UC Board of Regents to discuss Cal's membership in the Pac-12. Should be hearing what this is all about sometime today.

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Bob Crandall, aka Treetop, passed away on August 1. He was a resident of Roseville, CA. A passionate observer/commentator on all things Stanford and Stanford sports. Baseball alum. I will miss him.

Will be interesting to compare how Cal and Stanford handle the conference turmoil as their football teams are now practicing and available to reporters who are going to ask them all about their thoughts on it, if they've been told anything, etc.

On this note, a Cal player today said they were told something about Cal looking at the Big 12. Players are only going to say what they are told, ostensibly by coaches and that would most likely be the Head Coach. So, here is the first time we've heard Cal and Big 12 being linked in anything close to a credible way, probably from Justin Wilcox.

The Big 12 would be nuts not to take Cal. And Cal can probably get more there from the Big Ten right now anyway. If Cal does go to the Big 12 it doesn't foreclose on them moving to the Big Ten at a later time, ostensibly after they have made their football program more valuable.

If Cal does go to Big 12 there really would be no reason for the Big Ten to wait on Stanford, because if Cal goes the the Big 12, Stanford certainly could too. Both could park themselves there, increase their value, and become more expensive for the Big Ten later.

Read and watch that here.

I personally want to thank David Shaw for this.

Yeah Larry Scott, Pac12/10/9/7/4 Presidents, Muir and others had a lot to do with this as well.

But from a Stanford-centric perspective, David’s personal destruction of a program that he inherited originally as a Top 5 nationally ranked team which he descended to the lowest ranked P5 team in the country upon his exit has a lot to do with where we are currently at.

I, for one, would love to hear his comments on this remarkable and now lasting legacy he has given Stanford.

Interesting take and good to hear there are are some P5 administrators dismayed by the current state. doubt it matters to anyone who’s actually pulling levers right now.

Given their revenue sports Goose will no longer be laying golden eggs, Women's Sports at Cal and Stanford facing major challenge

Trying to balance reduced budget with Title iX also means major cuts on the men's side

Read that here.

We have added another offensive QC: recent USC RB Vavae Malepeai, most likely working with the RBs under Agnew. Talamaivao overlapped with him at USC as a GA/QC for his final 3 seasons from 2019-2021 and I bet there was significant input from him on the hire.





Sophomore LS Peyton Warford, a Woodside local previously at Northwestern, is transferring in as a walk-on. Congrats and welcome Peyton!

[Still TBD and fingers crossed on the player I really want from Northwestern, incoming frosh TE Chico Holt, who is followed by 6 coaches.]

Aside from financial underwriting through Pac12 now ending-in-June 2024's GoR TV arrangement, Pac12 conference/team's involvement (in this last and prior years) in our Ncaa teams schedule and travel ranges all the way from significant to middling-to-none. Will be interesting (and as msqueiri pointed out) challenging for our AD to see how future scheduling/travel works out... and how it becomes paid for.

Significant # Pac12 teams scheduled as opponents/travel & Conf engagement
Baseball ............................. W's Basketball
M's Basketball.................... W's Soccer
Football .............................. Softball
M's Soccer............................W's Volleyball


Middling-to-none/zero Pac12 teams scheduled/ requiring little to zero Pac 12 Conf engagement
M's Cross Country ...............Artistic Swimming
M's Fencing ...........................Beach Volleyball
M's Golf .................................W's Cross Country
M's Gymnastics ....................W's Fencing (MPSF)
M's Rowing ............................Field Hockey
M's Sailing ............................W's Golf
M's Swimming&Diving ........W's Gymnastics
M's Tennis ..............................W's Rowing
M's Track & Field...................W's Ltw Rowing
M's Volleyball (MPSF)...........W's Sailing
M's Water Polo (MPSF) ......W's Squash
M's Wrestling ........................W's Swimming & Diving
................................................W's Tennis
...............................................W's Track & Field
.................................................W's Water Polo (MPSF)

With Pac12 dissolved, and future Stanford GoR TV revenues no longer contracted, how will the Athletic Department be able to carry this load? Harvard fields more teams, but since theirs is lesser tier, their Athletic Dept & coach's salary and all other expenses, travel etc, considerably less. How will Stanford carry, fund, and schedule going forward?

No one today knows.

Read that here.

Great analysis by Nate Silver on potential additions of Stanford and cal. He views cal as only having a chance at the b10 if we take them with us - just like UCLA only got the invite because $c wanted them.

He sees us as a value add addition for the big 10, net net.

And, as I posted below, his article points out that we were #2 in the pac 12 in tv ratings from 2015-2019 (yes obviously good years for us. But again, dispels the myth that we don’t bring anything to the table re tv).

He also points out the potential massive value of the b10 having the most prestigious school in the epicenter of Silicon Valley.

Anyway, food for thought. None of this is over and I agree with Ben we’ll land on our feet. Despite incompetence all around.

What happens to Bill Walton and his ceaseless Conference of Champions schtick?

More right here:

It just occurred to me that Lamson has 4 years of eligibility left.

2021: Redshirted

2022: Injury wiped out entire season

In this day and age of Stanford football, we rarely see a player stick around for their 5th year, let alone their 6th. But it bears mentioning because even though Lamson is technically a redshirt sophomore, he has more eligibility left than Patu or Daniels (who each have 3 years left). I don't see this impacting the QB battle in any way but it's interesting nonetheless.

_

B1G has offered, Wash & Ore have reportedly accepted, MrK's Grant of Rights deal blown up with Wash & Oregon out
Ariz St & Utah likely now next to B12 after Colo & Arz
Willner in SJ Merc:

Read that here.

More RE; The Blame Game

1. Will Muir show his face?

2. Fare is $70 ea paying attendee.

3. Attendees seated at tables at south endzone area with players assigned to each table. As we have every year, a nice event, and we're attending.

4. Given today's fiasco, will be most interesting to hear from coaches and players what they are thinking. To say the least.

Read and watch that here.

Isn’t Stanford supposed to be a leader? This is pathetic that we sit idle while every other school of consequence exits.

hmmmm....