple of hours tonight, I’m going to relish the hell out of it. This team had no business being this good; no business challenging for the regular season conference championship all the way to the final weekend. And yet, they did. </p>
<p id="Uv9Vjs">Could appearances in the Big Dance become more regular at Washington State? It sounds like Pat Chun <a href="https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1773874/wsu-coach-kyle-smith-on-potential-extension-were-working-on-it/">is trying to make sure they are</a>. But with our future still in such flux, even with a temporary home through 2026, you would do well to relish in this. </p>
<p id="CZUnxz">Relish in the fade up from black on the commercial break with the CBS theme smashing your speakers. Relish the tip off. Relish a deep Jaylen three, Myles slashing to the bucket, Isaac rattling the rim, Isaiah tenaciously chasing on the defensive end. </p>
<p id="iei2xy">Relish just how special this really is for Washington State. With everything, and I do truly mean everything, going against them this year, this squad put together the best season in more than 15 years and made their way to the greatest single-elimination tournament anywhere on earth. </p>
<p id="yyud9w">No matter what, I’m so damn proud of this team, coaches, and players alike. You gave us something I’d missed so desperately. </p>
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<p id="SxsdT9">It will be the only day I insist she wear what I say: “Go Cougs” shirt, she says. She’ll have her waffle while I brush her hair; pigtails or a ponytail afterwards I hope. Dad still hasn’t perfected the braid. </p>
<p id="qPT8Vo">We’ll walk out to the car to go to school and work. Her mom will take my hand. And I’ll remember where I was the first time she did that, and where we are now. </p>
<p id="plm0sX">We’ll sit and watch together tonight, never having imagined that the next time I watched the Cougars play in the NCAA Tournament, my daughter would be there to watch it with me. </p>
https://www.cougcenter.com/2024/3/21/24107169/march-madness-2024-ncaa-tournament-washington-state-cougars-mens-basketballMichael Preston2024-02-23T15:40:48-08:002024-02-23T15:40:48-08:00Jaylen Wells is all of us
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<img alt="NCAA Basketball: Washington State at Arizona" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iUxv4VfUDTyXtp-Es6awzuIlC9Q=/33x0:3020x1991/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73160628/usa_today_22592096.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Zachary BonDurant-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>It’s hard to not see a lot of ourselves in one of the best stories in college basketball this year. </p> <p id="1N22Lm">The start of my deep affection for Wazzu athletics was, lets face it, weird. Basketball? When had the <em>basketball team </em>ever been good enough to stir up loyalty and love for the Cougs? They’d made it to the NCAA Tournament four times in previous 65 years! </p>
<p id="njDCU9">But, the best teams in a generation, the first ever back-to-back tournament appearances, and legendary opponents walking through the doors at Beasley Coliseum will do that to you. </p>
<p id="roaFNa">When basketball is good is when my heart is the fullest. </p>
<p id="Q77TWJ">And when Jaylen Wells canned a triple I’ll remember forever, it burst beyond capacity into a scream that my neighbors heard. </p>
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<p id="q40lJf">It might be impossible to pass around enough credit for this team. Every story could be a long form essay itself. Kyle Smith and his coaching staff rebuilding the roster. Myles Rice storming back from chemotherapy to almost certainly lock up first-team all conference. Isaac Jones being an absolute revelation, the best big man at Wazzu since Aron Baynes. Speaking of large Aussies, Oscar Cluff with the softest touch I can remember since ... well, Aron Baynes. </p>
<p id="OFVoHd">But if you looked right past Jaylen Wells as the guy who would be the one to shoulder the load when the team need him most, then you’re just as guilty as I am of something you should know better than: looking past someone. </p>
<p id="JEMh89">It’s a good life lesson regardless. But it’s especially poignant given the events of the last six or so months for all of us. </p>
<p id="UvToTo">“Wazzu? No, we don’t need them. Hell, they’ve been nothing but a bunch of coattail riders for years, am I right? I mean, it’s <em>terrible </em>that this has to happen for them but dog eat dog, yanno? We have to do what’s best for us. They would too.”</p>
<p id="ZB6P67">Overlooked. Dismissed. Forgotten about. We’re used to it, right?</p>
<p id="6TQnPX">Enter Jaylen Wells. </p>
<p id="G2oqhj">Wells, somehow, spent the first two years of his collegiate career at Sonoma State. Mind you, wine country isn’t a terrible place to refine one’s skill in an attempt to transfer to a bigger school but it is still a Division II institution. How did so many Division I coaches, forget just Power Five coaches, look past Jaylen Wells? </p>
<p id="3BkP9f">His <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/jaylen-wells-46140954/college-298393/">247 player page is so spartan</a> it doesn’t even list offers! His Twitter page doesn’t have a list of offers from after he entered the portal this past spring, which most players will happily shout from the hilltops after one is received. Wells, a Division II All-American, best player in his conference a season ago, received a Power Five offer from the <a href="https://www.cougcenter.com">Washington State Cougars</a> ... and no one else. </p>
<p id="lD24vG">Wells wouldn’t start until January, though he was well established in Smith’s rotation before then. Since his first start for the Cougs on Jan. 10 at the USC Trojans, Wells is averaging 16.3 points per game. He has turned the ball over just seven times. He has missed a grand total of five free throws. </p>
<p id="2MT1yK">He’s shooting 51.6% from beyond the arc. Read that again: since Jan. 10, Wells is making <em>more than half </em>of his three pointers. </p>
<p id="Bf5jWO">But lets go back in time though to Feb. 3, a nail biting, overtime win against the <a href="https://www.uwdawgpound.com">Washington Huskies</a> in Seattle. With 34 seconds left, desperately needing a bucket, Wells drove to his right, pulled up near the elbow and tickled the twine to give WSU a lead. It wouldn’t be the last time the lead changed hands that half but Wells’ coolness under pressure there was something that stuck with me. The dude was inordinately confident that shot was going in. In fact, he’d been working on it recently with ... Slick Watts. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The man <a href="https://twitter.com/jaylen_wells?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jaylen_wells</a> tells no lies. We were in the lab working on that very shot the night before. <a href="https://t.co/z33symQEuS">https://t.co/z33symQEuS</a> <a href="https://t.co/zcB6t4RoVK">pic.twitter.com/zcB6t4RoVK</a></p>— Shooting Coach Donald Watts (@donaldwatts24) <a href="https://twitter.com/donaldwatts24/status/1754531884313514282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2024</a>
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<p id="jOkmQj">That’s Donald Watts, son of Seattle SuperSonics legend Slick Watts, coaching Jaylen Wells on a shot to help his team put away their rival in the city where he used to play and now lives<em>. </em></p>
<p id="WUmRcK">I ask again: how the hell could you overlook Jaylen Wells?</p>
