The PAC 12 (and the B1G) Weigh In

If USC bolts, then the remaining PAC (those without an invite to the party) would likely add or partner up with much of the remaining Big 12. Some might call that a 2nd rate conference, but it still would be pretty good overall. No marquee program, but a bunch of good and pretty good programs.

 

I have a feeling they get invited to LOTS of parties. They're welcome at my house anytime.

 

Seattle,

That is the first time I've ever heard "Colorado" & "academics" in the same sentence outside of that state, and I went to The University of Colorado Graduate School of Business. That school and whole state is full of corrupt liars. They make deals, sign contracts, and never fulfill them because they can't find the money.

 

It's all relative. USNWR has them at #103, surprisingly tied with ASU and Oregon AU and UTah are grouped with them just ahead. Oregon State and WSU have no chance to be picked up.

UCLA, CAL and UW are all Top 10 Public Universities, major research universities to boot which the B1G salivates over.

 

Speaking of TV markets, here is the latest Top 50 Populated Cities (these are cities only, not metropolitan areas):

 

Sad, sad, sad. Austin used to be such a perfect mid-sized city.

 

I don't have glasses that will read small print...I couldn't find Bryan or College Station.

 

There's one in teh Dixie Chicken and one in the men's locker room at Miramont

 

LOL My eagle eye sees five of the top 15 markets in Texas. Not too shabby.

 

"Wait till we get the metro area list! Then you'll see Waco!" - Nervous BU alums

 

I like to believe they are real.

 

Yes, it was 500k when I moved there in 1991

 

There was a bit of the residual charm when I was there in the early 1980s; made me wish I could have been there 10 years earlier.

 

I do not see TCU as being attractive to any Power Five(4) conference. The media market for TCU is only Ft Worth which is shared by Texas and OU. The only metric for a conference adding new members is increased media dollars.

 

No wonder traffic is so bad in Austin. San Jose has a better network or freeways, highways and primary roads. And better public transportation.

 

I arrived back in Austin in 1981 after spending one year with my family (75-76) as a Jr High student. Bull Creek and some of the other swimming holes had already been closed, but most of the old vibe was still in place. MOPAC came to a dead end at 183! It was an easy 8 minute drive from UT to Riverside.

I left in the summer of 2000, and I do not miss being in Austin one tiny bit.

 

My daughter earned her BA at UT in 2020 and is currently working on a master's in sports management (while also working at Congress Ave Kayaks and as a coach at the Austin Rowing Center). She loves UT (and it was by far her first choice, with UNT being a distant second, a fall-back option).

But she says she's looking forward to living somewhere other than Austin.

 

I once had a goal of retiring in Austin. I dropped that goal around 2000.

 

I sent 2 of my kids to UNT. Denton looks a lot like what Austin used to be, but without the hills and rivers.

 

What has happened to Austin is a travesty and a shocker.

I grew up in the 50s and remember how Houston handled their uncontrolled growth in the late 70s. It was a disaster. People in Austin talked about how poorly the oil boom was managed — uncontrolled and unmanaged growth, virtually no zoning — and how that could never happen in Austin. Unfortunately, even with all the progressive minds and the smart people, Austin has turned into a higher tech version of Houston. Urban sprawl. Billboards and signs everywhere. Terrible traffic. Homeless issues. Crime. I could go on. It’s so sad. What was once a pristine gem has been turned into virtually just another big city. Now, I’m not saying that Austin isn’t still special. It is. But it’s nothing close to what it could have been or what it should be.

People love to criticize Southern California. I get that. The politics suck. The taxes are oppressive. However, if you travel out there and observe the roads, the signage, and the cleanliness, there is no comparison. Particularly near the beach communities in Orange County, it “is” pristine. And there are over 3 million people that live in Orange County alone. Yes, there’s traffic. That’s because the area is so beautiful that visitors flock there. But it’s clean, and it’s visually very attractive.

That’s the way Austin was and that’s the way Austin should have been kept.

I had always thought I would return to Austin to retire. Sadly for me, the attractiveness of doing so pretty much no longer exists. However, I have looked at the Boerne area and also Horseshoe Bay. Those areas have not been bastardized…yet.

 

So did I. I owned a lot out west of Austin and had planned to build a retirement home. My last real interface with Austin was 1992 (my last year as a Reservist assigned to HQ 10AF at Bergstrom). By that time I-35 was essentially a linear parking lot. I took a long look at the probable future of Austin - we sold our lot. I'm in Arlington for the duration.

 

I see San Marcos as also being too popular for its own good. My parents moved there in 1986 when my dad retired. In 2000 they relocated to Denton.

 

Hell, New Braunfels is rapidly approaching 100K population itself. San Antaustinopolis is not all that far from reality.

 

Meanwhile, the talk here in Houston is that the area to the west (Katy) is potentially the next big urban area. Large developments are going up west of Grand Parkway and north of I-10.

 

South Waller.

 

Drive out the old country road that was Westheimer to Fulshear. The Katy Prairie is alive with construction, commercial & residential. Who the hell is buying this stuff?

 

Blackrock.

 

More ‘strategery’ from our pals up North in the B1G. (Rumors only thus far)

Throw a wrench in the SEC’s move to take it all over by stopping the playoff expansion.

 

Other rumor circulating:

If:

1. The ACC expands, while keeping Clemson and FSU,
or
2. A merger or partnership of sorts between the ACC and SEC;

and

3. The B1G doesn’t do something big (pun fully intended); then

Penn State may jump to the ACC.

 

That's my opinion as well. I wouldn't want BYU since that can't play on Sundays, when they come to town, they don't seem to bolster the local economy much, not that many seem to travel probably because of the multiple hotel rooms they have to reserve for all those wives and kids they have.