With all the Pac-12 expansion talk, why doesn’t New Mexico get a look from the conference? I understand the football program hasn’t been especially notable of late . But New Mexico would seem to check a lot of boxes for the Pac-12. — Brent CarrellNew Mexico works geographically, it’s an R1 research school and the basketball program operates at a sufficiently competitive level, although the past eight or nine years have been rough.
The Lobos can’t match San Diego State as an institutional, competitive or financial fit. Nor do they bring SMU’s massive market and long-haul potential. Nothing surprises us in the realignment game, especially when the Pac-12 presidents are involved. But the Lobos as a viable candidate for expansion would come pretty close to a surprise.
And we cannot ignore the impact of the Big 12 executing an early renewal of its deals with Fox and ESPN for $31.7 million per school, which undercut the Pac-12’s market value. — The Pac-12’s postseason revenue could be based on participation in the College Football Playoff and NCAA Tournament success.
Can you update the Pac-12 survival odds you released in the middle of March, which were going down over time? — @RarelyTolerated In other words, two of the Four Corners presidents seem sufficiently patient, while the other two have never seemed likely to jump first. Our sense is the trajectory changed during the November meeting in San Francisco, at which point the so-called Berkeley tax became the most likely outcome.
They stand to receive about $65 million per year from the Big Ten’s media contract. Had they stayed in the Pac-12, the media deal likely would have approached $40 million per school.