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<p id="ZFV4hh">Coming out of Sonoma State, Jaylen Wells had one place to go: Pullman. Overlooked, dismissed, and forgotten about by teams at a level where he very clearly belongs, Wells now plays for a school with the same chip on their shoulder, the same Cougs vs. Everybody mentality. What I see in Jaylen Wells, I see in this school: that you know you belong and no one believes you. </p>
<p id="PgcZpb">Present company included, hardly anyone thought this team could do anything before the season. So all they’ve bothered to do in the interim is turn in the best regular season for any Washington State team since 2007-2008 with their hands firmly on the steering wheel to do something no basketball team at Washington State has done since 1941: win a regular season conference title. </p>
<p id="S0BXPG">They had to beat the <a href="https://www.azdesertswarm.com">Arizona Wildcats</a> in the McKale Center, on Neon Night to boot, to control their destiny. And thanks perhaps most of all to a overlooked, dismissed, and forgotten about small forward, they’ve got a chance to make sure that if you’re going to send them to hell, they’re going to drag you with. </p>
<p id="VP7aex">In November, if you had Jaylen Wells being the guy to put the Cougs on their back and saunter out of Tucson with their third win in their last four tries or Wazzu to sit on top of the Pac-12 in late February, you’d be lying. But I’d forgive you. </p>
<p id="u4JKKw">Because no one else would’ve either. </p>
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https://www.cougcenter.com/2024/2/23/24081094/wsu-cougars-basketball-top-25-jaylen-wellsMichael Preston2023-12-20T16:59:58-08:002023-12-20T16:59:58-08:00Report: Wazzu and OSU to join WCC for two seasons in all sports except baseball
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<img alt="NCAA Basketball: West Coast Conference Tournament Championship - Gonzaga vs Saint Marys" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sqRKA0eAOVAgXf73M4ioc26MZk4=/0x0:6559x4373/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72984855/usa_today_20170508.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>We now have an answer for where WSU will be stashing all their other sports for a couple of seasons. </p> <p id="5Bshs1">We now have our answer for where the <a href="https://www.cougcenter.com">Washington State Cougars</a> and <a href="https://www.buildingthedam.com">Oregon State Beavers</a> will be stashing the rest of their sports besides football on a temporary basis. CBS’s Matt Norlander <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/oregon-state-washington-state-to-join-join-gonzaga-led-wcc-in-basketball-for-next-two-seasons/">reported this morning</a> that the schools would be joining the West Coast Conference for two years starting with 2024-2025 in all sports except football and baseball. The WCC’s presidents and athletic directors are expected to approve the move on Thursday. </p>
<p id="ganMSE">Importantly, the Cougs and Beavs will be eligible for the postseason and be considered “de facto” members of the conference. Their arrangement with the <a href="https://www.mwcconnection.com">Mountain West</a> is essentially purchasing six games a year and does not include any ability to participate in the conference championship. </p>
<p id="9EVOGG">Norlander reported that although it had been expected the Pac-2 would join the Mountain West, “logistical and ongoing legal concerns” (more on this in a bit) had kept it from becoming a reality. Importantly, the Pac-2 has the future of their athletic programs secured for at least the next couple of years while they work out everything else. </p>
<p id="lkRHdN">Why for the next two years and only two years for now? This fall, the NCAA confirmed the Pac-12 can operate as a two-team conference through at least 2026. This works out nicely for the WCC as well, as they welcome in two large, public institutions after losing the Brigham Young Cougars to the Big 12 this year. Even if it’s just on a temporary basis, they’ll get a visibility bump nationally. </p>
<p id="Nj36RJ">The “logistical” issues are likely related to travel arrangements for all sports. While the WCC tends to have schools travel on weekends to traveling pairs (much the same way the Pac-12 does now), the Mountain West doesn’t. For instance, over a five game span, the Nevada Wolf Pack alternate home-away to all parts of the MWC footprint. Although the footprint for the conferences is roughly the same, the savings in travel cost with how they arrange away games is likely to be significant enough that it was a large consideration for Washington State and Oregon State. </p>
<p id="yN0Xq9">As for “ongoing legal concerns”, it’s just a guess but it might be related to the Mountain West wanting more than just a two-year scheduling agreement for football to agree to a schedule with all other sports. The Mountain West would, to be clear, be right to ask for this. It’s not entirely unreasonable to ask for more of a commitment than what they’re getting now if WSU and OSU wanted a home for all their sports but it’s also easy to see why WSU and OSU wouldn’t want to make it. This keeps their options wide open for the next couple of years, especially as the Mountain West television contract is up for renewal in 2026. If you wanted to keep any hope of peeling parts of that conference off to rebuild the Pac-12, this is precisely how you do it. </p>
<p id="li567x">So, what about baseball? Well ... who knows? An independent schedule isn’t completely out of the question here but that’s not likely to do any favors for rejuvenating the program. It’s entirely possible that program ends up in yet another conference, which would be unprecedented for a school to participate in three conferences. But then again, this is all a little unprecedented. </p>
https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/12/20/24010401/wsu-ous-wcc-gonzaga-saint-marysMichael Preston2023-11-14T17:04:16-08:002023-11-14T17:04:16-08:00Preliminary injunction granted to WSU and OSU, making them the only Pac-12 board members
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<img alt="Whitman County Washington courthouse" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OTAKeuPSv8-A_p4hf6ld8QxRPKE=/0x0:5100x3400/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72866374/1289092542.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by: Don & Melinda Crawford/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Whitman County judge Gary Libey did stay the order until Monday at noon to allow UW to appeal. </p> <p id="ObLify">Just over two months after a Whitman County judge <a href="https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/9/11/23868844/washington-state-oregon-state-university-pac-12-conference-lawsuit-big-10-uw-uo-colorado">ordered a halt to any Pac-12 board meetings</a>, another hearing Tuesday determined there can be only two members of the board moving forward: Washington State and Oregon State. </p>
<p id="HiWGeJ">Judge Gary Libey granted a preliminary injunction to the remaining Pac-12 schools in Colfax today, noting the other ten schools must be allowed to attend meetings but cannot vote on anything. Libey did stay the order until Monday at noon so the defendants in the case, the University of Washington and Pac-12, have time to file an appeal. </p>
<p id="VZaghY">The hearing dragged on for more than two hours, with attorneys for both sides making the same arguments that had largely been made in court documents for weeks leading up to the case. The plaintiffs (WSU and OSU) argued that irreparable harm could come to them if the board is allowed to stay at 12 and the precedent to remove members had been set with several meetings being held and decisions made that effect finances without USC and UCLA since their departure. They also argued that “notice of withdrawal” in the Pac-12 by-laws is simply saying you’re going to leave, not the actual action of doing so.</p>
