Colin Cowherd identifies when he saw death of Pac-12 coming

For a certain prominent sports media member who grew up on the west coast, the fall of the Pac-12 as we all know it is a bit of a bummer. Sure, the programs are all still intact, and big college sports brands like USC, UCLA and Oregon could really benefit from a move to a premier conference. But the loss of traditional rivalries and the regional identity the Pac-12 provided does hurt.

Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd explained on his show, The Herd, that he’s sad to see the league go, but he saw their demise coming from a mile away. “As a Pac-12 diehard and loyalist, I told friends five years ago that it wasn’t going to survive,” claimed Cowherd, noting that other power conferences offered better financial situations.

“It’s a different time. And so, not that I’m not bothered about the Pac-12. I’m bummed out about the Pac-12. But it’s… SEC, Big Ten money is just greater.”

For USC, that money could be very helpful, as Cowherd notes the football program now has to share the city of Los Angeles since the NFL moved two franchises there. Back in the Trojans’ heyday under Pete Carroll, that was not the case.

“And my takeaway was once the NFL came back to Los Angeles with two teams… is that, you know, Pete Carroll was in a time… no NFL in L.A. All the resources, all the time, sellouts, and also, people were spending their money on USC. People were totally supportive of USC. Games were sellouts.”

Not only was USC the featured show in town on the gridiron, they also had a straightforward path to what was then the BCS national championship game, even as a Pac-12 team. All the Trojans had to do was take care of business against their regular season foes and they could go straight to the title.

“Also, you didn’t have a Pac-10 tournament you could lose. You didn’t have to play a semifinal game (in the College Football Playoff). If you were great and you beat your Oregon State’s, Arizona State’s and Washington, you ended up playing for the national championship if somebody thought you were good enough.”

In the modern era, the path to a national title is more accessible but also more murky, which is especially true for a USC program moving to the Big Ten. Plus, once the 12-team playoff kicks in, it will obviously be easier to make the field, but winning the whole thing will require teams to play up to 17 games and win 14+ of those, whereas the ’04 USC team under Coach Carroll finished 13-0, winning all 12 of their regular season games to be awarded a spot in the title matchup, which they won vs. Oklahoma.

As Cowherd said, it’s a different time now.

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