#Colorado vs TCU

[worldwide-blackfolk]

It’s only 1 win but it was damn impressive!

[heartlandcollegesports]

Latest News and Updates on Colorado Football | Heartland Collegesports

Get all the latest news about Colorado football as they are gearing up for a perfect showdown with UCF. Know all the big games, player updates, and expert analysis right before this much-awaited battle. Stay ahead of all the news on Colorado football.

[atlsportsstan]

Is Colorado worth the hype?

The Colorado Buffaloes ended the 2022 college football season with 1 win. In December, they made a big splash and signed Deion Sanders to be their head coach. Along with the “Coach Prime” mentality, he also brought a lot of his players and had them battle it out with the returning Buffaloes players for who would stay and who would eventually transfer to a different school.

There was a lot of hype around Boulder, CO this year. Not many predicted they would be the greatest team in college football, but they thought they would finish the season in the top 25, and make a bowl game. Despite them not being expected to make too much noise this season, the national media has been all over Coach Prime and Colorado. In my opinion, this attention is not worthy of Colorado, at least not yet.

In their first game of the season, they had traveled on the road to play against TCU. The Buffaloes were 20.5 point underdogs going into Saturday, however, they ended up winning by 3 points thanks to a 46 yard touchdown connection from Shedur Sanders to Dylan Edwards with 4:25 left in the game. They threw for 510 yards, but only ran for 55 yards that Saturday afternoon. 

In their second game, they returned to a sold-out Folsom Field to play against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Colorado raced out to a 13-0 lead at halftime and never looked back. Shedur Sanders carved up some corn and gave the Buffaloes their first double-digit win since October of 2021. Normally, you storm the field for a big win against a rival or a legendary upset. However, this is Boulder, CO goddammit. They stormed the field. The energy up north is on a different level right now.

Their next game is one of the biggest. Colorado vs. Colorado State. Colorado went down 21-14 at halftime, and they had lost 2-way star Travis Hunter midway through the first quarter. They had to come back from down 10 points to force overtime. In overtime, they traded touchdowns before Shedur Sanders connected with Michael Harrison for an 18-yard touchdown. On the ensuing possession, Trevor Woods got an interception, thus ending the game for Colorado. They storm the field again, and Boulder is 3-0 for the first time in a long time.

Now the big question. Is Colorado worth the hype? This game between Colorado and Colorado State had an average viewership of 9.3 million viewers, was the 5th most-watched regular season game of all time, and the most streamed game in ESPN history. Colorado has had a lot of coverage on their team this season. My point is this. When you have Shedur Sanders and Travis Hunter on the same team, all coached by one of the best corners this world has seen, you are expected to beat everyone on their schedule. Definitely, you are not expected to go to 2 overtimes with Colorado State and only beat TCU by 2. I don’t believe in the hype.

All in all, who really cares what I think? I’m just some high school kid from Georgia. You’re right. I haven't been able to catch very much college football this season, but one thing I do know is football. And I've been watching football to know what a “tell game” is. Every team has one that will basically tell you how good they are. I fully believe that, above all else, next week's game at 10th-ranked Oregon is Colorado’s tell. This is really the first weekend I’m going to have free since the season started, so I will be tuning in without a doubt. And I encourage you all to tune in as well. 3:30 p.m. on ESPN.  This might just break the record that last week’s game just broke. Let me know your thoughts on this topic and who you think will prevail. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you guys soon.

[mvdbutler]