<p id="vX1RMY">The defendants (UW, the Pac-12) argued basically that the interpretation of the Pac-12 by-laws was wrong, that the schools would be in the conference through next summer and so should have a say in the goings on. One attorney also managed, somehow, to argue only the US Supreme Court should hear the case because of original jurisdiction. </p>
<p id="Wms43T">Libey, like every other judge I’ve ever covered, already had his mind made up before the hearing and ruled instantly in favor of WSU and OSU. Following the arguments, he noted that “I grew up in a place where conduct spoke more than words” and issued his order giving control of the conference solely to WSU and OSU. </p>
<p id="r9izIf">This is assuredly not the end of it. The loser in today’s hearing was always going to appeal and UW* has already signaled they will. But come Monday at lunchtime, pending a full stay of Judge Libey’s order by a court of appeals, WSU and OSU will have sole control of the conference. </p>
<p id="eL3vqD">It’s no fun when the rabbit’s got the gun, is it? </p>
<p id="LqT6Bo">*We should note, in this case, UW is representing themselves and the other nine schools <em>amicus curiae </em>because they have standing. </p>
<p id="FWKjuJ"><strong>UPDATE 11/15: 3:00 p.m.: </strong>As expected, UW has filed an appeal directly with the Washington State Supreme Court, asking for a hearing and an extension of the stay until the court can take up the appeal. </p>
https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/11/14/23961567/wsu-osu-pac-12-uw-board-memberMichael Preston2023-09-27T21:01:31-07:002023-09-27T21:01:31-07:00Ask Michael Anything: Is there really, REALLY, anything to WSU and OSU heading to the Big 12?
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<img alt="NCAA Football: Oregon State at Washington State" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OKI_efZkeXk2Rj_llYmzjvxzMH4=/0x0:3839x2559/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72696127/usa_today_21492879.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>James Snook-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>That plus more fun after a big win in the Pac-2 Championship. </p> <p id="NUFhGI">Why yes, I do look good in the glow of a conference championship win some five days after it occurred, thanks for asking. Like a chemical peel or whatever it is the kids these days do to retain their youth and vigor but here’s hoping it’s chain smoking 2:30 a.m. cigarettes at a $10 blackjack table in Reno. If it is, I’m living forever. </p>
<p id="T9uX6P">We find ourselves near the end of September with your <a href="https://www.cougcenter.com">Washington State Cougars</a> at 4-0, No. 16 in the country. Not only that, Cougar volleyball currently resides at No. 6 in the nation and soccer sits at No. 23. Maybe no better time on the field to be a Wazzu fan. So, of course, the perfect time for the most college athletics upheaval in half a century. </p>
<p id="pMh7wU">The bye week is a perfect time (say perfect time again, Michael) to continue our previous podcast exclusive of Ask Michael Anything on this here website. Yes, it occurs to me this is like Bill Simmons old mailbag columns on Page 2. No, I’m not going to explain to you what Page 2 was. It was brilliant though. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">What are your thoughts on this podcast (first 10 minutes)? Is there any truth to it? <a href="https://t.co/vzOvuwXiHZ">https://t.co/vzOvuwXiHZ</a></p>— Andrew Lewis (@AndrewL426) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewL426/status/1707064114353467424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2023</a>
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<p id="vLAzHA">I mean, Wazzu and <a href="https://www.buildingthedam.com">Oregon State</a> have always been a perfect fit in the Big 12 from an institution stand point. Land grants who have occasionally overachieved athletically with rabidly passionate fanbases. Its always been there! </p>
<p id="Qkju1Q">But the Cougs and Beavs find themselves on the outside looking in after the realignment dance decided their crushed velvet suit just didn’t fit in these days. Not invited to a dance with the popular kids? No way I could relate at all. No sir. </p>
<p id="UtCY5J">With the Cal Golden Bears and Stanford Cardinal off to the Atlantic Coast Conference despite their location mere miles from the Pacific Coast, which, you’ll note, is on the opposite end of the continent, geography doesn’t matter any more. Academics don’t really matter either with UCF and <a href="https://www.vanquishthefoe.com">BYU</a> already in the Big 12. </p>
<p id="aS1I5M">It’s all about “media market” or whatever. Or at least it has been to this point. It’s pretty clear now that no one really expected the Cougs and Beavs to bow up and actually fight. Everyone thought we’d just accept fate and roll into the <a href="https://www.mwcconnection.com">Mountain West</a> but we haven’t. In fact, we’re doing quite the opposite. </p>
<p id="BTx8Yi">And it would appear that no one really thought all the implications through because the current Pac-12 rep on the College Football Playoff Board of Managers is ... Kirk Schulz. And for the board to make any changes to the format of the playoff before the 2025 edition, votes need to be unanimous. </p>
<p id="jz85o2">So that brings us to the one way that you might see Kirk Schulz willing to make the change: an invitation to the Big 12 for his institution along with OSU. If that happens, they’re likely very happy to drop their lawsuit, carve up the conference and make the changes to the CFP the other managers would like. </p>
<p id="HWmJ9H">How likely is that though? I’d still classify it as fairly remote though I’ve been comically wrong about a lot in this saga. A Big 12 invitation for Wazzu and OSU is definitely a “believe it when I see it” situation and until it actually happens, I just won’t believe it. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Realistically how long can we hold onto Coach Dickert and Arbuckle? Especially given all the realignment uncertainties</p>— Coach Dickert Era | Cougs vs Everybody (@EtherDash) <a href="https://twitter.com/EtherDash/status/1707062250492866767?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2023</a>
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<p id="FvE1kI">Until all the dust settles, we won’t really know. Dickert will almost certainly need to accept a pay cut of at least 40% off his $3 million salary. It would also probably be a step backwards for Arbuckle prestige wise even if the schools go it alone as the Pac-2 for a couple of years and merge with the Mountain West under the Pac-12 banner. </p>
<p id="n2jipo">Arbuckle is probably a good candidate to go elsewhere this offseason regardless if his offense continues on this trajectory. We knew the offense would be better but this much better? He’ll surely be getting calls for interviews in November. </p>
<p id="9EFypd">So how to keep him? A raise we probably can’t afford, unfortunately. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Top of the mornin’ to you Michael, I noticed at the Oregon State game that we are SO back, do you care to comment?</p>— it's me Harold (@harrysack_) <a href="https://twitter.com/harrysack_/status/1707089156231606504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2023</a>
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<p id="k0IvT8">/steps to microphone</p>
<p id="4AADkT">/taps it</p>
<p id="bDZDvC">/takes deep breath</p>
