Before the press conference announcing SDSU’s move to the Pac-12 ended, naysayers were already out in force.

USA Today columnist Dan Wolken called it pointless and “a low-level Ponzi scheme.” Former Miami Marlins President turned podcast host David Samson slammed it. Samson argued that the decision was terrible since the reimagined Pac-12 would not be an automatic qualifier (AQ) for the college football playoff. 

“There’s always going to be people whose glass is half empty, and that’s how they deal with it,” SDSU Director of Athletics JD Wicker said last Thursday. He was not addressing Wolken and Samson, but they fit his description. “You can choose to wake up and be angry about something, or you can choose to wake up and look at the best of something. Obviously, what (the Pac-12) was August 4, 2023, is different than it is today, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not going to go out and … bust our tail to make it the best thing that it possibly can be and keep moving up.”  

The early adverse reactions join a distinguished list of examples of the virtue of waiting to learn all the facts before forming an opinion. A little over a week since the announcement, the response from schools and fans angling to join SDSU in the Pac-12 disproves any notion that the conference made a poor decision. The Aztecs have entered a new echelon in college football’s pantheon. 

“There is plenty of interest from other universities about joining the Pac-12,” Wicker told EVT today. “We will work efficiently to add schools that fit both athletically and academically, and who can invest in their programs to give the league the best opportunity to achieve at the highest level of Division I athletics. We’ll continue to work closely with the Pac-12 and the five current members as we review all options.”

Working for a spot in SDSU’s new conference

California State Senator Angelique Ashby, California Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, and Sacramento City Councilmember Eric Guerra are leading members of a newly formed executive committee called the “Sac-12.” They aim to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to elevate Sacramento State’s candidacy for the Pac-12. 

Sac-12’s vision includes a $50 million NIL investment from the program’s supporters and funding for a new football stadium and basketball arena. They also aim to secure any additional money needed to move from the FCS to the FBS level. 

Whatever the merits of the idea, the fact that these professional politicians believe a Pac-12 possibility could galvanize the Sacramento community tells the magnitude of SDSU’s opportunity. Sac-12 released its proposal one day after the Aztecs’ official announcement last Thursday. 

According to a Sac-12 spokesperson, the executive committee leaders did not have previous conversations about their initiative. Within 24-48 hours of the realignment news breaking, they sent a press release stating their intentions. Only a seismic event like the Pac-12 expansion could quickly unite a group like this.  

“Sacramento is the 20th largest media market in the country, and it’s time that Northern California adds another team to the FBS,” the Sac-12 spokesperson told EVT on Friday via email. “Our students, athletes, fans, and community are all ready to support and invest in this effort. We know it will take time, resources, and effort, but the result would mean a higher level of competition for all of our athletes, a national audience for our programs, and ultimately, the opportunity to show the world what Sac State has to offer.”

Sacramento State isn’t the only one pining for a place in the Pacific Conference. Fans, media members, and coaches from other institutions are detailing how a move to the Pac-12 is a step up for their programs. 

University of Texas-San Antonio head coach Jeff Traylor revealed during his weekly radio show on Wednesday that UTSA is among the schools in conversation to become SDSU’s future conference mate. He spoke about the American Athletic Conference’s better geographical fit but sounded excited about how a better conference could increase support. 

“We’re a program that’s only been playing ball for 13 years,” Traylor said. “Most of our limitations are strictly just that. We have a booster base that’s very loyal. They help us. There’s just not a lot of us because we haven’t been around very long so it’s the same people always having to do the most. If you have the ability to go somewhere that can expedite the growth of a 13-year program, you got to listen to it.”

The Pac-12 is an established brand. Even in San Antonio, the name captures the imagination in a way the Mountain West and AAC never will. Over the past century, the Conference of Champions has carved out a footprint in San Diego. Any suggestion the Aztecs would not benefit from their association with it is misguided.

“The Pac-12 brand is so incredibly valuable because anyone across the country when you say Pac-12, they’re like, ‘Oh, the Pac-12,’” Wicker said. “It may not be your mom and dad’s Pac-12, but what conference is your mom and dad’s conference at this point? That branding element was definitely very important.”