EA COLLEGE FOOTBALL 25 GAMEPLAY SEASON 1 THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS ACC-SMU AMERICAN-WICHITA STATE BIG EAST-UCONN BIG TEN-NEBRASKA BIG 12-BOISE STATE MOUNTAIN WEST-MONTANA SEC-ALABAMA BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 1 VS 2 ALABAMA VS BOISE STATE-WINNER ROSE BOWL 3 VS 4 NEBRASKA VS SMU-WINNER ORANGE BOWL 5 VS 6 UCONN-WINNER-OT-2 VS WICHITA STATE SUGAR BOWL 7 VS 8 COLORADO VS MICHIGAN-WINNER COTTON BOWL CLASSIC 9 VS 10 BYU-WINNER VS OREGON PEACH BOWL 11 VS 12 LIBERTY VS WEST VIRGINIA-WINNER FIESTA BOWL 13 VS 14 VILLANOVA VS GEORGIA-WINNER SUN BOWL 15 VS 16 MONTANA VS ST.JOHN'S-WINNER-OT-3 GATOR BOWL 17 VS 18 OKLAHOMA STATE-WINNER VS TEXAS CITRUS BOWL 19 VS 20 IOWA VS WISCONSIN-WINNER LIBERTY BOWL 21 VS 22 UCF-WINNER VS USC INDEPENDENCE BOWL 23 VS 24 PITTSBURGH VS SACRAMENTO STATE-WINNER-OT-3 HOLIDAY BOWL 25 VS 26 BUFFALO VS FLORIDA ATLANTIC-WINNER TAMPA BAY BOWL 27 VS 28 MARYLAND-WINNER VS TEXAS TECH PHOENIX BOWL 29 VS 30 ARIZONA VS NAVY-WINNER LAS VEGAS BOWL 31 VS 32 IOWA STATE VS LSU-WINNER ALAMO BOWL 33 VS 34 TCU-WINNER VS ARKANSAS BOISE BOWL 35 VS 36 OREGON STATE VS OLE MISS-WINNER NASHVILLE BOWL 37 VS 38 RUTGERS VS SOUTHERN MISS-WINNER MOBILE BOWL 39 VS 40 TEXAS A&M VS PURDUE-WINNER HAWAII BOWL 41 VS 42 FIU-WINNER VS MEMPHIS CHARLOTTE BOWL 43 VS 44 WASHINGTON-WINNER-OT-1 VS CLEMSON FORT WORTH BOWL 45 VS 46 OLD DOMINION VS NC STATE-WINNER HOUSTON BOWL 47 VS 48 MIDDLE TENNESSEE VS NORTH TEXAS-WINNER BIRMINGHAM BOWL 49 VS 50 LOUISIANA TECH VS VIRGINIA-WINNER ALBUQUERQUE BOWL 51 VS 52 UTAH VS TULANE-WINNER WASHINGTON DC BOWL 53 VS 54 MARQUETTE VS MARSHALL-WINNER-OT-1 NEW YORK BOWL 55 VS 56 ARMY-WINNER VS KANSAS STATE BAHAMAS BOWL 57 VS 58 FRESNO STATE VS UNLV-WINNER BOCA RATON BOWL 59 VS 60 AIR FORCE VS NEW MEXICO-WINNER MONTGOMERY BOWL 61 VS 62 UTSA VS UCLA-WINNER DETROIT BOWL 63 VS 64 VANDERBILT VS IDAHO-WINNER-OT-3 TUCSON BOWL 65 VS 66 SOUTH CAROLINA-WINNER-OT-1 VS CINCINNATI FRISCO BOWL 67 VS 68 MONTANA STATE VS LOUISVILLE-WINNER MYRTLE BEACH BOWL 69 VS 70 VIRGINIA TECH-WINNER VS NEVADA BOSTON BOWL 71 VS 72 OHIO STATE VS TENNESSEE-WINNER LOS ANGELES BOWL 73 VS 74 CREIGHTON-WINNER VS UTEP MIAMI BEACH BOWL 75 VS 76 USF VS BUTLER-WINNER SAN FRANCISCO BOWL 77 VS 78 WASHINGTON STATE-WINNER VS COLORADO STATE SEATTLE BOWL 79 VS 80 HAWAII-WINNER VS BOSTON COLLEGE SILICON VALLEY FOOTBALL CLASSIC 81 VS 82 INDIANA VS SETON HALL-WINNER NEW JERSEY BOWL 83 VS 84 SOUTH ALABAMA-WINNER-OT-1 VS NORTE DAME PICHU LONDON BOWL 85 VS 86 BAYLOR VS ILLINOIS-WINNER JOHNJAKE GAMING BOWL 87 VS 88 ECU VS PENN STATE-WINNER KTO BOWL 89 VS 90 UAB-WINNER VS TEXAS STATE DEAD MEAT BOWL 91 VS 92 MISSISSIPPI STATE-WINNER VS GEORGETOWN BUTLERLION NETWORK BOWL 93 VS 94 GEORGIA TECH-WINNER VS KANSAS OLYMPICS BOWL 95 VS 96 XAVIER-OT-9 VS NORTH CAROLINA

[stubobnumbers]

CFB Breakdown - Week Nine, Saturday (Part One).

Week Nine, Saturday.(Part One).

SEC: LSU at Texas A&M - 6:30 PM ABC. LSU leads the series, 36-23-3.

Missouri at Alabama - 2:30 PM ABC. Alabama leads the series, 5-2.

