June 30 is a very important date in college sports history and college sports administration. June 30, 2022, was the date when the USC-UCLA move to the Big Ten became known. June 30, 2023, was the date when the Pac-12 and the Pac-12 CEO Group had one last chance to invite San Diego State at a comparative bargain, help pay for SDSU’s Mountain West exit fee, and stabilize the conference with a Southern California-based member. San Diego State’s arrival in the Pac-12 would have appealed to ESPN, SMU, and various other entities which were monitoring the situation. When we consider why the Pac-12’s existence is ending today — June 30, 2024 — there are so many reasons to mention, but the failure to invite and on-board San Diego State was the last in a series of crucial mistakes which destabilized the conference and left it without a buffer to guard against other members fleeing.
We wrote this on June 20, 2023:
San Diego State University and the Pac-12 Conference want each other. At least, that is and has been the indication for several months.
San Diego State would love to move up from the Mountain West, a Group of Five league, to the Pac-12, a Power Five conference. The Pac-12, for its part, wants to maintain a presence in Southern California. The conference has expressed optimism that it can fetch a competitive price point for its new round of media rights deals based on having the added inventory provided by both San Diego State and SMU, the two schools it has heavily courted.
Now, however, the Mountain West is refusing to give San Diego State an extension on its timeline for leaving the conference without paying added exit fees beyond what it already owes. The current deadline is June 30. San Diego State would pay close to $17 million in additional exit penalties if it doesn’t leave the Mountain West by then.
Why hasn’t SDSU already left? The Pac-12 hasn’t extended an offer to join the conference. Why hasn’t the Pac-12 extended an offer? Because it hasn’t finalized its media rights deal.
If San Diego State wants out of the Mountain West, it shouldn’t feel the need to wait beyond June 30. If the Pac-12 is confident that San Diego State will deliver a good media rights deal, what is the remaining holdup at this point?
San Diego State was right there on a platter as insurance in case Colorado left. SDSU’s arrival probably would have enticed SMU or another Texas-based school, or possibly Fresno State, to join the conference and guard against a mass exodus, thereby keeping the conference intact. Yet, nothing happened. The Pac-12 was amateurish to the end … and the end is now here.
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