Cal Strong has no followed conference realignment as closely as other. He too busy doing squats, pushups, growing winter fruits/veggies here in New Zealand, and trying to keep peppers and tomatillos alive in his pop-up greenhouses.

But he did read something a while ago that some of the B1G university presidents really want Cal and stanfurd because Cal is such a good academic institution. Presumably (and paradoxically) they want stanfurd because they are also interested in illiterate mouth breathers who prefer to copulate with their own sisters and cousins.

As for the academic attraction, Cal Strong assumes the presidents of Michigan, Northwestern, and Wisconsin would like an elite West Coast academic powerhouse like Cal. But they are bumping up against the other presidents and all the athletic directors who don't want to split the pie further and who don't see the Bay Area recruiting and media market as attractive enough to balance the dilution of their shares of the pie.

We gotta hope that a big time Alumna comes in and drops a massive check on the Big 10 desk. I think that's the only way in or in a month on a crazy prorated contract.

But I guess it's just wait and see.

Our best option... is to create options. More than one.

Obviously, if there is any way to get into a conference better than the MWC, work strongly on that option.

But other work needs to be done at the same time. Can't do nothing but chase saviors when there might be none.

Unless Cal and Stanford want the MWC to be their only option (other than being rescued), two things need to be done immediately. Yes, immediately. There should be people in the athletic department working on these things today.

(1) Reach out to no-football D-I conferences in the west -- the Big West would be the clear first choice -- and try to get them to admit Cal for 2024-25 in the event Cal football goes indy.

(2) Get to work on building an independent football schedule for 2024. Right now, the Bears have only 3 games scheduled for 2024. The Big Game makes 4 if it continues. Try to get Wazzu and Oregon State to agree to play Cal and Stanford in football next year unless all four teams join conferences. Reach out to other teams -- Surely someone in the athletic department has friends at other schools? Right? -- and try to work onto their 2024 schedule. Other indies building last-minute schedules have found two teams scheduled to play each other who agree to both play the indy instead of each other. Do that as many times as necessary. If there are any teams that otherwise still have 2024 openings, schedule them. Even if there have to be 7 road games in 2024, fill the damn schedule.

Time is short. Our athletic department better be working on these things and not just waiting to be rescued.

HateRed said:

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I don't want to discuss options. I want to discuss what is…

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that's rich coming from the most prolific poster of what ifs, hyperbole, and ... options.

BearMDJD said:

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Option 3: Folding up football is not possible because we have hundreds of millions in debt on the stadium that needs to be paid back and we have ESP donors that would immediately sue at worst and stop writing checks to the rest of the university at best.

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This claim doesn't make sense. Cal already took on half the stadium debt. It's literally paper. It has nothing to do with football except on paper, today.

There is no block to moving all the debt to the university, and not much to block shifting it to CU, and only slightly more of a block to shifting it straight to the State.

It's not tied to football any more than USC is tied to the Pac12.

If Cal drops football, the debt moves. "We owe a bunch of money on a building" has never kept an entity with no possibility of profitability in business.

Hell, in any case that doesn't include Cal in a power conference with 30+ million payout a year, the University is paying the debt anyway.

Sounds good to me. Let's make the debt vanish and pay back all the ESP seat holders and shut it all down. That was easy.

StillNoStanfurdium said:

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BearMDJD said:

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Cal can either: 1. Join the MWC and make $4/5 million a year 2. Go independent and make zero media revenues dollars or 3. Fold competitive football as we know it.

Option1: 4/5 million a year is not worth the hit to the university's prestige and the hordes of donors that would immediately stop showing up and stop writing checks.

Option 3: Folding up football is not possible because we have hundreds of millions in debt on the stadium that needs to be paid back and we have ESP donors that would immediately sue at worst and stop writing checks to the rest of the university at best.

That leads us to option 3 which is making potentially making zero media revenue dollars (or near zero) either in a zombie PAC, as an independent, or subservient to a conference that will let us schedule with them - yes, the B1G would take us for free. At least in this scenario ticket sales continue, the ESP holders aren't frozen out, and some revenue is generated despite a massive financial donut hole.

If the decision comes down to defaulting on the stadium debt and breaking ESP pledges, I'm pretty sure main campus would decide they have to fill the $30 million dollar media dollar gap from somewhere. Losing $30 million a year and hoping we can get into a bigger conference later is still far far far better than defaulting with no football team.