Texas at Vanderbilt - 3:15 PM SEC Network. Vanderbilt leads the series, 8-3-1. (Last meeting - 1928).

Oklahoma at Ole Miss - 11 AM ESPN. Ole Miss leads the series, 1-0.

Auburn at Kentucky - 6:45 PM SEC Network. Auburn leads the series, 27-6-1.

Arkansas at Mississippi State - 11:45 AM SEC Network. Arkansas leads the series, 18-15-1.

B1G: Nebraska at Ohio State - 11 AM FOX. Ohio State leads the series, 9-1.

Washington at Indiana - 11 AM B1G. Indiana leads the series, 2-1.

Illinois at Oregon - 2:30 PM CBS. Oregon leads the series, 2-1 (Last meeting - 1995).

Paul Bunyan Trophy Michigan State at Michigan - 6:30 PM B1G. Michigan leads the series, 73-38-5.

Penn State at Wisconsin - 6:30 PM NBC. Penn State leads the series, 11-9.

Northwestern at Iowa - 2:30 PM B1G. Iowa leads the series, 54-28-3.

Maryland at Minnesota - 2:30 PM FS1. Maryland leads the series, 4-3.

Big 12: Sunflower Showdown for the Governor's Cup Kansas at Kansas State - 7 PM ESPN2. Kansas leads the series, 65-51-5.

Saddle Trophy Texas Tech at TCU - 2:30 PM FOX. Texas Tech leads the series, 33-30-3.

BYU at Central Florida - 2:30 PM ESPN. BYU leads the series, 2-1.

Cincinnati at Colorado - 9:15 PM ESPN. Colorado leads the series, 1-0. (Last meeting - 1972).

West Virginia at Arizona - 6 PM FS1. First meeting.

Oklahoma State at Baylor - 2:30 PM ESPN+. Oklahoma State leads the series, 23-19.

Utah at Houston - 6 PM ESPN+. Houston leads the series, 4-0. (Last meeting - 1978).

ACC: Florida Cup Florida State at Da U - 6 PM ESPN. Da U leads the series, 35-33.

SMU at Duke - 7 PM ACCN. Duke leads the series, 2-0. (Last meeting - 1956).

Techmo Bowl Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech - 11 AM ACCN. Virginia Tech leads the series, 11-8.

North Carolina at Virginia - 11 AM CW. North Carolina leads the series, 66-59-4.

Wake Forest at Stanford - 2:30 PM ACCN. The series is tied, 1-1.

The rest of the power teams: Rip Miller Trophy Navy vs Notre Dame - 11 AM ABC. Notre Dame leads the series, 80-13-1.

Oregon State at California - 3 PM ESPN2. California leads the series, 39-37.

Washington State at San Diego State - 9:30 PM CBSSN. The series is tied, 1-1.

[cavenewstimes]

Colorado vs. Colorado State chances, spread, line, time: Expert choices, forecast for Deion Sanders competition launching

Coach Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes (2-0) will be on the opposite of a big spread for the very first time when they handle the Colorado State Rams (0-1) in the 2023 Rocky Mountain Showdown on Saturday. Coach Prime’s team stunned TCU as a 21-point underdog in Week 1 and after that managed Nebraska as a little preferred in Week 2. Colorado State, on the other hand, has actually played…

[bobbiedlifeinphil]

Colorado Buffaloes vs TCU

[mrjaypayton]

HBCU

Phrase of the Week

"I was just at an HBCU”

-Colorado vs TCU

[allaroundthenflandncaa]

Saturday, September 2

Hello blog! Today is a big day! College football is back and in full swing. There are a full slate of games and there has been one amazing game today so far. That game was Colorado vs TCU. With Colorado being 20 point underdogs and Deion Sanders a.k.a Coach Prime making his Power 5 coaching debut, people didn’t know what to expect. Colorado ended up pulling off the upset winning 45-42 with unbelievable performances from WR/CB Travis Hunter and QB Shedeur Sanders. The biggest game of today will take place at 7:30 with the South Carolina Gamecocks taking on the UNC Tar Heels. I am a diehard gamecock fan and I can’t wait for this game to kickoff and hopefully take home the win!

https://x.com/espn/status/1698062006455013668?s=46

https://x.com/fieldyates/status/1698059305331634469?s=46

[nvyoung]

Happy first college football Saturday! Enjoying Colorado vs. TCU, and the Auburn game is just kicking off.

