As seen earlier on CFT, Colorado may be staying put in the Big 12 until 2012. It just so happens that former UCLA chancellor Chuck Young is quite alright with that. In fact, he’s opposing Colorado (and Utah’s) entrance into what would be the Pac-12 altogether.
In what can only be described as a full-fledged counterattack, Young is sending e-mails to Pac-10 university chancellors and presidents asking them to block the expansion. His reasoning? Colorado and Utah just don’t fit in.
At all.
“I don’t see any way the other schools can be brought in without affecting the rivalries between the Southern and Northern California schools, for example,” said Young. “You have two schools in Washington, two in Oregon, two in Northern California, two in Southern California, two in Arizona, so you can have a complete round robin in football.”
But it’s not just jeopardizing rivalries or conflicting schedules that has Young worried.
Academics, which apparently is a really big deal when considering conference re-alignment, is priority numero uno for Young. “Colorado is on par with Oregon [in academics]. Utah isn’t even in the picture.”
Utah may not be Stanford (hardly any university is) and Colorado is no Texas or Oklahoma on the gridiron. The the two schools simply are what they are: a consolation prize with mid-size media markets.
Pac-10 commish Larry Scott wanted the whole enchilada and he didn’t get it. Though it’s hard to perceive Utah and Colorado necessarily as upgrades, both programs bring in two valuables that override Young’s assertions: A championship game and, consequently, relevance.
Young can probably stop sending those e-mails now.