This may become Cal's come to Jesus moment, and honestly, it might be exactly what Cal deserves and needs. That hole is going to have to be covered by either massive donor support or main campus (endowment?).

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I think you're overlooking the scenario in which the top MWC schools essentially merge into the PAC and retain the PAC branding for its (now diminished) prestige and any NCAA Tourney tie-ins and what not. It allows a modicum of saving face (even if it's MWC in all but name).

Also the longshot chance that the ACC somehow gets blow apart earlier than expected and ACC with no teams to go decide to go with a new PAC.

Any of the above scenarios could result in a payout of lower than $20M, but probably higher than $5M. Not saying it's likely, just that they're possibilities also..

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No one is paying to watch WSU, OSU, Cal and Furd play Fresno and SJSU. Not in person or on TV.

The Pac as a draw is dead. The hope of bringing in a bunch of regional schools that no one, even in our region, cares about is not hope. It's the bargaining phase of grief.

That's not mentioning that Nevada and Fresno have the absolute ****tiest groups of feral ticks posing as fanbases.


There is no path forward with the Pac. The Pac had it's opportunity in early 2000s to make a move and faceplanted.

BearMDJD said:

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Sounds good to me. Let's make the debt vanish and pay back all the ESP seat holders and shut it all down. That was easy.

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That's where this is headed. And if we try to keep football by merging with MWC, then the revenue will be too low to field a team and pay debt anyway.

what's your solution lunchtime?

Cal Strong! said:

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Cal Strong has no followed conference realignment as closely as other. He too busy doing squats, pushups, growing winter fruits/veggies here in New Zealand, and trying to keep peppers and tomatillos alive in his pop-up greenhouses.

But he did read something a while ago that some of the B1G university presidents really want Cal and stanfurd because Cal is such a good academic institution. Presumably (and paradoxically) they want stanfurd because they are also interested in illiterate mouth breathers who prefer to copulate with their own sisters and cousins.

As for the academic attraction, Cal Strong assumes the presidents of Michigan, Northwestern, and Wisconsin would like an elite West Coast academic powerhouse like Cal. But they are bumping up against the other presidents and all the athletic directors who don't want to split the pie further and who don't see the Bay Area recruiting and media market as attractive enough to balance the dilution of their shares of the pie.

---

No one wants to share revenue with two institutions that bring in zero revenue. And College football caring about "academics" is a ship that sailed months ago. This is about money.

A teams relationship to the university is a logo and nothing more.

TottenhamBear said:

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Cal is stuck between a rock and a hard place. We all know this.

The problem is that apparently USC and UCLA were very adamant that no other California or Pac 10 teams were allowed to join when they jumped ship over to the big 10. this was strictly for recruitment reasons to keep the west coast locked to them.

With that being said, I think we need to get on our knees and pre prepared to take it from the big 10 because otherwise we are screwed.

Otherwise we might be either stuck going to the MWC or going Independent which won't fly. Just wish we had some sort of statement from the AD or President. This is embarrassing beyond belief that nothing was said.

I'm so frustrated that I literally created an account, paid just to write this. It's either big 10 or pray that someone takes Oski out back like Ol' Yeller.

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If you're so frustrated you created an account and paid for premium, you might as well post on the premium board instead of the free boards.

LunchTime said:

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BearMDJD said:

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Option 3: Folding up football is not possible because we have hundreds of millions in debt on the stadium that needs to be paid back and we have ESP donors that would immediately sue at worst and stop writing checks to the rest of the university at best.

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This claim doesn't make sense. Cal already took on half the stadium debt. It's literally paper. It has nothing to do with football except on paper, today.

There is no block to moving all the debt to the university, and not much to block shifting it to CU, and only slightly more of a block to shifting it straight to the State.

It's not tied to football any more than USC is tied to the Pac12.

If Cal drops football, the debt moves. "We owe a bunch of money on a building" has never kept an entity with no possibility of profitability in business.

Hell, in any case that doesn't include Cal in a power conference with 30+ million payout a year, the University is paying the debt anyway.

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Regents are paying it. Highly unclear where (or how) it would be paid by an Individual campus if ica revenue goes bust.