[realtakesoverfakedebates1]

🚀 Don't miss history in the making! Join us live as NFL legend Deion Sanders takes the reins in his Colorado head coaching debut, facing off against TCU in a high-stakes showdown. Be part of the action, join the conversation, and witness the birth of a new era in college football! 🔥🏈 #CoachPrime #ColoradoFootball #LiveWatchParty"

[stubobnumbers]

CFB Breakdown - 2024 Week Five (Saturday, Part One).

CFB Breakdown - Week Five (Saturday, Part One):

SEC Conference Games:

Southwest Classic Arkansas vs Texas A&M - 2:30 PM ESPN. Arkansas leads the series, 42-35-3.

Georgia at Alabama - 6:30 PM ABC. Alabama leads the series, 43-26-4.

Kentucky at Ole Miss - 11 AM ABC. Ole Miss leads the series, 29-14-1.

Oklahoma at Auburn - 2:30 PM ABC. Oklahoma leads the series, 2-0.

Mississippi State at Texas - 3:15 PM SEC Network. The series is tied, 2-2 (Last meeting - 1999).

B1G Conference Games:

Little Brown Jug Minnesota at Michigan - 11 AM FOX. Michigan leads the series, 77-25-3.

Wisconsin at Southern Cal - 2:30 PM CBS. Southern Cal leads the series, 6-1.

Illinois at Penn State - 6:30 PM NBC. Penn State leads the series, 21-6.

Ohio State at Michigan State - 7 PM Peacock. Ohio State leads the series, 37-15.

Oregon at UCLA - 10 PM FOX. UCLA leads the series, 39-32.

Nebraska at Purdue - 11 AM Peacock. The series is tied, 6-6.

Maryland at Indiana - 11 AM BTN. Indiana leads the series, 7-5.

Big 12 Conference Games: Oklahoma State at Kansas State - 11 AM ESPN. Oklahoma State leads the series, 43-27.

Arizona at Utah - 9:15 PM ESPN. Utah leads the series, 26-20-2.

BYU at Baylor - 11 AM FS1. The series is tied, 2-2.

Colorado at Central Florida - 2:30 PM FOX. First meeting.

Iowa State at Houston - 6 PM FS1. First meeting.

Cincinnati at Texas Tech - 7 PM ESPN2. shrugs.

TCU vs Kansas - 2:30 PM ESPN+. TCU leads the series, 26-9-4.

ACC Conference Games: North Carolina at Duke - 3 PM ESPN2. North Carolina leads the series, 64-41-4.

Stanford at Clemson - 6 PM ESPN. Clemson leads the series, 1-0. (Last meeting - 1986).

Florida State at SMU - 7 PM ACC. First meeting.

P4 vs G5: South Alabama at LSU - 6:45 PM SEC Network. First meeting.

Washington State at Boise State - 9 PM FS1. Washington State leads the series, 5-1.

Louisville at Notre Dame - 2:30 PM Peacock. The series is tied, 2-2.

Northern Illinois at NC State - 11 CW. NC State leads the series, 1-0. (Last meeting - 1997).

UL Lafayette at Wake Forest - 2:30 PM ACC. First meeting.

Western Kentucky at Boston College - 11 AM ACC. First meeting.

[sportsminorityreport]

Did the commissioner of the Pac-12 blow his chance to save his conference?

I was deeply disturbed by the news coming out of the West Coast news outlets.  

3 months ago, the plan for the PAC-12 was plainly apparent to everyone reading the news.   The Pac was going to hold off expansion and make a media deal trading off the media exposure of having all of their games on the cable networks, making the calculated decision to put some of their games on a niche/emerging platform, Amazon, and THEN to expand to 11 schools with San Diego State.

I said at the time that this was a MAJOR strategic mistake.  I advocated adding SDSU and trying to add Texas Tech, TCU, and Kansas (as the Big 12 Grant of Rights extension did not appear to have been completed).  The logic was that:

1) You add the 3rd and last FBS program in Southern California.

2) You add 3 schools in the central timezones.

3) You take over the Dallas Market from the Big 12.

4) You dramatically upgrade the Pac-12 in Basketball, the second revenue sport --- making it a relevant conference ---one worth watching --- for national basketball purists for the first time in almost a decade.

That would dramatically reduce the appeal of the Big 12 while forcing ESPN and Fox to take a much harder look at whether they could afford to be sealed out of the Western US and the #5 Dallas/Fort Worth media market.

With the Big Ten taking away most of the Northern Media markets from ESPN, the loss of the DFW market could have been the lynchpin to forcing ESPN and Fox to the negotiation table with the PAC.