Rescue from the G5

The University of Memphis is another school the Pac-12 is actively engaging. Geoff Calkins is a radio host and columnist who has covered Memphis sports for over 20 years. He wrote an article about the merits of the Tigers leaving the AAC. In it, he compared Memphis to someone drowning and the Pac-12 to a lifeboat. 

In Calkins’ analogy, hoping for a shinier lifeboat (the ACC or Big XII) to come along while others are already being rescued (from the AAC) by the one at hand (the Pac-12) is wishful thinking. It’s significant when one of Tennessee’s most respected media voices views SDSU’s new home in this light. The Aztecs already have a seat in the lifeboat. 

Gary Parish, CBS Sports writer and Memphis alum, echoed Calkins’ sentiment. He chronicled all the times his alma mater has been left at the conference realignment altar. If the Pac-12 is willing to marry Memphis, Parish advises taking the plunge.

“Barring a surprise, this will not turn the Power 4 back into the Power 5,” Parish wrote. “Nobody should be confused or misguided about that.” 

“But you know what the new Pac-12 will be?”

“Better than the American!”

Parish’s CBS Sports colleague, Dennis Dodd, compared Stanford and Cal’s deal with the ACC to what the new Pac-12 would have gotten if the Cardinal and Bears had not bolted. Even without AQ status, Dodd opined that staying in its historic home would have been “the smartest play.”

Dodd and Parish’s articles are just two of the mountain of work dedicated to the Pac-12’s revitalization. The public’s insatiable appetite for realignment news has moved the actual college football season into the background. 

“Our strategy around adding the four initially was very intentional, and it was intentional to put everyone on notice, ‘we’re rebuilding, and we’re here, and we’re going to be here,” Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould said Thursday on the Y-Option podcast. “And the inbound interest has been absolutely incredible. There’s not enough hours in the day for us to engage with all of the people that are interested in being part of the Pac-12.”

A Middle-Class Conference

For years, SDSU has existed in the middle class of college football. According to Sportico’s College Sports Finances Database, the Aztecs’ $96,611,742 expenses in 2022-2023 were the 51st highest in the country. They were above Big XII members Kansas State, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF and slotted between future conference rivals Oregon State and Washington State.

To reach this lofty status, SDSU’s budget rose by $29 million from 2021-2022 to 2022-2023. That was the 11th-highest increase in the nation. Even before that leap, SDSU had more in common financially with the bottom of the power conferences than the lower-level power conference schools had with the top in their leagues. 

Purdue, for example, spent $93 million in 2021-2022. The Aztecs’ $67 million that same year compared more favorably to the Boilermakers than Purdue did to Ohio State ($225 MM), Michigan ($193 MM), or Penn State ($170 MM). 

SDSU exists in college football’s middle class. That status would have been unchanged even if the Aztecs had remained in the Mountain West. What the Pac-12 offers for SDSU is an entire conference at its level. The parity of the league should make it competitive. 

AQ Status

Should the Pac-12 succeed in kneecapping the AAC by adding its top institutions, a compelling argument can be made that it deserves AQ status. 

The point of leaving a spot for the Group of Five was to give access to schools that could not compete nationally because of the monetary inequalities created by the power conferences. If the Pac-12 builds a best-of-the-rest group, it would take that one spot in most years. 

College football’s playoff would then exclude anyone outside of the nation’s top five conferences. This would go against the spirit of giving a bid to the Big Ten, SEC, Big XII, and ACC champions while leaving one for the rest to compete over. 

Politics is about perception more than reality. Eliminating Cinderellas from the playoffs could reduce the appeal of college football. Would a Pac-12 champion ever be perceived as wearing a glass slipper? 

A simple solution would be for the SEC and Big Ten to separate themselves more from the ACC and Big XII by taking an at-large bid from them and granting the Pac-12 automatic qualifying status. 

Whether this outcome occurs, the system remains as is, or something new happens down the road, the naysayers have already been proven wrong. The Conference of Champions’ brand remains strong. It moves the media just like it always has. 

Schools around the country are clamoring to join the Aztecs because SDSU is an enviable position in the Pac-12. 

Paul Garrison

My earliest sport’s memory involve tailgating at the Murph, running down the circular exit ramps, and seeing the Padres, Chargers and Aztecs play. As a second generation Aztec, I am passionate about all things SDSU. Other interests include raising my four children, being a great husband and teaching high school.