Big 12 Notes

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Big 12 Notes – Central Florida Week

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September 26th

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Seven remaining members of Mountain West Conference pledge solidarity

From ESPN … The Mountain West has received signed commitments from its seven remaining member schools to stay in the conference, with all of them agreeing to execute grant of media rights from 2026 to 2032.

“Our immediate priority was solidifying the membership of the Mountain West. Now our focus turns to our collective future on behalf of our student-athletes,” MWC commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement. “The agreements announced today mark a historic moment for the Mountain West and provide much-needed stability and clarity as the world of intercollegiate athletics continues to evolve rapidly. We are excited about our future and are executing our next steps in expanding the Mountain West.”

It also announced plans for how it will distribute money it received in exit fees from the five schools leaving for the Pac-12. Those schools — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State and San Diego State — are on the hook for roughly $18 million each, per the conference bylaws, but negotiations could lead to decreased totals.

Once it is determined what the total pot is, the distribution breakdown will be 24.5% for Air Force and UNLV, 11.5% for New Mexico, Nevada, San José State and Wyoming, and 5% for Hawai’i.

In its own statement, UNLV said it expects a lump-sum payment from the Mountain West of between $10-14 million in 2025, with additional payments between $1.5-1.8 million over a six-year period starting in July 2026.

UNLV was the lynchpin for this to come together. The school signed a memorandum of understanding to remain in the Mountain West on Monday, but it was nullified when Utah State departed for the Pac-12 the same day. After re-engaging with both the Pac-12 and Mountain West, UNLV again decided to remain, thanks largely to the financial package it described.

“The league is a genuine brand and an established product,” UNLV athletic director Erick Harper said. “Increased revenues are a vital factor. As we look ahead and continue our ascent as an athletics department, this also gives us necessary flexibility as we pursue our future goal of joining an autonomous [Power Four] conference.”

With six full-time members and one partial member in Hawai’i, the Mountain West still needs to add two full-time football-playing schools to meet the NCAA minimum requirement but would have until the start of the 2028 to do so.

The Pac-12 stands at seven members and will need an additional school by the 2026 season.

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September 25th

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UNLV Starting quarterback quits team over NIL dispute

From ESPN … UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka left the undefeated Rebels on Tuesday night over claims of unfulfilled verbal NIL promises from a UNLV assistant coach, a decision that illuminates the fragility of the current collegiate system and how talent is procured and retained.

Sluka’s agent, Marcus Cromartie, told ESPN that UNLV didn’t come through on a verbal offer of $100,000 from an assistant coach. The quarterback’s father, Bob Sluka, told ESPN that head coach Barry Odom later said in a phone conversation that the offer wasn’t valid because it didn’t come from him, but rather from offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, who declined comment to ESPN.

UNLV and Shannon Cottrell, the director of athlete engagements for the Friends of UNLV collective, also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

UNLV’s collective did pay Sluka one $3,000 fee for an engagement he made this summer, according to Rob Sine, who runs Blueprint Sports, a company that manages the collective. Sine said Sluka’s agents first made contact with the collective in late August to discuss future opportunities to work together.

Sine said he wasn’t aware of any promises to pay Sluka $100,000 and that Sluka had not contacted the collective about missing payments as far as he knew.

The decisions come at a compelling moment for UNLV, as the Rebels are 3-0 and ranked No. 23 in the coaches poll, marking the first time the program has been ranked in any major poll in history.

UNLV defeated Big 12 programs Houston and Kansas with Sluka at quarterback and hosts Fresno State on Saturday in its Mountain West Conference opener. The Rebels’ home game the following Friday night against Syracuse has become among the most anticipated in recent school history.

… Continue reading story here …

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September 24th

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Pac-2 sues MWC over exit penalties for five departing schools (which it agreed to several months ago)

From ESPN … The Pac-12 filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday challenging the legality of a “poaching penalty” included in a football scheduling agreement it signed with the Mountain West Conference in December.

With Oregon State and Washington State scrambling late last year to fill their 2024 football schedules in the wake of the Pac-12’s collapse, they came to terms with the Mountain West on a one-year agreement that added six MWC opponents to each remaining Pac-12 school’s schedule this season.

As part of the agreement, the Mountain West included language that requires the Pac-12 to pay a fee of $10 million if a school left the MWC for the Pac-12, with escalators of $500,000 for each additional school.

“This action challenges an anticompetitive and unlawful ‘Poaching Penalty’ that the MWC imposed on the Pac-12 to inhibit competition for member schools in collegiate athletics,” the suit says. “The ‘Poaching Penalty’ saddles the Pac-12 with exorbitant and punitive monetary fees for engaging in competition by accepting MWC member schools into the Pac-12.

“The MWC imposed this Poaching Penalty at a time when the Pac-12 was desperate to schedule football games for its two remaining members and had little leverage to reject this naked restraint on competition.”

When Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State announced Sept. 12 they were leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12, there was an expectation the Pac-12 would be required to pay $43 million in fees, as outlined in the scheduling agreement. That number jumped to $55 million on Monday after Utah State also accepted an offer to leave the Mountain West for the Pac-12.

On the same day the announcements were made, Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez sent an email to Scott Petersmeyer, the Pac-12’s chief legal officer, noting the Pac-12’s “obligation” to pay the $43 million within 30 days.

Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould responded to Nevarez’s email Tuesday to inform her of the lawsuit, noting the conference’s stance that the fees are unlawful.