Econ141 said:

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BearHunter said:

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YuSeeBerkeley said:

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Is there no chance of the SEC wanting to branch into California?

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You know they want us.

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This would absolutely be amazing lol - and at full share!

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We could double down as "Berkeley" and "California" be the liberal villains and pack the stadiums down south like Romans flocked to the Coliseum to see the lions eat Christians (we are the Christians in this metaphor).

philly1121 said:

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what's your solution lunchtime?

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Kobayashi Maru

There is no "solution" here unless Cal has something up it's sleeve it's not discussing.

Funny you should mention a Cal grad is the only one to successfully complete the test!

cccbear04 said:

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Funny you should mention a Cal grad is the only one to successfully complete the test!

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And he cheated!

cccbear04 said:

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Funny you should mention a Cal grad is the only one to successfully complete the test!

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TBH, I wouldn't be surprised if Cal cheated on this, and this is the best we could manage.

By any chance you are a fan of the Tottenham Hotspur? They have a Go On You Spurs that's exactly like our Roll On You Bears cheer.

BearSD said:

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Our best option... is to create options. More than one.

Obviously, if there is any way to get into a conference better than the MWC, work strongly on that option.

But other work needs to be done at the same time. Can't do nothing but chase saviors when there might be none.

Unless Cal and Stanford want the MWC to be their only option (other than being rescued), two things need to be done immediately. Yes, immediately. There should be people in the athletic department working on these things today.

(1) Reach out to no-football D-I conferences in the west -- the Big West would be the clear first choice -- and try to get them to admit Cal for 2024-25 in the event Cal football goes indy.

(2) Get to work on building an independent football schedule for 2024. Right now, the Bears have only 3 games scheduled for 2024. The Big Game makes 4 if it continues. Try to get Wazzu and Oregon State to agree to play Cal and Stanford in football next year unless all four teams join conferences. Reach out to other teams -- Surely someone in the athletic department has friends at other schools? Right? -- and try to work onto their 2024 schedule. Other indies building last-minute schedules have found two teams scheduled to play each other who agree to both play the indy instead of each other. Do that as many times as necessary. If there are any teams that otherwise still have 2024 openings, schedule them. Even if there have to be 7 road games in 2024, fill the damn schedule.

Time is short. Our athletic department better be working on these things and not just waiting to be rescued.

---

Great post. Agree 100%

Fortunately nearly every very school in the Big West is a UC, so sending all the non-football sports there should be easily accomplished and will be preferable for most sports even if football go a to the B1G.

For football, B1G is far and away the first choice. However you are right, we need options. Cal and Stanford teaming with Notre Dame as independents is risky (and we would need expertise tgst I am not sure our AD has) but could be good until we prove our value and something opens up at the B1G. We should be able to get a streaming deal with Apple at least. Talk with the B-12 and ACC.

calumnus said:

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BearSD said:

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Our best option... is to create options. More than one.

Obviously, if there is any way to get into a conference better than the MWC, work strongly on that option.

But other work needs to be done at the same time. Can't do nothing but chase saviors when there might be none.

Unless Cal and Stanford want the MWC to be their only option (other than being rescued), two things need to be done immediately. Yes, immediately. There should be people in the athletic department working on these things today.

(1) Reach out to no-football D-I conferences in the west -- the Big West would be the clear first choice -- and try to get them to admit Cal for 2024-25 in the event Cal football goes indy.

(2) Get to work on building an independent football schedule for 2024. Right now, the Bears have only 3 games scheduled for 2024. The Big Game makes 4 if it continues. Try to get Wazzu and Oregon State to agree to play Cal and Stanford in football next year unless all four teams join conferences. Reach out to other teams -- Surely someone in the athletic department has friends at other schools? Right? -- and try to work onto their 2024 schedule. Other indies building last-minute schedules have found two teams scheduled to play each other who agree to both play the indy instead of each other. Do that as many times as necessary. If there are any teams that otherwise still have 2024 openings, schedule them. Even if there have to be 7 road games in 2024, fill the damn schedule.

Time is short. Our athletic department better be working on these things and not just waiting to be rescued.

---

Great post. Agree 100%

Fortunately nearly every very school in the Big West is a UC, so sending all the non-football sports there should be easily accomplished and will be preferable for most sports even if football go a to the B1G.