<p id="O8SsqU">We are so damn back. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">What happens to the PAC-2 next year in your opinion….</p>— Chris Kleene (@ckleene) <a href="https://twitter.com/ckleene/status/1707169924836184517?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2023</a>
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<p id="5PrZ1N">I know what I would prefer, which is for them to go it alone as the Pac-2 assuming they are granted an injunction against the other conference members making decisions. It’s likely where the most money is for them for a couple years and you can negotiate a clean TV deal when you fold the rest of the Mountain West in three years from now. </p>
<p id="r13y1q">Most likely? The schools are certainly hedging against that. But reps from WSU and OSU are being very non-committal right now, likely at the advice of their attorneys and Oliver Luck. </p>
<p id="fiUwVJ">If I had to put percentages on it though? </p>
<p id="op3xfG">70% - Pac-12 lawsuit settlement and just fold into Mountain West</p>
<p id="6RUomn">20% - Get your injunction, go it alone as Pac-2</p>
<p id="98pkmw">9% - Big 12 invitation</p>
<p id="rs3U8G">0.9% - Create a new Super Conference with every state school out there and call it the “Land Grant Union”</p>
<p id="ZTJ1cf">0.1% - Somehow get the Four Corners back and manage to finagle like $40 million a year from Apple and just send UW and Oregon the Homer Simpson double finger guns gif</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dearest Michael - what’s been your favorite play or scheme we’ve seen from our boy <a href="https://twitter.com/arbuckle_ben?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@arbuckle_ben</a> so far this year?</p>— Max is Lawyered Up (@MaxLikesSports1) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaxLikesSports1/status/1707060411261239744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2023</a>
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<p id="ya958t">The double QB sets are my favorite damn thing in the world. It currently competes for a podium spot with snuggles with my 3-year old and the perfectly prepared grilled chesse she had for dinner tonight and I absolutely did not steal a piece of, how dare you accuse me of it. </p>
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<p id="nOVUo0">Leave some more questions in the comments and I’ll get to them! </p>
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https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/9/27/23893784/wsu-cougars-osu-beavers-big-12Michael Preston2023-09-10T22:32:19-07:002023-09-10T22:32:19-07:00For one day, everything was as it should be
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<img alt="NCAA Football: Wisconsin at Washington State" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yxsmR2IyecVDwrtnwiUYScY6jpo=/5x0:5077x3381/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72633776/usa_today_21387457.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>James Snook-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>I’ve got no idea what lies ahead. But for one day in Pullman, everything felt good again. </p> <p id="9O9WNZ">PULLMAN, WASHINGTON — Shit, that’s a lot further down than I remember. </p>
<p id="wl1Jqw">Wait, should I remember? Have I ever actually done this before? Oh my God, I’ve never rushed the field at Martin Stadium before. </p>
<p id="lmwaLl">Why is my first attempt as a 35-year old man with lower back and knee issues? Why in God’s name am I contemplating this? If I get this wrong, I’ll crumple in a heap of yelps and groans. </p>
<p id="whhBGV">You know what? Who knows what the hell the future is. This may be my last chance. I’m not chickening out and going to the stairs a section over. Besides, it only looks like three feet. Yeah, that’s not as far as I think. Let go of the fence and go, dude.</p>
<p id="jEPSXu">Oh damn, this is more than three feet. </p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="djm9O6">
<p id="vjhTaL">Big Ten teams just don’t come to Pullman. In fact, the last time it had happened was more than 20 years ago when the Cougs beat an <a href="https://www.thechampaignroom.com">Illinois Fighting Illini</a> team in an otherwise forgettable season. There was reason to believe the <a href="https://www.buckys5thquarter.com">Wisconsin Badgers</a> would back out of this, it had happened plenty of times before. We always got the front end of a home-and-home and then a sack of money for the back end and a “we’ll get ya next time”. </p>
<p id="TUgZRa">The years marched by, Wisconsin didn’t cancel. Surely, they’d change their minds as the appointed date for their trip to Pullman grew closer. No way are they coming. None. </p>
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<cite>Jack Ellis/CougCenter</cite>
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<p id="SJKFFi">Maybe seven straight bowl appearances helped. Maybe Wazzu as a national brand helped. Hell, maybe even some belt tightening from a crowdless pandemic year helped. </p>
<p id="4lzl06">Whatever it was, Wisconsin got on a plane Friday morning and left for Pullman. </p>
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<p id="MatGma">I felt weird all week. Normally, I’d be besides myself with giddiness, unable to stop fidgeting in my seat at work as early as Monday morning before a game of this magnitude. Thoughts of Boone’s passes, carrying a cooler around the tailgates, seeing so many friends and loved ones didn’t allow for calmness. Pictures of long lines for the RV lots on Thursdays all but assured productivity of zero unless related to packing or figuring out the perfect mix of drinks for the aforementioned cooler. </p>
<p id="HuMmZr">Not this week. Not in a week just about a month after you could finally drive a stake into the heart of our conference. Not in a week when <a href="https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/9/8/23865299/washington-state-oregon-state-pac-12-kirk-schulz-george-kliavkoff">we actually filed a lawsuit against that very conference</a> because we’re so concerned the members who’ve shown how little they care about us threatened to strip it for parts, leaving us virtually penniless. Not in a week after a summer where television networks actually did manage to do just that even after a last minute hail mary that, apparently, no one else was really interested in. </p>
<p id="Wgvt1Y">Not in a week where we have no idea what the future holds. I just had to hope that getting Pullman and getting into the motions would help. </p>
<p id="t8WbBj">Surely, I would enjoy our traditional Friday night downtown bar crawl. And I did. </p>
<p id="JaJ3Yc">Surely, I would enjoy The Coug, Valhalla, and the tailgates. And I did. </p>
<p id="0sZgGM">Hopefully, I would enjoy the game. </p>
<p id="LCq31n">And I did. </p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="myc8XN">
<p id="lrLp8S">You wouldn’t know it if you were in Pullman that we only have three football games scheduled for next year. Shoulder to shoulder and butt to butt in every bar on Friday evening, The Coug absolutely leaking at the seams thanks to their new offering of a breakfast sandwich and a door opened just minutes after the sun migrated above the horizon. </p>
<p id="W469ql">The tailgates buzzed starting at lunch. The sounds of animal protein on flat-tops and grills flew in the wind on the backs of smells they’d helped produce, truly the best example of symbosis in nature. Shouts of “Go Cougs!” and keys meeting the bottom of a beer can were plentiful. </p>
<p id="5V2q7f">Something started to fill the air. It didn’t matter that the future was so uncertain. What mattered was that fate said today, the Wisconsin Badgers would regret fulfilling the back half of that home-and-home. So much had gone wrong in the last two months it just felt like today was going to go right. </p>
