Pac-12 Media Day News and Notes

The Pac-12 announced that they will move the conference championship game to Las Vegas when the Raiders' new stadium is complete.

Brett McMurphy of Stadium reported that the conference wanted to move to the Rams + Chargers new facility before deciding on Vegas.

Speaking of the title game, James Crepea is reporting that ABC will broadcast the game instead of Fox.

Mr. Crepea also reports that the consulting firm hired by the conference found some issues with the officiating system

The media members that cover the conference voted on who could do what within in the conference

The media also voted for the all conference teams

There are a total of 13 Ducks on the all conference teams, courtesy of the official Ducks website

First team: QB Justin Herbert, OL Shane Lemieux, OL Calvin Throckmorton, and LB Troy Dye

Second team: OL Penei Sewell, CB Thomas Graham, Jr, DT Jordon Scott

Honorable Mention: TE Jacob Breeland, C Jake Hanson, S Jevon Holland, WR Brendan Schooler, OL Dallas Warmack, RB C.J. Verdell

Whoever is in charge of Pac-12 media needs to do a serious rethink of media policies. This is wholly unacceptable and a dark stain on this conference nationally.

Here's what Coach Cristobal said, courtesy of Ryan Thorburn of Ducksports.com

The Ducks as usual have pretty good footwear for any occasion

Analysis

• The conference office is a joke in terms of media and other areas such as officiating. There needs to be a change in leadership because clearly Larry Scott is incapable of leadership. Football drives the finances but the current administration fails to recognize this in lieu of prioritizing the lesser revenue sports. The conference needs a football person as commissioner.
• I can’t even wholly praise the decision to move the title game to Las Vegas as Los Angeles was their original choice. Which genius didn’t think of the ramifications of having it in LA during 5 PM rush hour where absolutely no one will attend because of it?
• That said, the decision to move the title game to Las Vegas is a good one as it centralizes the market with both FOOTBALL and BASKETBALL title games in the same area. More revenue for the city and conference as a result. The decision to hold the game in Santa Clara was an asinine one to begin with and this decision further emphasizes it.
• As a draft evaluator, I find no issues within the first and second team selections. The conference will heavily feature the trenches on both sides and these selections are accurate. The Pac-12 running back group might be the most talented in the nation from top to bottom and that’s impressive considering the stacked class nationally. An argument can be had for Michael Pittman’s selection as he may not be the most talented receiver on his own team.
• The Utes probably have the most overall talent on defense, especially their defensive line. Anae is my conference EDGE1 while Fotu is similarly highly ranked as a defensive tackle. Not to be picking nits but Jaylon Johnson could have been replaced by Thomas Graham, Jr on the first team. It’s really close between Colorado’s Mustapha Johnson and the Ducks’ Jordon Scott.
• The North will be an absolute bear to win while the South only has two realistic teams with a shot to win it in Utah and USC. Oregon vs Utah could be the correct selection for the title game as the media has predicted.
• Coach Cristobal was his usual passionate self during his press conference. The most notable thing I took from it was the Brady Aiello vs. Dallas Warmack position battle. He took his staff to the University of Alabama, who is THE program to emulate, last year’s national title game result notwithstanding. It certainly helped that Nick Saban is a mentor and friend to Coach Cristobal.