CFB media expert slams Pac-12 for its overconfident attitude, which cost them an entire opportunity of revival this offseason

The Pac-12 has been decimated by conference realignment and is on the verge of falling apart altogether. Former Fox Sports President Bob Thompson recently claimed that the conference cost itself an opportunity to save the conference with poor business decisions.

In response to a fan blaming Fox for the fall of the Pac-12, Thompson responded:

"You're clearly looking for a scapegoat. Trying to blame TV for this ignores years and years of poorly executed strategies by the Pac-12. If you can't see that Pac-12 consistently thought they were the smartest people in the room, when they weren't, I can't help you."

Check out Bob Thompson's tweet here.

Thompson previously suggested that the Pac-12 caused ESPN to turn to the Big 12 after declining its offer, tweeting:

"What was the Pac-12 doing for the last 13 months? Why did they scare ESPN into the Big 12's arms with an absurd ask? If Apple wanted it they should have bid more. This isn't a union contract that requires good-faith bargaining. This is a business deal that the Pac-12 misread."

Check out Bob Thompson's tweet here.

ESPN reportedly offered the Pac-12 $30 million per school during media rights negotiations. Conference officials declined the deal while holding firm to their asking price of $50 million. Instead of meeting their demands, ESPN instead reached a media rights deal with the Big 12.

How has the Pac-12 been impacted by conference realignment?

Conference realignment has hit the Pac-12 harder than any of the Power Five conferences. The UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans were the first to announce they would leave the conference, having done so in June 2022 when they shared their plans to join the Big Ten in July 2024.

After conference officials failed to negotiate a long-term media rights deal the Colorado Buffaloes announced in July that they would join the Big 12.

The remaining nine schools were presented with a media rights offer from Apple in early August.

The following day, the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies announced they would join the Big Ten. On the same day, the Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils and Utah Utes announced that they would join the Big 12.

The California Bears, Oregon State Beavers, Stanford Cardinal and Washington State Cougars are the only schools remaining in the conference. Each program, however, has been in talks with other conferences. Meanwhile, the Pac-12 is looking into expansion as a means of keeping the four remaining schools from departing.