Paul Finebaum: 'The Pac-12 has missed the moment'

As the college football landscape continues to shift in the aftermath of last summer’s announcement that Oklahoma and Texas will join the SEC, the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 have scrambled to assure their place at the table moving forward as the Big 12 suffers a big loss. Unfortunately, the Pac-12 appears to have put themselves in a difficult spot with an unsuccessful network launch and other issues.

During an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, Paul Finebaum was asked whether a potential move for the Pac-12 to have all television rights at ESPN could solve their multitude of current problems.

“I think that would help,” said Finebaum. “One thing about ESPN, they do understand the television business. However – and I think the ACC platform is an example – if you miss the moment, it’s hard to get it back. And I think the Pac-12 has missed the moment.

“The Big Ten Network launched very effectively, they were the first one out. There has never been a launch like the SEC Network… and it was one of the biggest dog and pony shows in cable television history. But I don’t think you can make something relevant just because you change ownership. You can make the management of it better, you can maybe affect the content. But I think once you lift off and crash, it’s hard to get it back in orbit again.”

Paul Finebaum on Pac-12 Network

Paul Finebaum went on to explain that ESPN could help the Pac-12 with improved quality, but expressed skepticism in the ability to turn a struggling network into a success under new ownership.

“It would,” said Finebaum. “But ESPN, they are not miracle workers. They’ve got a lot of deals going with cable and satellite and digital. And it’s like the old dog food commercials, you can’t make a dog eat bad dog food if he doesn’t want it. I think unfortunately that’s what they are.

“I do think George Kliavkoff, the commissioner, has bright ideas and I think his mistake was he took the isolationist approach that we’re going to align with these two countries and fight the rest of the world. I don’t think that worked. And I think ultimately, all these commissioners who tried to torpedo the CFP for the most petty of reasons are going to regret that. Because now, to me, Greg Sankey’s words a week ago are very strong and I would encourage him to stay with it. Why does the SEC need to cooperate with the rest of those guys any longer? We’re good.

“I think the SEC really bent over backwards trying to help a bunch of conferences that serves it not one bit to help. And of all those, the Pac-12 is the biggest loser. At least the ACC has a perineal candidate to get to the CFP in Clemson, the Pac-12 doesn’t. Now what they ought to do is take advantage of Lincoln Riley at USC because I believe they are going to be a power eventually in college football. But they could use some help.”