The Pac-10 Getting Buff

All the coverage of the conference expansion has pointed out the obvious; that conference expansion is inevitable and it is all about the Benjamin's. As someone that is dependent on a state sponsored school I completely understand why the universities are eager to find additional revenue where ever they can. It is however depressing to watch the Pac-10's tradition get blowed up in search of cash money dollar bills.

It is times like these that I miss my Grandmother the most. She would have hated this conference expansion and would be calling me every couple of hours asking me to explain what was going on. She wouldn't really want an explanation (though their are many fine articles that break it all down:

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1093107

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=5272309

http://azstarnet.com/sports/article_e43602c7-efee-59c9-9bbc-cbde1b926262.html

She would want someone to share her outrage. I realize that complaining about losing Pac-10 tradition is to ignore history. After all the Pac-10 as I have known it has only been around since 1978. Things will always change and I am sure I will grow to love the new format, particularly if it means that a playoffs system will replace the terrible BCS system.

However, what we are losing is the ability to say that we were the only football conference that played a true conference schedule (where every team faced each other). In Arizona's case the inclusion of the Big-12 schools; Colorado, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, will mean that Arizona and ASU will ostensibly be joining the Big-12. We will play these schools each year and only play three of the other traditional Pac-10 schools. We won't be guaranteed of playing USC, UCLA, Wazzu, Washington, Oregon, Oregon State, Cal or Stanford. That is really depressing. Imagine not getting to play Washington next year after they cheated in Seattle last year. Well that would happen under this new format (as an example Florida lost to Mississippi two years ago but doesn't play them this year).

I think Arizona's recruiting will also suffer. In the past we have always recruited well in Texas and California. Presumably the advantage we had in the Lone Star state was due to our ability to offer Texas talent the chance to play in the Pac-10. With three Texas teams joining the league we can no longer claim that advantage (the same goes with Oklahoma a Stoops mainstay). In California we were able to offer athletes a chance to play 4 times a year in California. This is a benefit we will no longer be able to offer. I have a feeling that Arizona football could be headed for a major decline just as we seem to be making strides.

Maybe I am totally wrong about all of this. Perhaps my real anxiety is that Becky and I will have to construct a new Pac-10 Board. But I hope that you will all enjoy the next two years of conference play because it will never be the same after this.

P.S. With the Trojans ineligible for post-season play and the Cats on the rise. These next two years are critical for Arizona if they want to have any chance of being competitive in the new Pac-16.