While many may not like the 'doom and gloom' views expressed in Dennis Dodd's feature regarding the Pac 12 (Full article here: '
Cranks in Pac 12'), there are some real truths inside his work.
Is the Pac-12 going to be demoted from Power 5 status? No. It's almost absurd to say, but the rest of his information is a pretty fair assessment of where the Pac-12 stands. Due to the confluence of many factors, the brand - on a national level - is not very good. He is right that USC should have at least gotten some play in the CFP last year. The conference did nothing.
The gap between Pac-12 revenue and the SEC is $10 million
per school. That is a fact.
The Pac-12 Network is expensive and poorly run.
What Dodd's doesn't do, is point out something more problematic; the fans, for the most part, don't care. I have said this for some time, fans in the Pac-12 are the least invested in success from an emotional standpoint of any Power Five conference as a whole.
Why does the TV deal suck? Because the demand for Pac-12 football by its fans - and thereby the value of Pac-12 football to advertisers - is bad. Fans of the Pac-12 tune out more frequently than fans of other conferences.
Panning the stands at games, there are too many empty seats. It's easy to say that those empty seats are fans watching on television and that there is no real net loss to the schools; but that's not true. Often in the Pac-12, the empty stands are fans doing something else.
Last season, the Pac 12 Championship game was the lowest rated game of any Power Five Conference; barely beating out the American Conference Championship game (~3.675 million vs. 3.385 million) between UCF and Memphis. Yep. The American Conference was watched by almost as many people as the Pac-12. I know that both had a good story, but it shows where the Pac-12 ranks in terms of fan engagement. They just don't care enough.
During 'Rivalry Week' the highest rated Pac-12 game (UW-WSU) was the 11th overall game at 2.39 million viewers - College Gameday was right behind it with 2.29 million. The next conference game on that list? Oregon-OSU at 738,000. Less than the 847,000 who watched the CFP Rankings Show.
There are some issues within the Pac-12. It's commissioner is disproportionately paid for what he has provided and his grand vision - while originally very bold and grand - has failed to a large extent to close the gap between the Pac-12 and other conferences. The conference has an image problem and a lack of visibility. I agree that the conference is not on good footing.
But to be fair, Dodd never says that the Pac-12 is in danger of losing it's Power Five status; he merely says "If this was a country club, the Pac-12 would be in danger of losing its membership." But it's not a country club and it is not in danger of losing its membership. A small amount of hyperbolic suggestion does not, in any way, take away from what Dodd is pointing out; this conference needs some real success; and it needs that success soon.
In the 2017-18 seasons, the Pac-12 had it's worst bowl record ever and worst NCAA tournament results in over 30 years. Keep in mind, though, that last year was a single year. The year prior Washington made the CFP and Oregon made the Final Four.
The reality? Until Pac-12 fans care as much as SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 fans, this is going to be an ongoing problem.
