PRESS PICKS (Week 14): So long to the league that has never been still
STAFF REPORT
However you say it, “goodbye,” “farewell,” “Ai vita Zein,” “so long”…. It is the swan song for the Pac 12 this weekend.
Going with it are a couple of old rivalries in Washington-Washington State and Oregon-Oregon State.
After Saturday, the four teams will split up and go their separate ways. Actually, Oregon State and Washington State aren’t going anywhere and are, at the moment, still a member of the conference.
The other 10 teams are headed elsewhere. If you’ve been paying attention, they found a new conference to call home, one of three in either the Big 10, Big 12 or the ACC.
But if you know the history of college football on the Pacific coast, this is nothing new. Seemingly, a new league has formed every 20 years or so.
This has been a pattern going all the way back to the origin in 1915 when the Pacific Coast Conference was born. Cal, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington were the original members. Washington State joined a year later followed by USC, UCLA and Stanford.
In 1959, the league actually disbanded due to - ironically - a scandal involving “pay for play” schemes for players. In July of that year, the Athletic Association of Western Universities was formed and unofficially became known as the Big 5 Conference until 1962.
At that point some of the old members rejoined USC, UCLA, Washington, Stanford and Washington State to form the Pac-8 and the name stuck until 1974 when Arizona and Arizona State joined the league.
The new Pac 10 was born, lasting through the 90s and early 2000s until 2010 when Utah and Colorado was accepted into the league.
This came after several schools had inquired about joining the Pac 10 including Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and others.
As for the schools’ success rate, USC leaves with the most football titles (15) while Arizona has the least with one. Some never won a conference title but most are considered “newbies.”
A few of the rivalries will stay in tact but others such as Oregon-Oregon State (which is the most played rivalry in Pac 12 history) and Washington-Washington State are up in the air. There has been no talk of those two games being played after Saturday.
Where does it leave the remaining teams? Chances are a conglomerate of these two plus a few teams from the Mountain West and possibly a few “basketball” leagues such as the West Coast Conference might merge. The current TV contract for the Pac-12 is good for at least one more season and is better than anything the Mountain West or any other league has with the networks. It makes sense they would inquire about joining.
Whatever happens, this eventually will lead to the Power 5 programs leaving the NCAA and forming its own association. There are reports out this week that the schools are already meeting in private about it and it might happen sooner than later.
Bottom line… it’s tough to say goodbye to the league that has given us a lot of good late-night TV to watch.
Doug Amos takes sole possession of first place on the panel after 12 weeks.
2023 Overall Standings (Last week)
1. Doug Amos 156-39 (13-2) .800
2. Graham Dunn 154-41 (11-4) .790
3. Wesley Lyle 150-45 (12-3) .769
4. Tim Gayle 148-47 (11-4) .759
5. Mike Peacock 146-49 (10-5) .749
6. Lindsey Bonner 141-54 (10-5) .723
7. Michael Butler 140-55 (10-5) .718
8. Rosie Langello 139-56 (8-7) .713
9. Barry McKnight 124-71 (11-4) .636
10. Rick Hendrick 121-74 (9-6) .621
Doug Amos (ESPN The Ticket)
156-39 (13-2) .800
Pike Road at Benjamin Russell - Pike Road
Catholic at Jacksonville - Catholic
St. James at Thomasville - St. James
Mobile Christian at Trinity - Mobile Christian
Alabama at Auburn - Alabama
Tuskegee at Alabama State (Thur) - Alabama St
Troy at Southern Miss - Troy
Ole Miss at Miss St (Thur) - Ole Miss
Missouri at Arkansas (Fri) - Missouri
Kentucky at Louisville - Louisville
Clemson at South Carolina - Clemson
Texas A&M at LSU - LSU
Ohio St at Michigan - Michigan
Washington St at Washington - Washington
Oregon St at Oregon (Fri) - Oregon
Graham Dunn (River Region Sports/WTLS/Voice of Alabama State Hornets)
154-41 (11-4) .790
Pike Road at Benjamin Russell - Pike Road
Catholic at Jacksonville - Catholic
St. James at Thomasville - St. James
Mobile Christian at Trinity - Mobile Christian
Alabama at Auburn - Alabama
Tuskegee at Alabama State (Thur) - Alabama St
Troy at Southern Miss - Troy
Ole Miss at Miss St (Thur) - Ole Miss
Missouri at Arkansas (Fri) - Missouri
Kentucky at Louisville - Louisville
Clemson at South Carolina - Clemson
Texas A&M at LSU - Texas A&M
Ohio St at Michigan - Michigan
Washington St at Washington - Washington
Oregon St at Oregon (Fri) - Oregon
Wesley Lyle (River Region Sports & al.com)
150-45 (12-3) .769
