Making sense of how the Mountain West slid into the driver's seat
in conference realignment.
“The MW could come out of this situation in good shape, which I would not have predicted even a month ago. If the Pac-12 goes down to four schools (Cal, Stanford, Oregon State, Washington State), the MW could try and poach those schools or propose a merger. The MW would have the upper hand in any merger because of its strength in numbers (11 to four). First-year MW commissioner Gloria Nevarez should be on the phone to all four of those schools right now, most notably Oregon State and Washington State. It seems like a long shot Cal or Stanford would join the MW given their academic pride, but Oregon State and Washington State could end up legitimate expansion candidates for the MW. And it's worth pushing to get Cal and Stanford even if the answer is ultimately "No."
The MWC should reject Stanford and Cal outright. These two schools add nothing to an athletic conference. They have been an albatross around the neck of the PAC-12 for years forcing them to make stupid decisions at the conference level.
** Edited by WBGV at 8/5/2023, 1:41:17 PM
4 Replies
2y
Doesn’t the PAC have a massive multi-million dollar debt due to their leadership trying to fleece Comcast?
(In response to this post by WBGV)
2y
Then the remaining 4 schools can go to the Mountain West, and the Mountain West can even change their name to the Pac-whatever if they want.
** Edited by tarheelblue at 8/5/2023, 2:39:14 PM
(In response to this post by OU_Sooner)
2y
bankruptcy? And start with a clean slate? It's never been done I don't think, and not being a law scholar, it certainly could leave the ACC hanging if there was a judgement against FSU for instance.
(In response to this post by tarheelblue)
2y
It's part of the university. But maybe the university could try spinning off the athletic department into its own legal entity so that it could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But there could be problems with that. For one thing, doing so wouldn't be allowed if it were seen as an attempt to defraud creditors, which this would probably be seen as. And for another, if the athletic department isn't part of the university anymore, then it probably wouldn't qualify for tax-exempt status any longer.
** Edited by tarheelblue at 8/5/2023, 5:22:37 PM
(In response to this post by Big12 guy)