Stanford has the best overall athletics program in the country. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NACDA_Directors%27_Cup All of those programs are about to be gutted. Going independent will be a disaster for more than their football team |
| Regarding the Big Ten Conference: Let's hope & pray that the Big Ten athletic schedulers don't unionize & go out on strike. |
100% correct. Stanford is at risk of losing its culture. I doubt that joining the ACC will work out as the travel burden on Stanford athletes would likely have devastating effects on both athletic & academic performance. |
| Does the Big Ten Conference have a moral responsibility to offer an invitation to Stanford University ? |
| Does the Big 12 Conference--which accepted 4 Pac-12 members (Colorado, ASU, Arizona State, & Utah)--have a moral responsibility to offer membership to UCal-Berkeley & to Stanford University ? |
| What about Oregon State University and Washington State University ? |
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(OP here):
On moral grounds, maybe the Big 12 Conference should extend invitations to Oregon State University & to Washington State University while the Big Ten Conference extends offers of membership to Stanford & UCal-Berkeley. |
Both have huge debt thanks to facilities upgrades and are staring at inadequate revenue to service the debt and field competitive teams. Both also have very large alumni bases who stay instate and vote. I wouldn’t be shocked if the legislatures bleed UW and Oregon to prop up OSU and WSU |
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The reality is that both the Big 12 Conference and the Big Ten Conference will benefit if Stanford, Cal, Oregon State, and Washington State are no longer competing for top football recruits in the Western part of the US.
Many regard the University of Alabama's Bear Bryant as a great football coach--and he was great; great at discipline and great at recruiting when there were no limits as to how many players could be given athletic scholarships--even if they never left the bench. Just recruit all the top talent & leave nothing but crumbs for opposing teams. |
How much indebtedness ? |
(OP here): Found this article about WSU. Includes an interesting note that WSU has experienced decling enrollment: https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/article/wsu-athletics-expects-115million-deficit-fy23-schulz-and-chun-say-211033051/ |
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Article about Oregon State University athletics budget:
https://oregonlive.com/beavers/2023/05/oregon-state-athletics-doesnt-expect-pac-12-revenue-shortfall-to-impact-its-budget-or-operations.html |
| For those who are interested, a quick google search should yield articles about the poor management (or mismanagement) of the Pac-12 Conference. |
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Interesting article:
The Ten 10 Programs That May Get Left Behind In This Wave of Realignment The 10 football programs listed are: Oregon State, Washington State, Stanford, UCal-Berkeley, SMU, San Diego State, Tulane, Boise State, Memphis, and Colorado State. Maybe the Pac-12 could survive with OSU, WSU, Stanford, UCal-Berkeley, SMU, San Diego State, Boise State, Colorado State, and some others. |
Stanford is rich enough and has enough uhni alums to run their entire program at a majir loss and just plug the financial hole every year from donor campaigns |