<p id="6TV7oA">A brilliant first half. The usual turd quarter. Then, as you often need: a timely turnover and an offense that, mercifully, chose now to put together their only touchdown drive of the second half. </p>
<p id="fP0Al4">A 4th and 6 with Four Verts. The call I can respect, if only because the pass fell to the turf. </p>
<p id="I0jn3V">Two third down conversions on the ensuing drive. Kneel down. Kneel down. End of game. </p>
<p id="sXhou6">Pandemonium. </p>
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<p id="r7h2QH">The joy. The sheer joy after the game. We needed it, perhaps more desperately than ever. Hugs. So many hugs. Did I know all those people? Well, I knew most. The tailgate tear down took longer than usual, there was beer to drink and, yes, more hugs to pass out. </p>
<p id="QOAbjp">For the first time, I didn’t mind the lack of cell reception and the constant drip of sweat in the downstairs of Valhalla. How the young lady in the leather pants was surviving I can’t even comprehend. “Dancing Queen” came on, my anthem. </p>
<p id="hksZUr">We left for a hot dog. We could hear the fireworks and smell what we thought was smoke as we ate them on the front lawn of Delta Delta Delta. A cacophony of music all along Colorado Street, kids skipping across streets from party to party. </p>
<p id="mbzEXJ">We walked away from College Hill last night and for one day, everything was exactly as it should be. We all reveled in little David on the Palouse slaying Goliath again. Counted out again, maybe this time for good, we showed everyone why they shouldn’t: Pullman is a damn special place with damn special teams and damn special people. </p>
<p id="TIcCqz">Everyone else has forgotten us. We won’t. </p>
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<p id="WQ0NTi">23-P07639 Theft Other 23:26:02 09/09/23 H Humphrey CLO </p>
<p id="O7HhJ2">900 NE COLORADO ST; PULLMAN, WA 99163</p>
<p id="beUxtv">Officer requested case for a male that was caught with a stolen pylon from Martin Stadium. Computer report.</p>
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https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/9/10/23867701/wsu-cougars-ap-top-25-wisconsin-badgers-realignmentMichael Preston2023-09-03T15:41:05-07:002023-09-03T15:41:05-07:00An entirely wild realignment idea: Stall
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<figcaption>Photo by Ali Gradischer/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Instead of reverse merging or joining the Mountain West, why not do something completely insane? You stall for the two years you’re allowed to.</p> <p id="ep8AlJ"><a href="https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/9/1/23855586/stanford-cal-acc-expansion-smu-american">With the departure of Cal and Stanford</a> to the ACC last week, the <a href="https://www.cougcenter.com">Washington State Cougars</a> and <a href="https://www.buildingthedam.com">Oregon State Beavers</a> now truly have control over what happens to them in this insane realignment saga. They are, officially, the last schools standing in the Pac-12 Conference. </p>
<p id="5egJZR"><a href="https://www.mwcconnection.com">Mountain West</a> commissioner Gloria Nevarez spent the weekend at games involving schools that are currently members playing ones she hopes to have in the near future. While jumping into Mountain West either directly or via reverse merger is certainly the safest move, it brings with it a mess of questions lawyers are racking up billable hours trying to answer. What happens to the tens of millions of dollars in NCAA Units due the conference? What about the big <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/rose-bowl">Rose Bowl</a> settlement? What about the Pac-12 Network? </p>
<p id="Jv84pM">There is, however, one other option. To be clear, it’s borderline insane and itself comes with complications arguably more numerous than whatever the remaining two schools can work out with Nevarez and her membership. But it’s also the one that could benefit Oregon State and Washington State much more. </p>
<p id="J6YBAJ">You do ... nothing. </p>
<p id="1tbcYY">I’m not kidding. You do nothing. For now, anyway. </p>
<p id="j4W8hJ">It sounds much simpler than I’m making it out to be! And you’d be in a conference with only two members! </p>
<p id="mn7FvF">But, per NCAA by-laws, <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeDugar/status/1698418397485343071">this is actually allowed for two year</a>s. When the Pac-12 drops below that number around this time next year, they have until August 2026 to get back.</p>
<p id="WUicQf">Timing wise, this works out rather spectacularly for the Cougs and Beavs. The Mountain West’s television contract is up in 2026. The exit fee for American Athletic Conference teams drops significantly to $10 million if they give 27 months notice. </p>
<p id="rDwdib">This isn’t the “rebuild the Pac-12” we’ve been hearing lately. I mean, it sort of is, but the resolution wouldn’t be complete for three years. </p>
<p id="oMlGtW">So, how would you do this? For one thing, Washington State and Oregon State would immediately need to sign a Grant of Rights to one another and the conference so they can be assured they’re both working towards the same goal. From there, by the end of this month, you need to invite at least eight other schools to the Pac-12 beginning in Summer 2026 and have them accept the invitation. In all likelihood, a new conference would look something like this: </p>
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<p id="dqwz6u">Again, this is incredibly high risk but also remarkably high reward. This conference is almost assuredly worth more than what the Mountain West is getting from their television partners now. You’ve also got more than two years to negotiate a television deal with Fox, CBS and, in all likelihood, Apple or Amazon. </p>
<p id="XvhDRn">Importantly, much as the currently Big 12 is constituted, your membership is likely very solid because these are all schools that are just about as far up the food chain as they’ll ever go. </p>
<p id="C25V6q">The upside to doing this frankly higher than any option with the Mountain West currently in front of the Cougs and Beavs. What it requires is an awful lot of courage from the administrators at both schools to make it work, something college administrators aren’t exactly known for. </p>
<p id="TqQDty">It also requires <em><strong>a lot </strong></em>of other things be done successfully to make this work and that’s what probably makes this just a thought exercise rather than reality. </p>
<p id="KocRCj">For one thing, you’ve got to find somewhere for every sport that’s not football to go for the next two years which means finding a conference partner willing to play ball knowing this is temporary. The Mountain West won’t take you if you’re poaching teams so that really leaves either the West Coast Conference and, much less ideally, the Big West or Big Sky. But you need somewhere for those teams to be that keeps travel costs down while you get the Pac-12 reconstituted. </p>
<p id="lRtxVN">You’ve also got to schedule 19 football games for 2024 and 2025 and you’ve got to do it fast. It’s workable, barely, but after just a few minutes on <a href="http://fbschedules.com">fbschedules.com</a>, I cobbled something that’s palatable together. </p>