But the Pac decided to negotiate with the assets they had on hand --- the 10 remaining PAC schools --- despite the fact that the PAC 12 with USC and UCLA had already  been pidgeonholed by the broadcast networks as strictly late night TV fare.

It seemed an odd move, but the media reports suggested the PAC commissioner had done his homework and the PAC schools might pull about $40 Million per school by going with Amazon. 

 As the PAC schools had been sold on projections of higher media payouts by their last commissioner, almost all PAC schools outspent the actual money that was coming over the length of the last TV deal, leaving their programs showing annual losses for several years.  It is VERY believable that the PAC schools were willing to write off some exposure to pull an extra $10 Million a year vs. what the Big 12 schools received.

In a few weeks, the negotiations would be done and the PAC would have again snubbed expansion.

Well...Here we are. 

 No TV deal.  

The talk now is that taking Amazon’s money might have the PAC schools getting paid LESS than the Big 12 schools.  

Now ASU fans are being polled and 72% are saying they should jump to the Big 12.  

And now the PAC is looking at SMU, a school with half the displayed fan base of TCU, as an expansion  partner for SDSU.

Let’s be clear, the PAC member school’s individual leadership may appear to be HORRIBLE at hiring commissioners, but they at least see things clearly when it comes to the PAC vs. the Big 12.  

The PAC is an association of research powerhouse universities, just ones presently quite mediocre at both revenue sports.  The Big 12 is about as far being a collection of research powerhouse Universities as you can get at the supposed power tier of the FBS ranks.  

If a PAC school joins the Big 12 they can forget about appearing to be power conference caliber.  

It is a fatal move.

Why do I say that?  Because realignment can be seen most clearly as power schools sucking up more and more TV money at the expense of their former peers.  Jumping to a less prestigious conference is conceding you are not a power conference peer --- that you don’t deserve to be there.

For Utah it would be the equivilent of rejoining the MWC.  For Arizona and Arizona State, it would be acknowledging the University of Houston as their academic peers, not Cal and Stanford.  For Colorado, it would be conceding a fall back into mediocracy as today’s Big 12 is academically a shadow of the one they left years ago.  (Unlike the Big 12, The PAC12-2 may no longer be a power conference - for now - but it still has the trappings of one.)

And for the west coast schools, it would mean becoming even more of a regional conference with horrid TV windows and crap dollars.  For Cal, Stanford, Washington, and Oregon, it would mean seeing conference attendance deadwood Washington State and Oregon State eating a bigger portion of the conference revenue and more --- having to add more than just SDSU.   It would likely mean having a 9 team conference with Fresno State and UNLV joining as more underperforming, low fan draw members.

This is nothing the PAC member schools want.  

Stanford, Oregon, and Washington want no part of UNLV or Fresno State.  Utah doesn’t want to slide back into little brother status under BYU in a MWC part II.  People in the know at ASU and UA know that they are Kansas State in the Big 12 conference at best.  Colorado’s leadership doesn’t want to be in a pop warner version of the old Big 12.

Again...the PAC is a collection of research powerhouses.  They are down today, but the worm could easily turn for them in the next media cycle if their gamble with Amazon works out.  The media money could be there in 5-6 years.  And if it is, no one in the PAC is taking a second look at the Big 12.

Their best chance is to stick together even if the media money is disappointing for another media cycle.  Hence the vote of confidence for the commissioner and the league itself.

Jumping to the Big 12 for a few million bucks a year over the next 5 years is a truly ridiculous premise, but the longer this goes on, the more polls you will see of PAC schools’ fans panicking and wanting to get out. Colorado and ASU fans are apparently now both on a different page than their school leadership.  That is 2 of the 4 inland schools.

And as a realignment follower for 30 years, I can assure you this house of cards will fall soon if the PAC commissioner cannot either close a deal for more than the Bug 12 payouts or come up with a new more viable plan.  There is only so much of this that can happen before powerful donors start panicking and drag their schools into the abyss.

So...what should the PAC do?  Offer slots immediately to TCU, Texas Tech, and Kansas. Same thing they should have done 3 months ago.  Same thing I told their office reps 3 months ago.

Now the fact that it appears the PAC is openly looking at SMU as a candidate and their commissioner has apparently been out visiting SMU strongly suggests that the Big 12 has now renewed it’s Grant of Rights.

(Now if it hasn’t and those schools have been sitting there available this whole time, your next step would/should probably be to fire your commissioner for a lack of due dilligence and just promote his number 2.  Forget about exhaustive searches – you suck at them.  Hire someone who is cheap to fire and move on.)

