
This likely makes it possible that if any future moves were to happen, I would imagine that Arizona would be likely tied with Utah if any moves were to happen (along with Arizona State), as with most of the big movers in the college football world settled, eyes could turn to basketball and a more all-around strengthening approach. With their present status as an entire department, they are regularly lumped in with Utah, which for as strong as the Utes are in Football, the Wildcats are their contemporary in basketball (we won’t talk about the game a few weeks ago). One thing is for sure, despite the vitriol that President Robert Robbins and Athletic Director Dave Heeke faced over the past few years, they have led Wildcat Athletics to a strong position, to have options when things come to a head. The downside with the University of Arizona however, is the market size, which will not move the needle to enhance any media rights partnerships, which ultimately drive these moves. With a football team trending up, two nationally ranked basketball teams, and perennial contender’s in baseball and softball, the Arizona portfolio appears to be a solid addition to any of the bigger conferences. Well, that’s a bit of a tough question to answer at this point. If a company like Apple or Amazon were truly interested in offering a significant sum for the conference that allows for it to stand apart at maybe a level between the SEC and Big 10, there’d already be a deal by now, and the LA schools might very well of been regretting their decision. It’s time that the conference leadership gets honest with itself, there’s no knight in shining armor media streaming company about to race to scoop up the remnants of the Pac-12. And the position of strength you could have expected by being the first one to the negotiating table for media rights has wilted away, and it almost feels like the conference is incredibly comfortable in its position despite publicly appearing rudderless. While there have been rumors of expansion through the media, there has been no movement there to secure top mid-majors to the conference. Now, more than 24 hours after the news became official, we have not heard nor seen any urgency from Conference Commissioner George Kliavkoff and Pac-12 leaders for now stabilizing the direction of the conference, which was ultimately known months ago.

With little more than a small kickback to Cal, UCLA is officially out the door, and Pac-12 leadership has continued to neglect to protect its future as a Power Five conference if there even remains one. It was the least shocking news of the day that the California Board of Regents allowed the UCLA Bruins to bolt from the Pac-12 to the Big 10, despite bitter public comments from the Governor. By Kenny Lindberg 5 months ago With California Governor Gavin Newsom, and the University of California Board of Regents backing down and letting UCLA move to the Big 10 without Cal, the future is nothing but cloudy for Arizona Athletics and the remainder of the Pac-12.