Pike Road at Benjamin Russell - Pike Road
Catholic at Jacksonville - Catholic
St. James at Thomasville - Thomasville
Mobile Christian at Trinity - Mobile Christian
Alabama at Auburn - Alabama
Tuskegee at Alabama State (Thur) - Alabama St
Troy at Southern Miss - Troy
Ole Miss at Miss St (Thur) - Ole Miss
Missouri at Arkansas (Fri) - Missouri
Kentucky at Louisville - Louisville
Clemson at South Carolina - Clemson
Texas A&M at LSU - LSU
Ohio St at Michigan - Michigan
Washington St at Washington - Washington
Oregon St at Oregon (Fri) - Oregon
Tim Gayle (River Region Sports/Montgomery Independent)
148-47 (11-4) .759
Pike Road at Benjamin Russell - Pike Road
Catholic at Jacksonville - Catholic
St. James at Thomasville - St. James
Mobile Christian at Trinity - Trinity
Alabama at Auburn - Alabama
Tuskegee at Alabama State (Thur) - Alabama St
Troy at Southern Miss - Troy
Ole Miss at Miss St (Thur) - Ole Miss
Missouri at Arkansas (Fri) - Missouri
Kentucky at Louisville - Louisville
Clemson at South Carolina - Clemson
Texas A&M at LSU - LSU
Ohio St at Michigan - Michigan
Washington St at Washington - Washington
Oregon St at Oregon (Fri) - Oregon
Mike Peacock (River Region Sports)
146-49 (10-5) .749
Pike Road at Benjamin Russell - Ben Russell
Catholic at Jacksonville - Catholic
St. James at Thomasville - Thomasville
Mobile Christian at Trinity - Mobile Christian
Alabama at Auburn - Alabama
Tuskegee at Alabama State (Thur) - Alabama St
Troy at Southern Miss - Troy
Ole Miss at Miss St (Thur) - Ole Miss
Missouri at Arkansas (Fri) - Missouri
Kentucky at Louisville - Louisville
Clemson at South Carolina - Clemson
Texas A&M at LSU - LSU
Ohio St at Michigan - Michigan
Washington St at Washington - Washington
Oregon St at Oregon (Fri) - Oregon
Lindsey Bonner (Sports Director - WAKA Ch. 8)
141-54 (10-5) .723
Pike Road at Benjamin Russell - Benjamin Russell
Catholic at Jacksonville - Catholic
St. James at Thomasville - St. James
Mobile Christian at Trinity - Trinity
Alabama at Auburn - Alabama
Tuskegee at Alabama State (Thur) - Alabama St
Troy at Southern Miss - Troy
Ole Miss at Miss St (Thur) - Ole Miss
Missouri at Arkansas (Fri) - Missouri
Kentucky at Louisville - Louisville
Clemson at South Carolina - Clemson
Texas A&M at LSU - LSU
Ohio St at Michigan - Michigan
Washington St at Washington - Washington
Oregon St at Oregon (Fri) - Oregon
Michael Butler (WTLS 106.9&94.7 FM/1300 AM/Tallassee Times)
140-55 (10-5) .718
Pike Road at Benjamin Russell - Pike Road
Catholic at Jacksonville - Catholic
St. James at Thomasville - St. James
Mobile Christian at Trinity - Mobile Christian
Alabama at Auburn - Alabama
Tuskegee at Alabama State (Thur) - Alabama St
Troy at Southern Miss - Troy
Ole Miss at Miss St (Thur) - Ole Miss
Missouri at Arkansas (Fri) - Missouri
Kentucky at Louisville - Louisville
Clemson at South Carolina - Clemson
Texas A&M at LSU - LSU
Ohio St at Michigan - Michigan
Washington St at Washington - Washington
Oregon St at Oregon (Fri) - Oregon
Rosie Langello (Sports Director - WSFA Ch. 12)
139-56 (8-7) .713
Pike Road at Benjamin Russell - Pike Road
Catholic at Jacksonville - Catholic
St. James at Thomasville - St. James
Mobile Christian at Trinity - Mobile Christian
Alabama at Auburn - Alabama
Tuskegee at Alabama State (Thur) - Alabama St
Troy at Southern Miss - Troy
Ole Miss at Miss St (Thur) - Ole Miss
Missouri at Arkansas (Fri) - Missouri
Kentucky at Louisville - Louisville
Clemson at South Carolina - South Carolina
Texas A&M at LSU - LSU
Ohio St at Michigan - Ohio St
Washington St at Washington - Washington
Oregon St at Oregon (Fri) - Oregon
Barry McKnight (SportsRadio 740 /Voice of Troy Trojans)
124-71 (11-4) .636
Pike Road at Benjamin Russell - Benjamin Russell
Catholic at Jacksonville - Catholic
St. James at Thomasville - Thomasville
Mobile Christian at Trinity - Mobile Christian
Alabama at Auburn - Alabama
Tuskegee at Alabama State (Thur) - Alabama St
Troy at Southern Miss - Troy
Ole Miss at Miss St (Thur) - Ole Miss
Missouri at Arkansas (Fri) - Missouri
Kentucky at Louisville - Louisville
Clemson at South Carolina - Clemson
Texas A&M at LSU - LSU
Ohio St at Michigan - Michigan
Washington St at Washington - Washington
Oregon St at Oregon (Fri) - Oregon
Rick Hendrick (WXFS 95.1 The Fox/PA Montgomery Biscuits)
121-74 (9-6) .621
Pike Road at Benjamin Russell - Pike Road
Catholic at Jacksonville - Catholic
St. James at Thomasville - Thomasville
Mobile Christian at Trinity - Trinity
Alabama at Auburn - Alabama
Tuskegee at Alabama State (Thur) - Alabama St
Troy at Southern Miss - Troy
Ole Miss at Miss St (Thur) - Ole Miss
Missouri at Arkansas (Fri) - Missouri
Kentucky at Louisville - Kentucky
Clemson at South Carolina - South Carolina
Texas A&M at LSU - LSU
Ohio St at Michigan - Michigan
Washington St at Washington - Washington
Oregon St at Oregon (Fri) - Oregon