If the Big 12 has renewed it, you look at your next options --- which all “suck” --- and you chose the best options.... Not the closest ones.

What would those be?

Well I am going to assume that the one hard never is that Stanford and Cal would not concede to add BYU.   It is a shame because even though they deserve banishment from PAC consideration for the LDS getting involved in that California gay marriage vote years ago, BYU would move the needle.  And BYU would likely jump at the offer if they could figure out a way out of the Big 12 GOR.  But the GORs are daunting so lets assume all Big 12 schools are off the table.

I think the PAC should do a very un-PAC-like thing.  The PAC has always been firm on every member getting an equal share. 

I think they should pay their new members a “new member” sized share for the length of the media deal.  Pay new full members a half share --- whatever that is --- ($15M per season?) until the PAC gets through this trying contract.

1)  Add San Diego State now.  They are an annual bowl team and an annual NCAA tourney team in a region of California with about 24M people that the PAC otherwise doesn’t have a presence in.  They bring enough value to be a positive in negotiations.

2) Add Gonzaga as an Olympic only member for the next 5 years to make your conference relevant in basketball again.  The Pac has kicked the tires on Gonzaga for several year. They need to just do it.  If a full PAC share is $30M, give Gonzaga $10 M per year --- the full normal 1/3 an Olympic-only member gets in a power conference..

3) Add UC-Davis as an Olympic-only member for this media cycle, with little disguising they will probably allowed to make the jump in football in the next media cycle.  Why Davis?  Because they are in the Sacramento DMA --- a top 30 DMA with no football.  And they are academic and research bluebloods. Davis can use their PAC money to play their football a few years in the MWC or even CUSA.  Adding Davis as an Olympic member gives you an optimal media position in inland California and makes adding Fresno State unnecessary.

4) Add SMU.  SMU isn’t without value, it is just CURRENTLY a far, far, far inferior move to adding TCU or Texas Tech.  SMU’s biggest problem is that they draw very few fans for football and that isn’t likely to change.  Now on the positive side they are in the DFW metroplex even if they are an after thought to the media. What is a positive is that SMU practically invented paying players.  Now that paying players is the rule of the land, SMU is likely to do a LOT better on the field. Keep in mind the metroplex is the state’s premiere talent hotbed in football and basketball. If SMU becomes a consistent top 25 team, I have to think they might pull maybe 28K a game…?  That still sucks and isn’t anywhere close to the 46K TCU pulls, but maybe that would be enough to make SMU truly media relevant in Dallas where I live. SMU is the best academic university based on academic ranking in the metroplex.

5) Add Rice.  Now I am sure many heads exploded with this one, but stay with me here. Rice is the best academic school in Texas and Houston is the second best recruiting market in Texas.  Houston is also a city with 3 FBS teams and the #10 DMA in the country.  Adding Rice technically raises Rice to a peer status with Houston again.  Now I think Rice should be STRONGLY encouraged to focus on basketball due to their tiny enrollment and become the Duke of this new PAC, but there are other options they could take. Mensa member and former UT and UH head coach Tom Herman would make a LOT of sense at Rice if they lose patience with coach Mike Bloomgren (who does seem to be making consistent incremental progress).   

6) Tulane. I know this makes a lot of people groan, but you aren’t looking at the big picture.  The Pac has died on the vine because college football has become a game of recruiting.  Adding Tulane gives the PAC access to arguably the best SEC recruiting ground. Tulane is additionally a very, VERY good AAU school. It is the best academic school in Lousiana.  Elevating Tulane is like the Rice move on steriods. Suddenly Tulane jumps way ahead of all of their competitors to a slot right behind LSU. They hurdle ULL, ULM, La Tech, Southern Miss…Tulane could actually be really good. And even if they aren’t, you have just opened Dallas, Houston, and the New Orleans/Jackson corridor --- Probably three of the best recruiting grounds in the county to Washington, Oregon, Colorado (cough - Deion Sanders - cough), Utah, and the Arizona schools.  And you have maintained your academic standards.

It will look ugly. 

The last three schools are likely to draw less than 30K a game. It will look like the disastrous “super WAC“ for a bit, but it is a solid long term move that will look a lot stronger when this media cycle is complete and the new schools have grown into solid PAC members.  And it has the chance to turn playoff bridesmaid schools Oregon, Washington, and Utah into legit playoff contenders.  That would be worth the price of admission.