Mailbag: Contrarian view of the Pac-12 football schedule (the case for seven), Texas State’s potential, the Sac State scenario and more

The Hotline mailbag publishes weekly Send questions to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com and include mailbag in the subject line Or hit me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline Particular questions have been edited for clarity and brevity The Pac- wants multiple media partners But with only eight football members that s just four games per week for the majority of the season How would that work Doesn t seem like enough inventory to go around NateJones It depends on how creative the conference and its partners are willing to be For instance nothing would prevent the Pac- from signing deals with four media partners and placing one competition on each infrastructure per week during conference play unless teams are idle Yes that s an extreme example But applying conventional offerings strategies to an unconventional situation is the wrong approach The Pac- s football-playing schools decided months ago on the minimum number of games that their media adviser Octagon could take to arena The package assuredly included a scenario in which the Pac- implemented an eight-game conference schedule attained by Expanding to nine members or Creating home-and-home series with each unit playing one of the others twice Washington State and Oregon State are doing exactly that in But we suspect the conference has carved out the option to play a seven-game round-robin schedule as well As one industry source unaffiliated with the Pac- communicated the Hotline in the last few days A seven-game schedule could end up being a plus That s the contrarian view to be sure The cost of buying enough Group of Five opponents to fill out a schedule with five non-conference openings could be considerable and is the primary reason greater part observers believe the Pac- will play at least eight league games But as the source noted flexibility is vital in a chaotic landscape Adding a ninth football-playing member that doesn t work competitively or financially makes less sense than sticking with eight With eight schools the Pac- would have the option to play seven conference games or eight by using the home-and-home approach Under what circumstances would a seven-game conference schedule prove beneficial What happens if the Big Ten and SEC create an annual crossover series which has been discussed What if the SEC adds a ninth conference championship which is under serious consideration In either affair and certainly if both scenarios happen SEC and Big Ten schools could look to adjust their lineups by cancelling series against Big and ACC opponents Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini revealed exactly that telling the Hotline last week If the SEC goes to nine my hunch is they ll want out of our games The Sun Devils have home-and-home series under contract with LSU Florida Texas and Texas A M SEC and Big Ten teams are scheduled to face dozens of Big and ACC opponents in the next six or eight years If a slew of those are cancelled Arizona State and others could turn to the Pac- for help filling out their schedules In that circumstance the flexibility to play five non-conference games could morph into an advantage Bottom line We don t know what will happen but the terrain is fragile enough that the Pac- should consider options that provide maximum schedule flexibility regardless of how unconventional they might seem What exactly is the prospective of Texas State CelestialMosh At the top of the outcome range the Bobcats could dominate the new Pac- the way Boise State has dominated the current Mountain West with frequent -win regular seasons Success is all about asset allocation and talent acquisition which of curriculum go hand-in-hand Texas State is located in one of the nation s preponderance fertile recruiting areas president Kelly Damphousse appears committed to winning coach G J Kinne is a proven developer of talent and crucially the university has the financial wherewithal to backing football at a high level relative to other programs outside the power conferences We were struck by a new document by the website On about the top biggest spenders in college football in as defined presumably by the cost of the roster using revenue sharing and NIL Three of the top five were from the Lone Star State Texas Texas Tech and Texas A M Granted Texas State is nowhere near those schools when it comes to tradition success fan passion or reserve feasible But it doesn t need to be The relevant comparison the Bobcats peer group in other words is the Pac- And compared to bulk football programs in the rebuilt conference they have inherent advantages in both recruiting and support thanks largely to their location in a football-crazed state Will they execute We should have clarity in two or three years But it s not challenging to envision a scenario in which Texas State like Boise State is an annual contender for the Pac- title and a playoff bid Should the Pac lean into its role as a developmental league for the Power Four embrace a farm system identity or fight to reclaim major conference status in a marketplace that may no longer have room for five CurtisBlack Any acknowledgement of a farm system approach could damage the Pac- brand and we see no chance none zero zip of Gonzaga approving the strategy in basketball On this topic the conference has a narrow path forward It won t be considered the equal of the ACC Big Big Ten or SEC and shouldn t bother making the attempt But positioning itself as the best of the remaining conferences as the clear No is entirely reasonable from a marketing standpoint And that s exactly what you hear from commissioner Teresa Gould and others They use the phrase top five to describe the Pac- s competitive position It will take a scant years of success for the conference to cement its status as neither Power Four or Group of Five but on a tier of its own making The rebuilt conference might not get there maybe the American grabs that mantle maybe nobody does but the underlying strategy seems sound I see hardly any mention of San Jose State as a prospective member of the Pac- Why is that Being in the biggest city in a large sector that the Pac- lost I would think they would be a good addition Alec S First let s address a frequent misconception Presence in a major territory does not necessarily mean that school receives credit for the full media value of the sector The Spartans are an afterthought on the Bay Area sporting scene they don t move the ratings needle one iota No media company linear or streaming would view SJSU as delivering