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<p id="okFJrE">Again, this requires buy in from all these teams to play non-con games at odd times of year but it’s something several teams do every year. For two years, you also wouldn’t have a television partner and you’d be beholden to whoever broadcasts games for your away opponents. But, importantly, <em>you would have the Pac-12 Network. </em>Stashing every home game on that channel wouldn’t be great but it is something you can leverage if you truly needed to. Importantly, as long as the channel exists, you’ll keep getting carriage fees for it, fees that Washington State and Oregon State would keep exclusively for two years. </p>
<p id="jfSCWO">There’s a lot of reasons for this not to work and going it alone for a couple of years it a huge risk. And you may know right away that it just won’t go. If the teams you invite balk and aren’t interested, that’s the end of it (and, most assuredly, Nevarez would be pressuring her membership to do just that). </p>
<p id="vDNFkG">It would also be a very painful two years for both schools. Sure, there would be light at the end of the tunnel with a fully reformed conference in 2026 but coaches and student-athletes are going to leave in droves in all likelihood. Travel for football is going to be expensive and you may need to go hat in hand to the state to ask for help in the interim. </p>
<p id="gWhpmH">But, if properly thought out and executed, this is the best outcome for Oregon State and Washington State. Like I mentioned, the intestinal fortitude required from both schools is perhaps without precedent in the NCAA. </p>
<p id="dl7ihX">But if it went right ... we’d be in damn near the best position we could’ve hoped for after all this. </p>
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https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/9/3/23857832/pac-12-realignment-mountain-west-wsu-cougars-osu-beaversMichael Preston2023-09-01T08:56:51-07:002023-09-01T08:56:51-07:00Stanford and Cal departing for the ACC, American says “no” to expansion
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<figcaption>Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Everything now points towards ... something with the Mountain West. </p> <p id="7QN5xk">And then, there were two. </p>
<p id="DMKkMs">This morning, the Atlantic Coast Conference made it official and announced the additions of the Stanford Cardinal, Cal Golden Bears and SMU Mustangs, though for our purposes, we’re only interested in the first two. Stanford and Cal had been very mum since the Pac-12 blew up less than a month ago and found themselves a new, power conference home, albeit with some incredible concessions. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Under the ACC’s most recent proposal, Stanford & Cal would take a reduced TV share (~30%) & SMU was expected to take 0 TV share for ~9 years.<br><br>The schools would see an escalation in their shares thru the GoR & they’d receive non-TV ACC shares from NCAAT, CFP & incentive pool.</p>— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) <a href="https://twitter.com/RossDellenger/status/1697580340896817645?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2023</a>
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<p id="tm2kPG">That means for nearly a decade, Stanford and Cal will only take about $9 million in pay out from their new home, a massive drop in revenue and though the ACC is expected to help with travel costs, it’s frankly gobsmacking. A concession made, it would seem, to not associate with the <a href="https://www.mwcconnection.com">Mountain West</a> Conference. </p>
<p id="d6UPa9">Speaking of, with the Pac-12 now down to a fearsome twosome of the <a href="https://www.cougcenter.com">Washington State Cougars</a> and <a href="https://www.buildingthedam.com">Oregon State Beavers</a>, what happens next? There had been some thought that the American Athletic Conference expanding west but with today’s news being received less than enthusiastically, the AAC killed the idea this morning: </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">A statement from Commissioner Mike Aresco <a href="https://t.co/tKomAfsAdt">pic.twitter.com/tKomAfsAdt</a></p>— The American (@American_Conf) <a href="https://twitter.com/American_Conf/status/1697625026374009276?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2023</a>
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<p id="fncuxz">So, what’s the best option going forward? There’s still some NCAA Tournament units and other cash to dole out along with an entire television network so it does behoove WSU and OSU to do whatever they can to hold on to that. While it’s certainly no massive windfall, it should be enough to help bridge the gap between now and whenever you need to truly lower your spending. </p>
<p id="RGlgjT">Best case scenario: a reverse merger with the Mountain West, where we bring the conference name, all affiliations and, again, an entire damn television network in our luggage to our new home. How exactly that works no one is really clear on but there are lawyers racking up billable hours trying to sort through it.</p>
<p id="3sVDhC">The last month has been terrible but if you’ve seen me say anything on Elon Musk’s website, its mostly been that I just want this all to be over, for WSU to have their home and we can move forward with whatever it is we move forward with.</p>
<p id="Hp08mF">Now, that can finally happen. </p>
https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/9/1/23855586/stanford-cal-acc-expansion-smu-americanMichael Preston2023-08-28T22:19:39-07:002023-08-28T22:19:39-07:00Ask Michael Anything: Realignment and Week 1 vs. CSU
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<figcaption>Ashley Davis</figcaption>
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<p>The podcast is dead. But Ask Michael Anything lives! </p> <p id="Yu3ZeK">Over the summer, I made the tough (but necessary!) decision to end The CougCenter Hour podcast. Ten years of doing this show and finally other obligations were just too much. Interviews late in the evening are hard to get! Hosting a show on your own is hard! </p>
<p id="RrVNUZ">But the one thing I heard from people that they’d miss: Ask Michael Anything. A fun segment I’m sure I borrowed the idea for from somewhere at the end of the show where people could ask me ... well ... anything! </p>
<p id="jOsSg8">So why not, with such robust demand from at least half a dozen people, continue a favorite on a semi-regular basis? I mean, I think it’s a good idea and I still have editing privileges on this website, so. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Do you think the Pac-2 could leverage their CFP vote to possibly get an invite to a power conference?<br>Non-reallignment question:<br>What do you think is a realistic outlook for the offense this season?</p>— John Conklin (@donvito137) <a href="https://twitter.com/donvito137/status/1696257558108127520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2023</a>
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<p id="4yrSeI">The CFP vote is a tough one because there’s a very good likelihood the Pac-12 loses their Autonomous 5 ranking because, with the Stanford Cardinal and Cal Golden Bears now likely departing for the ACC, it’s just the <a href="https://www.cougcenter.com">Washington State Cougars</a> and <a href="https://www.buildingthedam.com">Oregon State Beavers</a> left. That designation is completely dependent on which institutions are members and, crimson Kool-Aid drinker though I may be, those two schools plus whatever else gets pieced together, Autonomous 5 it is not. </p>
<p id="WbyViT">You can’t really leverage the vote itself into an invite; what you <em>can </em>leverage if you’re the Beavs and Cougs is a willingness to take less than a full share and the conference assets, which include an entire damn television network. Is that enough for the Big 12? Probably not. </p>