For football, B1G is far and away the first choice. However you are right, we need options. Cal and Stanford teaming with Notre Dame as independents is risky (and we would need expertise tgst I am not sure our AD has) but could be good until we prove our value and something opens up at the B1G. We should be able to get a streaming deal with Apple at least. Talk with the B-12 and ACC.

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The B1G won't happen. They are not interested in us, have never been interested in us, and likely never will be interested in us. An ACC merger would have been a good option but now that Oregon and Washington have defected, the rest of us don't have much to offer. Perhaps we can join the Big West for all sports other than football (after all we would have been dead last in that conference last year in basketball) and be independent in football, just to keep options open for a couple of years. The future is bleak. Thanks a lot Christ, Knowlton, and Kliavkoff, and Scott; all of you were overpaid incompetent bureaucrats.

socaltownie said:

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Someone asked about ESP and suing. I don't own one (500 miles away in San diego). What does it say? I thought it was a yearly deal.

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Not yearly with all ESP seat holders. When the ESP program was first announced, I paid for 2 Field Club seats for 40 years. I made a payment of $120,000 for the seats. To this point I have used 12 of those years, so I have 28 years remaining on my "contract". That commitment I made was on the assumption (which seemed reasonable in March 2010) that the Pac-12 conference would continue to exist in its then-present form. I did not make that investment to watch non-Power 5 football.

Golden One said:

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socaltownie said:

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Someone asked about ESP and suing. I don't own one (500 miles away in San diego). What does it say? I thought it was a yearly deal.

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Not yearly with all ESP seat holders. When the ESP program was first announced, I paid for 2 Field Club seats for 40 years. I made a payment of $120,000 for the seats. To this point I have used 12 of those years, so I have 28 years remaining on my "contract". That commitment I made was on the assumption (which seemed reasonable in March 2010) that the Pac-12 conference would continue to exist in its then-present form. I did not make that investment to watch non-Power 5 football.

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Well, yes you did, as it turns out.

Golden One said:

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socaltownie said:

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Someone asked about ESP and suing. I don't own one (500 miles away in San diego). What does it say? I thought it was a yearly deal.

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Not yearly with all ESP seat holders. When the ESP program was first announced, I paid for 2 Field Club seats for 40 years. I made a payment of $120,000 for the seats. To this point I have used 12 of those years, so I have 28 years remaining on my "contract". That commitment I made was on the assumption (which seemed reasonable in March 2010) that the Pac-12 conference would continue to exist in its then-present form. I did not make that investment to watch non-Power 5 football.

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Not to be snarky but I assume John Moores wasn't a dick and my Padre psl would have value. The key js what is in the contract and what cal obligated itself to

LunchTime said:

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No one wants to share revenue with two institutions that bring in zero revenue. And College football caring about "academics" is a ship that sailed years ago. This is about money.

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FIFY.

LunchTime said:

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Cal Strong! said:

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Cal Strong has no followed conference realignment as closely as other. He too busy doing squats, pushups, growing winter fruits/veggies here in New Zealand, and trying to keep peppers and tomatillos alive in his pop-up greenhouses.

But he did read something a while ago that some of the B1G university presidents really want Cal and stanfurd because Cal is such a good academic institution. Presumably (and paradoxically) they want stanfurd because they are also interested in illiterate mouth breathers who prefer to copulate with their own sisters and cousins.

As for the academic attraction, Cal Strong assumes the presidents of Michigan, Northwestern, and Wisconsin would like an elite West Coast academic powerhouse like Cal. But they are bumping up against the other presidents and all the athletic directors who don't want to split the pie further and who don't see the Bay Area recruiting and media market as attractive enough to balance the dilution of their shares of the pie.

---

No one wants to share revenue with two institutions that bring in zero revenue. And College football caring about "academics" is a ship that sailed months ago. This is about money.

A teams relationship to the university is a logo and nothing more.

---

This no true. There reports that some B1G university presidents want Cal and furd. But clearly not enough of them (yet) to move the needle.

In terms of LunchTime's comment about the relationship between football teams and universities, this no true either. It weak hyperbole. Cal Strong understands why LunchTime and others might feel that it is moving quickly in that direction. But it certainly not the case now, and Cal Strong doubts it will ever actually get there.

If it were true, then many on this board (the most die hard Cal fans out there), Cal Strong included, would stop supporting the Bears.