“Fundamentally, these provisions seek to inhibit competition by placing exorbitant and punitive monetary fees on the Pac-12 simply for engaging in competition by accepting MWC member schools into the Pac-12,” Gould’s letter said. “As you know, the MWC imposed these improper penalties over the Pac-12’s objection at a time when the Pac-12 was desperate to schedule football games for its two remaining members and had little leverage to reject this clear restraint on competition.”

In response to the lawsuit, Nevarez released a statement Tuesday afternoon that took issue with the Pac-12’s characterization of the fees.

“The provision was put in place to protect the Mountain West Conference from this exact scenario,” she said. “It was obvious to us and everyone across the country that the remaining members of the Pac-12 were going to try to rebuild. The fees at issue were included to ensure the future viability of the Mountain West and allow our member institutions to continue providing critical resources and opportunities for our student-athletes. At no point in the contracting process did the Pac-12 contend that the agreement that it freely entered into violated any laws. To say that the Mountain West was taking advantage of the Pac-12 could not be farther from the truth.

“The Mountain West Conference wanted to help the Pac-12 schools and student-athletes, but not at the expense of the Mountain West. The Pac-12 has taken advantage of our willingness to help them and enter into a scheduling agreement with full acknowledgment and legal understanding of their obligations. Now that they have carried out their plan to recruit certain Mountain West schools, they want to walk back what they legally agreed to.”

… Continue reading story here …

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September 23rd 

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Memphis, Tulane, UTSA and South Florida say no to the “Pac-6”

From CBS Sports … Memphis, Tulane, UTSA and South Florida reaffirmed their commitment to the AAC, spurning potential offers to join the reconstituted Pac-12.

All four schools were reportedly courted by the re-imagined conference, which recently added Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Colorado State from the Mountain West beginning in the 2026 season. The Pac-12 still must add at least two more programs before the 2026 season in order to meet the NCAA minimum of eight teams to be recognized as a conference.

“A conference that prioritizes student-athlete welfare, has proud academic institutions, produces fierce competition at the highest level, and has outstanding linear and direct-to-consumer national media partners,” the AAC said in a statement. “Together, we are committed to continuing to build the American brand, exploring new opportunities for exposure and value, and developing innovative economic resources—all in service of our student-athletes. While we acknowledge receiving interest in our institutions from other conferences, we firmly believe that it is in our individual and collective best interests to uphold our commitment to each other. Together, we will continue to modernize the conference, elevate the student-athlete experience, achieve championship-winning successes, and build the future.”

According to Yahoo Sports, the Pac-12 claimed in a presentation that the league would be able to generate a per-school distribution clearing $12 million had the big fish in the AAC joined the league. The number would be an increase from the nearly $9 million that AAC programs receive. At the same time, moving to the Pac-12 would require an exit fee that could clear $25 million.

The decisions are a major win for the AAC as the league tries to keep its bearings as one of the top non-power leagues in the country. The conference has continually been an expansion target over the last decade, sending a combined four schools to the Big 12 and ACC. Now, the league holds onto its most valuable properties.

… Continue reading story here …

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Report: Utah State agrees to join the “Pac-6” 

From ESPN … Utah State has accepted an invitation to join the Pac-12 and become the newly formatted conference’s seventh member, sources told ESPN on Monday night.

The move comes amid a dizzying day of realignment that saw the Pac-12’s interest in a handful of AAC schools get rebuffed, the Mountain West expected to retain a commitment from key member Air Force and UNLV’s decision becoming uncertain after its commitment to the MWC earlier in the day was not formalized.

The offer to Utah State and the expected acceptance in the near future means it would be the fifth school from the Mountain West to join Oregon State and Washington State in the rebuilding Pac-12. Utah State would join Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State, who have announced they are going to the league.

Utah State has a solid football program, having won a Mountain West championship in 2021. Utah State has reached 11 bowl games since 2011 and has 16 bowl appearances in its history. It has been in the Mountain West since 2013.

Utah State also is an accomplished basketball school, as it has 24 men’s NCAA tournament appearances in its history. That includes appearances in four of the past five tournaments. (Those four took place over six years, and the Aggies were 26-8 in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the tournament.)

The offer to Utah State came amid a hectic day that saw the Pac-12 attempting to secure its future. Utah State emerged late in the day as a candidate.

The departure from the Mountain West leaves that league with seven schools, which means it will need to make one addition to remain an official conference.

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Big 12 Notes – Big 12 announces the formation of Big 12 Studios

Press release from the Big 12 …

— The Big 12 boasts three of the nation’s top 10 in passing touch-downs (Shedeur Sanders, Colorado; Josh Hoover, TCU; Behren Morton, Texas Tech), each of who threw multiple touchdowns last week.

— With five 100-yard receiving performances last Saturday, the Big 12 is tied with the ACC for most 100-yard receiving games in FBS with 28.

— Cincinnati is the only school to shutout an opponent from a Power 4 conference this season.

— BYU is one of two P4 schools to not allow a passing touchdown in its first four games this season, which marks the first time the Cougars have achieved the feat in modern history.

— For the first two weeks of the season, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week was also the AP National Player of the Week.

— Arizona wideout Tetairoa McMillan achieved the feat in week one with 10 catches, 304 receiving yards and four touchdowns in a win over New Mexico before Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo amassed 297 yards of offense (262 rushing yards) in his team’s victory over Mississippi State in week two.

—  The Big 12 Conference and Raycom Sports announced the launch of Big 12 Studios in September, a new programming and content venture designed to expand and enhance the league’s storytelling efforts. Big 12 Studios will create and deliver original programming and content to fans as a FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) channel across multiple major platforms, including planned launches on leading platforms early this Fall that will be announced soon, as well as major VOD platforms such as YouTube.

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This post, about the Central Florida game, from the 2024 Season, is filed under Article.
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