<p id="RfnGm4">As for the offense, I’m hopeful new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle can find a way to keep Cam Ward from running for his life quite as much. Eric Morris’s Air Raid got to be a painful exercise in “not another tunnel screen, I beg of you” but we should acknowledge the limitations from how rough that offensive line could be at times. </p>
<p id="75cfFe">Reports from camp through seem to be that the fresh crop of receivers are blocking better, the line looks not bad (depending on the health of Fa’alili Fa’amoe) and you’ve got Nakia Watson back again. All in all, “better” is probably a fair assessment since even with the system change, things won’t be entirely dissimilar. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">We’re going to be alright, right Michael? Right? Michael? <br><br>But actually: What do we see from Cam this year? Huge improvement? Incremental gains?</p>— Max the Rebuilder (@MaxLikesSports1) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaxLikesSports1/status/1696259708657811575?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2023</a>
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<p id="6TVY1i">What I’m most hopeful for with Cam is to just hit his receivers with accurate passes. We saw his accuracy take some dips last year; it seemed like Morris tried to move the pocket as well to help buy Ward some time to find an open receiver. I think it was evident to most anyone watching that Ward has all the physical tools, maybe more than any quarterback at WSU in the last decade or so. But it won’t do him any good if he can’t actually get passes to receivers on a consistent basis. </p>
<p id="RdhyiE">We’re going to be alright? Yeah, we will. We’ve always got each other. It sounds dumb, but it’s true. To a degree, over the last two months, I’ve never been more proud to be a Coug. It’s tough times that bring people together and they show who they truly are. </p>
<p id="JFJkKm">Lets hope “who they truly are” includes wallet opening by alums though history would certainly be an indication that they’ll stay closed. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Why do colleges care about the academics of other teams in a sports conference?</p>— Erik (@IamErikRussel) <a href="https://twitter.com/IamErikRussel/status/1696255284828688819?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2023</a>
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<p id="S3fjcJ">Conferences aren’t just repositories for athletics teams, they’re also the schools you associate most closely with because of ... well, those sports teams. All your teams play one another most often and so the academic sides will also work more closely together on things like research, studies, etc. It’s also important to university presidents and writ large to the schools to be linked with institutions who have a good academic reputation. </p>
<p id="LLteou">Somewhat hilariously, I also forget at times that these schools are, yanno, schools. So they should school really well with other schools so their school isn’t schooled. </p>
<p id="m1VI15">Or something. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Why can’t we have nice things?</p>— Marcus Paul Burns (@MPBthe3) <a href="https://twitter.com/MPBthe3/status/1696379592871985191?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a>
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<p id="wdejqc">We showed the world we don’t deserve it when we put up the blue heart and didn’t immediately blow it up with about 14 kilograms of dynamite. Probably overkill but best to make sure the job’s done a few yards into the earth’s crust. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">From Twitter/x-less TotesMcStoess: "Does the death of the PAC 12 nullify my marriage since I'm married to a Husky?"</p>— Brady (@wsubrady27) <a href="https://twitter.com/wsubrady27/status/1696265706978099678?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2023</a>
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<p id="UVq7pR">This sounds like the start of a Divorce Lawyers for Men commercial you hear on every sports talk station and it worries me that I’ve been scouring the Revised Code of Washington looking for the loophole to ram this through the court system. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Odds we got some calimony from uw?</p>— Coach Dickert Era | Cougs vs Everybody (@EtherDash) <a href="https://twitter.com/EtherDash/status/1696377255721603284?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a>
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<p id="bUZ42G">From UW specifically? I have a better chance of being named King of Sweden tomorrow. The answer isn’t zero to be clear, I’ve got just enough family still there but it’s a decimal point with the “1” positioned roughly one AU away.</p>
<p id="wNtziF">That’s an “astronomical unit”. That’s 93 million miles. Why did I go with that measurement? Right, I’m a show off. At least I’m aware of it, okay?</p>
<p id="eaIy1z">From the state legislature though? A different story. We spent like we were going to be the Pac-12 forever because we had to but now, we won’t be. But the money for everything is still owed and there’s a small chance we all help pay for the difference. At least if WSU’s lobbyists in Olympia are worth their paychecks. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Annual question till it becomes official: Name for the OSU rivalry? <br><br>What food item(s) would you love to see added for the fieldhouse? <br>My first two: Breakfast burritos and Ferdinand's.</p>— Brady (@wsubrady27) <a href="https://twitter.com/wsubrady27/status/1696268344511643913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2023</a>
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<p id="FZ7uR7">The Morrill Act Throwdown. The Pullvalis Showdown. The Corvallman Rundown. </p>
<p id="qz5dc0">Super into compound “down” words today. </p>
<p id="TW5clb">In the fieldhouse, rotating booths of local restaurants that can handle mobile cooking out be great! If we’re going with permanent solutions though, I’m always in favor of Mexican food, especially since breakfast burritos are about the only “breakfast” food I’m over the moon for. </p>
<p id="8uqppj">I’m absolutely a breakfast food for dinner guy. No idea why. Waffles and bacon at 8 p.m. hit different. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thoughts on finding out an entire parking lot is going away (the green lot next to daggy) to make way for another engineering building</p>— Kelsey Preston (@kelseypreston33) <a href="https://twitter.com/kelseypreston33/status/1696324228931617069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a>
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<p id="v3Wywn">I don’t park their for football games or to run up to Murrow West to edit anymore so dig away!</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dunderhead of the week?</p>— Rachelle (@shel_roz) <a href="https://twitter.com/shel_roz/status/1696263424244936736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2023</a>
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<p id="HbOPZM">Cruise ships in Seattle are a common sight every summer now. The tourists who descend on my beloved hometown clog up sidewalks surrounding every tourist trap, turn the wrong way up one-way streets in their rentals and wander aimlessly on sidewalks in Pioneer Square getting in my way as I sprint towards a Mariners game. </p>
<p id="0xpg4e">Nothing quite topped the man who, the other day, stood in the middle of an intersection looking at his phone for directions. And by “middle of the intersection” I truly do mean directly in the middle of the intersection as people wishing to go every direction absolutely blasted their horns at a man who had wandered into a massive street juncture in rush hour traffic and somehow came out unscathed not but for the grace of God. </p>