Presidents & ADs from the remaining four Pac-12 schools have held multiple meetings today to discuss next steps.

Options are limited, but one of the most practical is a merger or partnership with the Mountain West, which the MWC is receptive to, sources tell @YahooSports.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 5, 2023

not to worry. the pac4 has had numerous calls today and the best idea they came up with is merge with MWC

nikeykid said:

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Presidents & ADs from the remaining four Pac-12 schools have held multiple meetings today to discuss next steps.

Options are limited, but one of the most practical is a merger or partnership with the Mountain West, which the MWC is receptive to, sources tell @YahooSports.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 5, 2023

not to worry. the pac4 has had numerous calls today and the best idea they came up with is merge with MWC

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that's great news!

We could actually get out of this with the status of home and homes with SJSU!?

nikeykid said:

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Presidents & ADs from the remaining four Pac-12 schools have held multiple meetings today to discuss next steps.

Options are limited, but one of the most practical is a merger or partnership with the Mountain West, which the MWC is receptive to, sources tell @YahooSports.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 5, 2023

not to worry. the pac4 has had numerous calls today and the best idea they came up with is merge with MWC

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Merge with MWC to form a new conference forcing a renegotiation of the MWC TV deal and get $6M per team. #Winning

berserkeley said:

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nikeykid said:

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Presidents & ADs from the remaining four Pac-12 schools have held multiple meetings today to discuss next steps.

Options are limited, but one of the most practical is a merger or partnership with the Mountain West, which the MWC is receptive to, sources tell @YahooSports.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 5, 2023

not to worry. the pac4 has had numerous calls today and the best idea they came up with is merge with MWC

---

Merge with MWC to form a new conference forcing a renegotiation of the MWC TV deal and get $6M per team. #Winning

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Better than a poke in the eye.

Office of the Chancellor
Dear campus community,

As you may be aware, two more of our Pac-12 peer institutions, Oregon and Washington, have decided to leave the conference one year from now, and there are reports that additional universities may be considering similar steps.

These changes are just the latest developments in the ongoing realignment of the conferences around which intercollegiate athletics are organized; changes that raise serious questions and challenges for Cal Athletics.

We are not watching and waiting from the sidelines. Together, we are evaluating a variety of options that will ensure our student athletes can continue to thrive, and that our intercollegiate athletics program can continue to excel in a manner consistent with our institutional values and budgetary realities.

We recognize and deeply value the singular role Cal Athletics plays in terms of the participatory and educational opportunities it provides to our students, and the way in which it supports the strength, spirit and cohesion of our university's extended community of students, staff, faculty and alumni.

As we review the options before us, these are the attributes we are committed to protect and preserve.

At this point, as complicated conversations and negotiations continue, there is little else we can say without jeopardizing our interests. We are grateful for the continued support of the campus community and the extended Cal family, and will remain committed to sharing as much information as we can in the days ahead.

Fiat Lux and Go Bears!

Carol T. Christ
Chancellor

Jim Knowlton
Director, Intercollegiate Athletics


This message was sent to all UC Berkeley staff, students, and faculty.

A merger is the only way the remaining Pac-12 schools can get together with Mountain West programs because the MWC exit fee is $34 million for each team.

Word out tonight is that the Big XII might be willing to add additional schools.

Quote:

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"We are not watching and waiting from the sidelines."

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Don't tell us. Show us.

philly1121 said:

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Wait - so what happens to seat licenses? Would you get your money back if/when the 0-ac dissolves? Damn - did they even write in an Armageddon scenario?

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No.

BigDaddy said:

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A merger is the only way the remaining Pac-12 can get together with Mountain West programs because the MWC buy is $34 million each.

Word out tonight is that the Big XII might be willing to add additional schools.

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Number of AAU schools in the Big XII: 5
Number of AAU schools in the MWC: 0

It would appear that the Big XII is the better cultural fit.

The man who helped steer UCLA toward B1G bucks, helping to bring down the Pac12, is retiring:

"UCLA Chancellor Gene Block announced Thursday he is stepping down from the helm of the nation's top-ranked public university after steering the Westwood campus through a financial crisis and global pandemic to reach new heights in expanding enrollment, diversity, philanthropy and research funding."

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-03/ucla-chancellor-gene-block-retires