You never know where you’ll find the nuggets that make for an intriguing story. Today it was a Twitter Spaces segment hosted by RedditCFB with special guest John Canzano who covers the Pac-12. Our colleague and friend Matt Zemek, who also covers the conference and a wide range of topics suggested we follow Canzano. If you are truly into college sports, it’s worth the minute effort it takes to follow someone on Twitter. Better yet, he offers free and paid content at johncanzano.com.
The interview led us to Canzano’s latest post, “Canzano: Pac-12 looking for a friend in Bristol” and this is where the golden nuggets grabbed our attention. Obviously, the focus of his writing is for fans of the western based conference. However, if you read between the lines you’ll find some notable pieces to the ACC realignment puzzle as well.
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Nuggets
Canzano notes that “ESPN has the potential with a ‘loose partnership’ to marry the Pac-12 to the ACC.” What exactly does that mean? Change is in the wind my friend and some of you will be excited while others will continue wondering why the ‘Pilot’ is missing from ACC Network commercials. And the answer is, the ‘Spurtle’ has usurped the water logged seafarer. Now, on to more of these nuggets.
A ‘loose partnership’ (on paper this time, thank you) leads us to the possibility of annual early-season crossover football games. You may see Oregon vs Miami or Utah vs Clemson or even Washington vs Florida State. Make note: the regular season conference schedule will remain intact.
There could also be a cross-over game between the ACC and Pac-12 champs and perhaps even a double-header featuring second place teams. What this has the potential of doing is providing a showcase at the end of the season. Critical to placing more teams in the playoffs. Here’s the part schools like best. With increased air-time more revenue follows.
ACC + Pac-12 = ?
The best games in football and basketball, according to Canzano would be on ESPN or ABC with ESPN+ getting the Pac-12 Olympic sports. Basketball could see some lucrative mid-season crossover games as well. To avoid confusion, the ACC Network would likely be renamed/rebranded and be the primary source for both conferences.
There’s more to the story. In fact, once you visit Canzano’s site you may find yourself sliding down the proverbial rabbit hole. It’ll be a fun and informative journey though so give yourself some time to enjoy the nuggets.
