The Pac 12 had a post-season that was arguably the worst by any power 5 conference in history. After a disastrous 1-8 bowl season, the Pac 12 went into the NCAA tournament with 3 teams. 2 didn’t make it out of Dayton and darkhorse Final 4 threat Arizona lost by 21 to Buffalo in a game that got completely out of hand.
These are a couple of takes across twitter.
Between the NCAA tournament and bowl season, the Pac-12’s only win came from Utah in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. It’s officially the worst postseason in conference history. An unmitigated disaster.
— Kyle Bonagura (@BonaguraESPN) March 16, 2018
Here is some suggested reading from Jon Wilner one of the Pac 12’s best journalists.
9 am RT: Pac-12’s epic fail in fball and bball is unprecedented for a power conf. Seeking context and meaning from the meltdowns:https://t.co/qKxFml8dvY#Pac-12FB #Pac12Hoops
— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) March 16, 2018
He sums up the embarrassing Pac 12 season this way.
Is the 2017-18 free fall simply the most unseemly of outliers, or the onset of a downturn?
Another year at rock bottom would be reason for the conference to shift sentiment from concern to panic.
For now, we know the just-completed football-basketball cycle was an epic fail. But that’s all we know.
Now this is an ACC Centric blog, and we’re well versed in the ACC’s BCS football struggles, and the downturn in ACC basketball for a few years earlier in the decade, but the conference has never seen anything like what the Pac 12 just experienced, but what if it did?
Well depends on your timeframe… Had this occurred in 2011 or 2012, it likely would have crippled the ACC out of existence. Athletically those years were low points for the ACC. The ACC Network was just a pipe dream, and the Pac 12 Big 10 SEC and Big 12 and signed their own bowl contacts with the Rose and Sugar Bowls. John Swofford was already not a popular figure among ACC fans for a questionable TV contract. I don’t think the ACC could have survived such a season, and could have potentially been picked apart by other conferences.
Now if this had occurred in 2017-2018, with the preceding years the same, the ACC would be in a far more stable position, but there would still be cause for major concern.
The gains in football made the previous 5 years, would have went down the drain. Basketball, long the ACC’s strongsuit, would be looking at a rebuilding especially with several Hall of Fame coaches careers nearing an end. How would ESPN sell the ACC Network 1 year it’s launch when your revenue sports just had a year where it tanked?
That has to be concern for the Pac 12 as they are still struggling to pick up cable subscribers for their network. This season won’t help.
The ACC wouldn’t have the luxury of relative isolation in the Pac 12. The Pac 12 doesn’t suffer from having a regional rival like the SEC and their fans next door like the ACC. Even in 2018 after some years of stability, I’d imagine there would be a fanbase outcry for a change in leadership in the ACC and a new direction in how their revenue sports are promoted.
In short – it would simply be miserable in ACC country.
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