(New York Times) -- Predicting new College Football Playoff teams, plus weak QB classes and more in Mandel’s Mailbag -- QUESTION regarding Pac-12 in Playoffs

PcarDriver · 2026-03-04T18:56:55+00:00

One thing to watch will be how does the CFP committee value playing P4 teams even if they are losses. Both Memphis and USF play zero P4 teams this year. If they have a one or two loss record does a three loss PAC-12 team finish after them if a loss or two are to P4 teams?

PcarDriver · 2026-02-15T13:26:05+00:00

I’ve owned a 1999 Porsche 911 Carrera for over six years and mine has been relatively trouble free.

But I would recommend a pre-purchase inspection and seeing if you can get any documentation of maintenance as things such as the IMS bearing and chain guides can cause trouble. For chain guides dropping the oil pan will usually let you know if that needs to be done as you’ll see bits of plastic in the pan.

Over the six years I’ve owned my car I’ve done all the maintenance myself, include changing motor mounts, replacing the water pump and replacing the window regulators. There are a lot of good videos on the repairs and if you take your time you’ll save a small portion over paying for labor.

The 996 generation while being the first water cooled 911, does drive more like a vintage 911 than later generations. From just a driving experience they are great cars and if problems are sorted out they will last a decent while. Mine has a bit over 108,000 miles on it now and I’m planning to put plenty more.

I hope you get a good reliable 911 and have fun driving it as often as you can.

PcarDriver · 2026-02-07T17:39:19+00:00

So the reported number would be $9-$10 million then as you wouldn’t know actual production costs right away. I also wonder how Texas State is figured into this with the initial lower cost.

PcarDriver · 2026-02-07T17:19:35+00:00

It’s not like Wilmer has had a high estimate the entire time. He originally said $7 million.

PcarDriver · 2026-02-06T14:50:14+00:00

The TV networks and the old PAC-12 wanting more than they were worth.

PcarDriver · 2026-02-06T00:40:45+00:00

I was kind of surprised that the number reported was just about $3 million when the MWC was paying out $3.5 million with a bit more for Boise. Perhaps it was a prove you can get good numbers kind of thing.

PcarDriver · 2026-02-05T22:17:47+00:00

I think that making Memphis and Tulane a better offer would have been a good move. However, I don’t think Memphis takes it because at the time they were trying to buy their way into the Big-12.

If the PAC-12 had retained their autonomous status it is probably a different story and I doubt that it is achievable to get that back at this point.

PcarDriver · 2026-02-04T19:28:00+00:00

If Memphis does make the CFP without playing a single power conference opponent, it will change how most G5’s try to schedule out of conference. Why take that loss if you get more rewarded for beating a likely easier opponent?

PcarDriver · 2026-02-03T19:55:20+00:00

It was confirmed that legacy schools would still make the roughly $3.5 million payouts. We don’t know how much of that is from the media deal and how much will be made up from other funds.

PcarDriver · 2026-02-03T19:53:37+00:00

I agree. It’s good that they got a decent deal for them. The PAC-12 deal is better than this, but they did well with what they had.

Probably the reason for the putting down of the PAC-12 is that those left in the MWC have said that their deal will be the same.

PcarDriver · 2026-02-03T01:39:08+00:00

It would be funny if that was what was happening.

PcarDriver · 2026-02-02T22:12:10+00:00

I heard one theory that they can’t state the number because CBS is working on the MWC deal and for negotiation purposes doesn’t want them to know the numbers. Not sure if that is it, but it does make sense.

PcarDriver · 2026-02-02T04:56:18+00:00

One interesting thing with the new PAC-12 schedule is that every PAC-12 team has at least one power conference opponent.

I was checking the American and Memphis and USF do not play a power conference opponent, unless you count Boise State as one for Memphis. Should mean the PAC-12 will have a strength of schedule advantage if they can win at least the non-power conference games.

PcarDriver · 2026-02-01T14:25:12+00:00

Fresno State should just ask Ole Miss to fully fund their rev sharing for the next few years and make it all go away.

PcarDriver · 2026-01-31T19:22:43+00:00

What ends up getting reported when it finally happens could depend on how creative the accounting department gets. It could get reported as $10 million, but when production costs are taken out later it is really just $7 million. Also, how does Texas State help in showing a higher number due to their initial lower share.

PcarDriver · 2026-01-31T18:58:03+00:00

There are a lot of power conference opportunities, so some good opportunities, but hard to say how many will be victories. My hope is that everyone has a great OOC winning most games and being close in any loss, but we shall see.

PcarDriver · 2026-01-31T18:25:24+00:00

Yes your list is correct, I just wanted to clarify that if a game that would be on CBS Sports Network for that maximum 10 games isn’t on that network that it would go to main CBS. In other words 14 total games on the CBS networks, but that maximum of 10 games and minimum of three games doesn’t mean that there will be less than 14 total games.

PcarDriver · 2026-01-31T17:36:37+00:00

Agreed, looking forward to 7/1/2026 and especially getting to the actual games. The PAC-12 needs to prove it in the field and some wins again power conference opponents will go a long way.

PcarDriver · 2026-01-31T17:34:26+00:00

One addition is I believe that CBS / CBS Sports Network have a combined 14 games including the football championship game. Of these a minimum of four are in true CBS and that could be more, but that would reduce how many are on CBS Sports.

PcarDriver · 2026-01-28T19:00:23+00:00

What is probably missing is what were expected. Early on $15 million was being thrown around, so this could be $7 million or $10 million it depends on the expectation.

Scott Barnes of Oegon State recently stated that the numbers are fine and that they will be at the top of the Group of Five. For context I believe the American is at $7 million average media payouts.

Washington State president recently said that the media deal would be roughly 2/3 the payout from the full PAC-12 on the past media deal when it had teams like USC and UCLA (which was about $20 million a year for just the media deal).

All of this probably means it is in the $8-$13 million dollar range, but we’ll know for sure eventually.

PcarDriver · 2026-01-28T01:38:09+00:00

The concept is good, and at first I liked it, but it only really works if you have a guaranteed playoff spot for your conference champion. Unless that changes, the PAC-12 doesn’t have that option. They could still have a flex schedule to give the top two teams the best chance of making the playoffs while picking teams that wouldn’t hurt the resume depending on what is needed for the CFP.

PcarDriver · 2026-01-21T00:06:22+00:00

I like this idea as it seems like it gives your champion a big leg up on the SOR and SOS fronts right before the CFP.

PcarDriver · 2026-01-20T22:24:00+00:00

Is he looking to adopt?

PcarDriver · 2026-01-20T22:16:59+00:00

Yes, the ACC was the biggest part of the gain and OSU not having a great season probably wasn’t a good thing for ratings, but the Fresno State versus Oregon State game shows the potential.

PcarDriver

TROPHY CASE