The offseason is definitely not the slow season as yet another week delivered news impacting both the Pac-12 legacy schools and other universities across the region.
Here are four developments you might have missed.
1. College Football Playoff tweaks format for 2025
Nitty gritty: CFP’s management committee unanimously approved the move to a straight seeding model, by which the 12 teams will be seeded according to their position in the selection committee’s final rankings. No longer will the top four seeds be reserved for the highest-ranked conference champions. Now, anyone can claim a spot in the top four, even a runner-up or third-place team.
Why it matters: Because on the surface — and several layers deep, as well — the move benefits the Big Ten and SEC while undermining the ACC, Big 12 and Group of Five schools.
It’s easy to envision the Big Two, loaded with blue blood programs, gobbling up all four of the highest seeds, and the accompanying byes into the quarterfinals, while relegating the ACC and Big 12 champions to lower-tier status.
Had the change been in place last season, Arizona State would not have advanced straight to the quarterfinals and faced Texas in the Peach Bowl. The 11th-seeded Sun Devils would have opened on the road … at Ohio State.
Then again, Boise State would have played Indiana on the road on equal rest instead of Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl following a long layoff. The former is arguably an easier assignment.
Therein lies the nuance to the format change for 2025: The preferred seeds are not No. 1, 2, 3 and 4.
The preferred seeds — the sweetest spots in the brackets — are No. 5, 6, 7 and 8. On that tier, teams will play an immensely valuable home game in the opening round; they won’t have the three-and-a-half week layoff prior to the quarterfinals; and crucially, they will get paid like a quarterfinalist.
Yes, there’s a financial component to this. Of course there is.
The format change required unanimous approval from the 10 conferences and Notre Dame. In order to get what they wanted, the Big Ten and SEC had to negotiate on the money. They agreed to allow the four highest-ranked conference champions to receive $8 million (each) — just as they did under the 2024 format — even if they don’t advance to the quarterfinals.
That concession makes us wonder what else was discussed in the long-game negotiations. Remember, the seeding change is just for 2025. The CFP begins a new contract cycle in 2026, and the SEC and Big Ten want to both expand the event to 16 teams and implement multiple automatic bids for each power conference.
Did the ACC and Big 12 extract any promises for 2026 and beyond? Or will the Big Ten and SEC get everything they want?
The answer should become clear in the next few months.
2. Trump’s commission placed on pause
Nitty gritty: The much-anticipated presidential commission on college athletics has been halted — temporarily, if not permanently — in order for Congress to pursue legislation that could benefit college sports.
Why it matters: The prime driver of potential legislation is Sen. Ted Cruz, chair of the commerce committee and a proponent of saving college sports from itself.
Does the pause indicate Cruz has the bipartisan support needed for action that could end the anarchy? For peace across the land, college sports requires either antitrust protection, rules that are codified on Capitol Hill or both. Otherwise, the lawsuits will continue to undercut the system and individual states will write their own NIL laws.
Another factor to consider with the pause: Oil-and-gas billionaire Cody Campbell was expected to be named a leader of the Trump commission. He just happens to be a Texas Tech booster who believes the Big Ten and SEC have too much control over college football.
The two conferences were undoubtedly wary of Campbell acquiring too much authority over the future of the industry and using the commission as his vehicle to level the playing field.
Whether they convinced the Trump Administration to pause the commission or the decision was entirely rooted in Cruz’s desire to pursue legislation, we cannot say. Perhaps it was a little of both.
3. Mediation between the Pac-12 and Mountain West continues
Nitty gritty: The conferences met for several days, and perhaps the entire week, but did not resolve the poaching penalty and exit fee lawsuits that have more than $100 million at stake.
Why it matters: We should modify the statement above to say the conferences apparently did not resolve the lawsuits. Information is extremely scarce, with the attorneys and officials involved in the negotiations under strict confidentiality agreements. Any leaks to the media could jeopardize the process.
They might have come to terms or established the framework for a deal, but nothing was announced.
But this much is clear: It’s complicated.
After all, the conferences are attempting to resolve two lawsuits that have a single defendant, the Mountain West, and two plaintiffs: The Pac-12 in the poaching penalty case and three schools (Colorado State, Utah State and Boise State) in the exit fee case. Commissioners, university presidents, athletic directors and general counsels are involved. Also, there’s only one mediator who shuttles between the two groups.
It has become increasingly apparent that both conferences must resolve the litigation in order to move forward with their media rights negotiations for the contract cycle that begins in the summer of 2026.
ESPN, Fox, CBS, The CW, Warner Bros. Discovery — any potential partner would want the lawsuits settled before signing a multi-year deal worth tens of millions of dollars.
Otherwise, there’s risk to the investment: The outcome of the lawsuits could impact conference membership.
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The stay of the poaching penalty lawsuit, issued by a judge earlier this month, expires July 15.
We suspect the mediation will conclude well before that point. None of the parties involved wants trials.
4. House v. NCAA settlement on hold
Nitty gritty: To the surprise of many, Northern California District Judge Claudia Wilken did not issue a ruling on the groundbreaking antitrust lawsuit this week.
Why it matters: Until Wilken rules, college sports is effectively frozen.
From the move to revenue sharing to the payment of $2.8 billion to former athletes to the controversial roster cuts to the formation of an NIL enforcement arm — everything rides on Wilken’s ruling.
If she approves, schools will start sharing $20.5 million with athletes on July 1, and the power conferences will unveil a mechanism for policing NIL deals.
If she rejects, the lawlessness of the past two years will look like amateur hour compared to what comes next.
(Also, a rejected settlement would likely mean a court trial that could bankrupt the NCAA.)
It’s also possible that Wilken will ask the attorneys for additional changes, leaving college sports in limbo for an undetermined period.
Her ruling could come at any point in the next few weeks.
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