Wazzu's Jake Dickert: 'How long will it take for TV money to destroy college football? Maybe we're here.'

Early in the day on Thursday, the esteemed Jon Wilner, a writer for the San Jose Mercury-News and someone who at this point I believe has spent more time than any human plotting the Pac-12's future, tweeted that, in his view, the future of the Pac-12 conference would be decided in the next 24 to 36 hours. That was five hours ago as I write this, and further still in the past as you read it. 

The Pac-12 will indeed play a 2023-24 athletic season, but with no television contract in place beyond 2023-24, a conference founded in 1915 could truly face extinction in less than 12 months. 

If Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Oregon and Washington indeed leave greener pastures, it will be a sad day for college football, and potentially a catastrophic day for those left behind. No current projections have Oregon State and Washington State finding homes in so-called Power 5 conferences. 

"The old question was, how long will it take for TV money to destroy college football? Maybe we're here," Washington State head coach Jake Dickert said Thursday. "Maybe we're here.

"To think, even remotely, five years ago that the Pac-12 would be in this position, it's unthinkable that we're here today. To think that local rivalries are at risk, to me is unbelievable," he said.

The Pac-10 attempted to annex half of the Big 12 in 2010, an ambitious move that ultimately brought Colorado and Utah to the conference. The Pac-12 could have dealt a death blow to the Big 12 following Texas and Oklahoma's defections to the SEC with Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor, Oklahoma State and perhaps others pitching themselves to the conference, but the Pac-12 turned them down. The Pac-12 also turned down an opportunity to merge with the Big 12 around that same time.

Should the worst come to pass, the closest analogue to what Oregon State and Washington State (and, perhaps, Cal and Stanford) would face came with the extinction of the Southwest Conference in the mid-1990s. Initially left out of the Big 12, TCU and Houston eventually found their way into the conference. SMU and Rice are still waiting for 'power' conference invitations. 

The sad irony of the situation is that the Pac-12's existential crisis comes at a time when Pac-12 football is on the upswing. Seven teams return their starting quarterbacks from a year ago, the most of any Power 5 league -- including reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams. Transfers DJ Uiagaleilei (Oregon State) and Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) could further increase quarterback play across the conference.

Five Pac-12 teams won 10 games in 2022, and half the conference finished in the AP Top 25. USC, two-time defending champion Utah, Washington and Oregon have legitimate Playoff hopes, and Oregon State is a threat to win the conference. Arizona is on a rapid upswing, Stanford, Colorado and Arizona State are planning on their own upswings under new coaches and, lest we forget, Washington State has gone bowling both seasons under Dickert. 

"At the end of the day Pac-12 football, if we stay together, is really strong and we'll have a strong future," Dickert said. "I firmly believe in that. It's important that we stay focused here in the now and maximizing what we can."

Dickert's team will focus on a 2023 season that opens Sept. 2 at Colorado State and closes Nov. 25 at Washington... for perhaps the last time ever? 

Before anyone lets their imagination get the best of them, consider how unlikely it seemed in 2010 that Colorado would ever return to the Big 12, much less a Big 12 without Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Nebraska and Missouri. That conference has survived multiple dances with oblivion, so perhaps the Pac-12 can, too. 

If not, we'll be left with a reality where Washington-Rutgers is a conference game and Washington-Washington State is not. 

"We'll look back in college football in 20 years and be like, What are we doing?"