I am really, really sad about the death of the PAC

[leftyjace]

When it was the PAC-12…
That was an awesome conference.
Good, solid teams (well, except for Colorad9) up and down.
Great institutions.
I loved that we were affiliated with the West Coast.
I actually really enjoyed watching the PAC-12 Network a LOT.
Man.
I know we’re headed to a great conference, and we are in a good position moving forward.
But I’m just in mourning right now.

[Tony (admin)]

I feel you man. Total shame.

[EagleMountainUte]

Bad leadership, USC was irrelevant, and the absolute NEED to have 9 conference games killed it. While I enjoyed the 9 conference games it was absolutely idiotic in hindsight. SEC model is clearly the way to go because it achieved nothing perception wise.
SEC essentially controls the narrative. They play 8 conference games with 3 cupcakes and a strong neutral site(not far from home) national game.

[fosternano]

Bad leadership killed the pac. It sucks that this was completely avoidable. I don’t blame the schools for going after the money. (I might blame USC a little, but they’re always too blame 😆)

[Charlie]

I believe USC and Oregon were dominating the leadership that was not up to the task. USC blocked expansion and other moves that would have made the PAC stronger only to get frustrated by their own decisions and move to a conference dominated by better leadership. USC athletics in particular has been rolling gutter balls again and again since we arrived but there are enough old men that remember their glory days to want to throw them a lifeline. I believe there were clearer heads in the PAC that could have kept it going. Scott was not a help.

[UteThunder]

It’s a bummer, but I will just be relieved when we are officially in the BigXII.

[PNW Ute]

I live near Portland. It’s been great that almost every year I’ve been able to go to a Utah game at UO, OSU, or UW. I’m glad they’ll have a stable home after the PAC, but my personal interest level is definitely going to wane.

[ryynoo]

Agree…very sad.

[rbmw263]

Its really sad. Im going to miss being in a conference with Oregon/USC etc a lot

[Calgradutedad]

I feel bad too but I’m glad we had the time together. I’m a longtime Cal fan and Bay Area resident. I brought my son up to a game against UCLA in 2017 because my grandparents grew up in Salt Lake City and I had barely spent any time there. He eventually decided to go to school at Utah and play in the band and I got to go to two Pac 12
Championships in the Bay Area, two Rose Bowls, and a game or two every year including the USC game last year.

[Desert Ute]

You and me both. And not just because I enjoyed watching our Utes grow from a cute little BCS buster into a legitimate Top 25 program and major conference champion here. I’m also a proud Westerner who would prefer to see numerous seats at the big table filled by teams from the Mountain and Pacific times zones. Sure, the LA, PNW, and Four Corners schools (thank goodness) were able to latch onto other leagues to stay relevant, but I take no joy in seeing Stanford and Cal, and especially Oregon State and Wazzu, flung off into oblivion with the rest of our former MWC and WAC mates. (Am I the only one here who will always have a soft spot for Wyoming? Any team that has the courage to wear brown and yellow and the good sense to hate BYU is okay in my book.)

Smarter people than me all seem to think that the next round of realignment in 2030 will be the big one and will permanently separate the wheat from the chaff. If that’s true, the next seven years are critical if Utah wants to get out of this lifeboat and into a luxurious ocean liner. Thankfully the Utes have momentum. A big final year in the Pac-12 could launch them into contention immediately in the new conference, and the good news is that there will be no blue bloods there to overcome. Just a bunch of solid programs and a bit of cannon fodder. I can’t say I’m excited to trade games against the Ducks and Dawgs for epic battles with the Bearcats. That’s not an “arrogant” Utah fan shot at Cincinnati. There’s just no history there and no regional reason for me to care about that matchup, except a general desire for the Utes to prevail in any game they play. I’m not offended if any Cincinnati, UCF, Iowa State, West Virginia, etc. fan isn’t interested in games against Utah. I don’t expect otherwise.

Actually – and I know I’m taking a risk by saying this here – one of the few things I like about this move is that the stupid Holy War will at least mean something again. Not having that game for a few years was a welcome break and a blessing for both sides. But as long as Utah has to play BYU, which was happening most seasons even in the Pac-12 era, we might has well do it right, on Thanksgiving weekend with conference title implications. And the Utes owe TCU some payback for outscoring them something like 175-20 over the last few meetings in the MWC. (To this day, my fan group uses the safe word “TCU! TCU!” to warn anyone DVRing a patented Utah WTF loss to not watch and save themselves the pain.)

At the end of the day, this sucks. But at least it doesn’t suck more. Never have I been so relieved as a fan to have my team in a situation I hate.

Screw USC, Larry Scott, “Baghdad Bob” Kliavkoff, and the Big 12’s P.R. firm.

Go Utes!

[Utesbyfive]

I hate it so much. It’s a blot on the sport that the only major league west of the Rockies has been destroyed. I just hope it’s not the high water mark for Ute sports.

[//r00t4Utes]

It’s gonna be interesting and possibly a bit weird to watch games especially on the PAC12 network knowing that the conference is dead.

Especially certain for teams

[Author]

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