<p id="9TmsFo">That and Seattle drivers who have spent 120 years trying to get over their allergy to the throttle. </p>
https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/8/28/23850123/pac-12-big-12-acc-realignment-wsu-cougars-csu-ramsMichael Preston2023-08-04T14:42:44-07:002023-08-04T14:42:44-07:00This is everyone’s fault
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<img alt="2023 Pac-12 Football Media Day" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HPbsDJjwgm3glNUDyic-W5piVNU=/1x0:5881x3920/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72515563/1561355000.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Louis Grasse/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>There’s no one person to put all the blame on for this. Everyone’s is to blame. Everyone. </p> <p id="H9U3TM">When something goes wrong, it’s useful to have a scapegoat. Someone you can turn to, point your finger at and say, “That person. That’s the sumbitch responsible for all of this”. If for no other reason, it offers a catharsis; you can find somewhere to direct that anger, that vitriol, that sadness instead of keeping it bottled up and trying to scatter it a million different directions. </p>
<p id="PHxvGP">You want to point it at USC and UCLA. You want to point it at UW and Oregon. You especially want to point it at George Kliavkoff. You <em>really </em>want to point it at Brett Yormark. You <em>really, really, REALLY </em>want to point it at Larry Scott. </p>
<p id="WqHg4e">But here’s the frustrating thing when it comes to the dissolution of a more than century old athletic conference: it’s everyone’s fault. </p>
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<p id="P2wdLk">Television networks see their subscriber numbers. They see them trending in the wrong direction and so far, streaming isn’t the money making fire hose everyone, their shareholders included, thought it could be. The logical choice, the easy choice, is to consolidate. Grab all the valuable properties you can, tradition of a truly unique and truly American sport be damned. </p>
<p id="i27fK1">USC and UCLA think they’re worth a lot more than what their current conference can give them? Give them a number they and their new membership can’t refuse, guarantees of exposure their current conference can’t give them. Do cross-country trips for the women’s basketball team with stops at O’Hare in February matter? You know they don’t. </p>
<p id="XNLx3Y">Make the long play and bet that, eventually, Oregon and Washington will beg to follow. They do. All it took was your competitor putting the thumb on the scale of the worst fitting school around the last realignment shake up to break the teams you really wanted loose. </p>
<p id="04Hvv5">Take who you want. Leave the rest behind. What do you care? </p>
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<p id="72Xx5F">“Surely, there’s no way a conference with so much <em>tradition </em>and <em>conviviality </em>and <em>loyalty </em>could ever be wiped off the face of the earth?,” we, the Pac-12 presidents and chancellors, say. “No, we ten original members and even our newest brethren care too much about what’s most important: the sanctity of college athletics.”</p>
<p id="qyelUD">“Should we listen to our alumni, donors and fans who scream from every hilltop in this untamed and wild region of the world that the man leading our conference will surely run it straight into the ground? No, they simply know not what they speak. We can see that things are quite from the top of the ivory tower here. It certainly doesn’t <em>look </em>like the foundation is cracking. What’s that, liquefying dirt around the bottom? You don’t understand, we <em>need</em> this building in the most expensive real estate market on the continent because it’s close to tech! </p>
<p id="CRTjEN">“What’s that? The building really is crumbling? Well, might finally be time to fire the contractor. Put out bids for the new one? Heavens no, our longstanding <em>tradition </em>and <em>conviviality </em>and <em>loyalty </em>will carry the day no matter what!”</p>
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<p id="0AvMyM">Walking into Pac-12 headquarters was surely no enviable task for George Kliavkoff. You’d be hard pressed to find a broom large enough to get everything in the bin. there’s a lot to clean up before we can even think about talking new television deal. Hell, there’s a lot to do before we can even think about expanding. </p>
<p id="8STo6B">You may try, we’ll never really know if you did, to talk everyone in to striking while the iron’s hot after Oklahoma and Texas left. Regardless, nothing happened and two of your biggest brands were out the door not long after. </p>
<p id="TIUPSP">Even after that, the open market seems like the place to go with your television rights. You bet you can do better than what you’ve got now, especially since the Big 12 won’t be coming around for a few years yet. </p>
<p id="IsJek5">Funny thing though: the economy slowed down. And the Big 12, the one who still has a while yet to negotiate? They saw it coming and hopped the line. Then they started bombarding you in public, belittling your negotiation process. Openly courting your members. </p>
<p id="5mBXze">So what to do? Be as silent as a church mouse. Beg anyone who will listen to take the inventory. Someone finally listens ... but it’s not good enough. Even after a week of posturing. </p>
<p id="Y4EiNi">You had a lot of different choices to make in all of this. Turns out, you made every wrong one. </p>
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<p id="scst0R">Larry. Larry Larry Larry. </p>
<p id="MRReu0">God, I don’t miss you. </p>
<p id="XuO2v9">You did your job right, for what? A couple years? Better sit back, do nothing and enjoy the champange! You remember that little nickname, right? Champange Larry. You got it when you stayed in a suite at the Arira during the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/pac-12-basketball-tournament">Pac-12 tournament</a>. Why stay there? To court more money, or something. </p>
<p id="tyYLtx">An unholy amount of smoke blowing. You managed, quite deftly, to make sure your closest friends within the conference were also your loudest supporters. The presidents will come and go, you can use that to your advantage, right? Whatever you need to do to keep the $4 million check gravy train rolling. </p>
<p id="kKlZcS">You could’ve kept building on a pretty damn good foundation. You could’ve kept innovating, of finding unique ways to stay ahead of the curve. You could’ve just told AT&T to take that share of the Pac-12 Network, swallowed your pride for the good of your bosses. </p>
<p id="qiR6ji">You could’ve done a lot. You did one thing. And then you stopped. </p>
<p id="8W4JPa">But why keep going if the checks keep clearing, am I right buddy? </p>
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<p id="sLhUF4">I thought about my daughter <strong>a lot </strong>today. For her mother and I, the <a href="https://www.cougcenter.com">Washington State Cougars</a> are such a central part of our lives. It’s how we spent our falls before she arrived, and still try to squeeze in as much as possible. It where her mother and I met. This school, these teams mean so very much to all of us, and I want to share that with her. Now, I’m not sure that I will. </p>
<p id="eooKCX">The Pac-12 is dead. </p>
<p id="mvdLAV">And it’s everybody’s fault. </p>
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https://www.cougcenter.com/2023/8/4/23820585/pac-12-realignment-big-12-big-tenMichael Preston