the nation s th-largest sphere regardless of the conference affiliation Beyond that there are serious concerns over the university s commitment to athletic success especially in football Just look at the up-to-date remodel of CEFCU Stadium The eastern side has no stands It s a -yard patch of grass that creates terribly poor optics on TV If you re the Pac- why trust any university the decision was not made by the athletic department that would show so little commitment to football The remodel lowered maximum to and the Spartans didn t even sell out for the home date against UNLV when the nine-win Rebels paid a visit last season By comparison Texas State s stadium quota is It s an unfortunate situation at SJSU College football in the Bay Area would be vastly more gripping if the Spartans were relevant Generally we believe the athletic department makes the majority of the hand it has been dealt The issue is largely with central campus Are college athletics administrators submitting these NIL collective deals really caught off guard Or is this just faux outrage to fuel their narrative I thought it was clear the standard collective deal of the past three years was dying with the settlement GoodSirHamlet You certainly are not alone Numerous are confused by the err confusion The intent of the House vs NCAA settlement and subsequent formation of the College Sports Commission was to root out the pay-for-play that has dominated the NIL era Deloitte s instrument platform NIL Go is designed to reject deals that are not for valid business purposes The question is whether deals arranged by NIL collectives can in fact be considered legitimate The CSC doesn t think so The collectives disagree Everyone knew there would be potholes in the first year of the CSC but this could metastasize into a sinkhole If the collectives are permitted to continue with business as usual or anything close to usual then the enforcement component could collapse and the college sports industry is back where it started before the settlement Any idea how much is being spent on lawyers in the Pac- lawsuit against the Mountain West coleltaylor Take your best guess at the hourly rate for top-end attorneys multiply that times a bajillion hours and you have the answer In other words The Hotline cannot begin to offer a reasonable estimate for the legal cost of the poaching penalty lawsuit which is headed back to court after mediation failed to produce a resolution Here s what we know The firm representing the Pac- in the scenario is the same outfit Keker Van Nest Peters that took the lead in the lawsuit filed by Washington State and Oregon State against the outbound schools back in According to a source with no affiliation to the Pac- or the firm itself Keker has an excellent reputation The Pac- spent approximately million on legal fees in the - fiscal year according to financial documents obtained by the Hotline Granted FY included the lawsuit over control of the conference But there were other legal issues numerous other legal issues unfolding during that time including the Comcast overpayment fiasco And there are other legal issues now with the House lawsuit atop the list The Pac- was a named defendant in the episode It s not unreasonable to think the conference once again will spend various millions on legal fees Exactly how much can be pinned on the poaching penalty lawsuit specifically we cannot say Wouldn t a football scheduling agreement with Sacramento State in make a ton of sense The Pac- ostensibly wouldn t have to pay the Hornets and would buy time to add more football schools later brycetacoma On the surface yes An agreement with Sacramento State for four five or six games seems like sound strategy for a conference that could need non-conference matchups That revealed FBS schools only receive credit toward bowl eligibility for one preeminence over an FCS opponent per season and multiple teams in the rebuilt Pac- have their FCS opponent locked in for For example Oregon State is scheduled to play Montana while Washington State is facing Duquesne and San Diego State has Portland State Related Articles How CFP format impacts Big showdowns vs SEC Big Ten opponents CFP conflict Washington AD Pat Chun offers context on the Big Ten s radical proposal Pac- Mountain West headed back to court after mediation goes nowhere SEC s Greg Sankey on CFP format NCAAT expansion and talks with Big Ten CFP mailbag format predictions Big strategy Big Ten motivation Adding Sacramento State makes no sense for those programs because the battle wouldn t count toward the six wins needed for a postseason bid And there s one more matter to consider Matchups with FCS opponents offer little in the way of TV value Any dates with Sacramento State would be streamed and that s not the Pac- s preference for its media inventory The Pac- will reportedly sponsor men s tennis but only four schools play it so affiliate members are needed The other western conferences all sponsor it as well How will that work cougsguy Tennis is one of eight men s sports the rebuilt conference plans to sponsor in addition to at least on the women s side The FBS minimum is And yes only four of the nine members have men s tennis The conference is working through the sponsorship piece and will undoubtedly identify affiliates not only in men s tennis but a slew of sports That s not atypical Little Rock Arkansas has been an affiliate member of the Pac- in wrestling for years just as Cal s field hockey group was a member of the America East before the Bears joined the ACC We suspect that most of if not all Olympic sports eventually will realign in conferences that make geographic sense The sooner the better for the athletes Do the new schools entering the Pac- get an equity stake in Pac- Enterprises or is that going to be owned wholly by Oregon State and Washington State Brian Wood The Pac- Enterprises is not mentioned in the grant-of-rights agreement that begins next summer and our hunch is the conference wants to closely protect any matters involving equity just as it did for years with the Pac- Networks and the legacy schools But the incoming members view Pac- Enterprises as a key asset on multiple fronts Not only will the production unit allow for the promotion and visibility of Pac- teams but Enterprises can generate revenue through third-party agreements Last fall for instance it handled production for a Golden State Warriors match on NBC Bay Area Any profit from Enterprises will be funneled to WSU OSU and the new schools alike as part of their annual distributions Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - - Follow me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline