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Hacksaw’s Great Sports Weekend Podcast..moved to Friday afternoon
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Join us Friday afternoon
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“CONFERENCE CIVIL WAR”
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Quite a battle that has started ‘after-the-fact’.

After the fact that the Pac 12 announced it was acquiring 5-teams from the Mountain West Conference, and willing to pay exit fees to make the deals go thru.

San Diego State-Boise State-Fresno State-Colorado State and Utah State are headed to the Pac 12, trying to rebuild itself after the demise last year of the Conference of Champions.

But now the Pac 12 has gone back on the deal, filing a lawsuit that the MWC’s demand for (55M) in exit fees is illegal.

The Pac 12 had agreed to go fund part of the exit fees of the five schools joining their league from the MWC.

The (55M) payment request for poaching schools by the Pac 12, was separate from the MWC schools agreeing to pay 18M each if they decided to leave.

Added into the talks, was the fact the Pac 12-paid the MWC (14M)-as part of a scheduling alliance to help Oregon State-Washington State find games this fall.  The relationship fell apart when the MWC asked for (30M) to continue the scheduling alliance.

Now the Pac 12 wants a judge to remove the (55M) payments they owe, saying it is unlawful.

The Mountain West rejected the assertions, saying the Pac 12 lawyers agreed to the terms of the agreement, vetted the deal, and signed the deal.  End of discussion.

Now just two weeks after SDSU joined the Pac 12, the league is in trouble.  They tried but failed to lure Memphis-Tulane-South Florida, but could not give them a guaranteed figure of what a new TV deal would bring each school.  That plus the AAC would need to be paid (27M) to release those 3-schools to go to the Pac 12.

They went after Air Force and UNLV, but the MWC countered with bonus money above the 11M each is expected to get in a new TV deal for the Mountain West.

Now the 7-team Pac 12 is backed into a corner.  There’s no one else to get to join.  They face an August 2025 deadline from the NCAA to get to 8-teams.  The Pac 12 says it really wants to go to 9-football teams.

Who?  Where?  How much?

Hard to believe the Mountain West is the power broker in this, and the Pac 12, reeling from the loss of 10-members, seems left with no options going forward.  Shocking to think New Mexico, Wyoming and the others left behind have bargaining power, while the new look Pac 12 seems in worse shape, despite its national brand.

And now this vicious Civil War between the two conferences.  The story is not over.  The solutions may be hard to find.

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