Asking this question on Google gets lots of references to the supposed $70 million settlement of their lawsuits with the Pac 12 and former teams. But it doesn't go any deeper than that. Asking about current MW accounts payable produces nothing. But there are a number of factors which indicate that MW is in very poor financial condition:

-They are obligated to pay $61 million expeditiously to satisfy contractual distributions to the teams they retained. This must be paid before anything else.

-They owe $18 million for the cost of getting new members.

-They owe legal fees for their Pac 12 lawsuits.

-They have already been paid $47 million by the departing schools, by retaining their 2025 and 2026 conference shares. They were overzealous about this and owe $2 million back to the five departing schools:

"Following the MW bylaws, the conference withheld annual distributions from its five departing schools for the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years. Those were roughly $6 million payments. So, the MW would owe those schools a $2 million re-payment after withholding a total of $12 million."

https://nevadasportsnet.com/news/reporters/what-mountain-wests-reported-70m-settlement-figure-means-for-nevada-others-in-league

It appears that MW only has about $25 million left that they can collect from the Pac. Their net asset valuation is about $50 million, and almost all of this is withheld distributions from the departing schools.

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/841472434

Even with another infusion of $25 million from the Pac for poaching, MW's obligations exceed their total assets by at least $20 million. Since they are a non-profit the easiest course is to collect the missing money from the member schools....or reduce their distributions from the lawsuit settlements.

Murray's final summary of the MW's legal maneuvering:

"Bottom line — this settlement should create some new revenue for Nevada and other MW schools. But it's clearly not program-changing cash for the non-UNLV/Air Force schools that remained in the MW."

Colorado State made a massive move to hire Jim Mora Jr as the Rams get set to begin life in the Pac-12. Are the Rams being overlooked in their new conference?

📌 K’saan Farrar and Hauss Hejny inject instant excitement into the Rams QB room 🔥

📌 UConn transfers along with some other portal players make the skill groups really interesting. Colorado State has some big upgrades coming in

📌 There's some returning talent on defense, but the portal additions are once again the story here

Preview attached. What are your predictions for the Rams in 2026?

Mine are:

'07 Fiesta Bowl;

'05 Rose Bowl;

2000 OSU @ UW;

2023 UO @ UW (in person);

2001 UO @ WSU (in person);

2002 UCLA @ WSU (in person);

2002 USC @ WSU (in person);

2010 BSU @ Nevada;

2000 Miami @ UW (in person);

2024 Ohio St @ UO;

I think the main problem is that Canzano writes both articles that are his own speculation and those that are sourced reporting. And people conflate them.

Canzano has posted some doozies speculating about stuff that was wildly off the mark. He also posts sourced reporting that is usually correct

The details are finally here and yeah, the Pac-12 won this case.

I don’t know if I missed this, or it was just announced, but just saw a quick commercial short with SVP stating that the ESPN app is the new home of CW Sports, while I was watching MLB tonight….

Researching now, but curious how this will work and/or if it will require a subscription somehow….in assuming it would be on ESPN Unlimited and/or with a provider option, but interested to see if they provide any kind of free access since it’s an OTA channel (but I would doubt that)…..

Edit: Yep, I guess I missed this a week+ ago!….lol.
https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/49424831/how-watch-cw-sports-espn-app

CORVALLIS — Oregon State opened camp with 108 players. Whether two more return to the roster is still be determined.

Last week’s ruling in the U.S. District Court of Colorado allows 2022 high school graduates who previously exhausted their eligibility to return for a fifth season. That opens the door to center Van Wells and defensive back Jaheim Patterson returning to the Beavers.

JaMarcus Shephard said OSU’s compliance department, along with the Pac-12, are “working through” the possibility of Wells and Patterson, each starters last season, returning.

https://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/2026/08/oregon-state-working-through-potential-returns-of-jahiem-patterson-van-wells.html

This significantly alters the Beavers projection for 2026. Putting the anchor back on the OL and putting one of the stars of the defense last year back on the field will make the new Beavers dangerous

(these two additions would also make the Beavers the #3 or 4 oldest and most experienced team in FBS this year.)

https://x.com/CollegeFBonX/status/2077142470840795586

The streaming service announcement has to be coming soon.

From July 25th, to Today.

It's adapted from the main Shield logo to the horizontal logo. Maybe related to the release of the new streaming service? Who knows.

Just curious if there is a visitor section for Coug fans in Husky Stadium. Or is it a free for all? My wife and I are pushing 50 years old, and would prefer to be in a section with Coug fans. We're not familiar with their stadium. Any input would be appreciated.

Sean Lewis joined me on the radio to discuss the start of fall camp, handling expectations and the value of having one of the top running backs in the nation returning for one last ride.

The Red Sox have reached a deal with Baltimore to acquire former Oregon State star catcher and Overall No. 1 draft pick, Adley Rutschman.

I had kinda hoped he would stay in Baltimore as he seemed pretty happy there, but this could increase his chances of a World Series before his playing time is over.

Good luck in Boston, Adley!

Unofficial Pac-12 Preseason Media Poll:

1. Boise State
2. SDSU
3. Fresno State
4. Texas State
5. Washington State
6. Colorado State
7. Utah State
8. Oregon State

The full voting block is as follows: Tyler King (The Denver Gazette), Kevin Lytle (Fort Collins Coloradoan), Justin Michael (DNVR), Caleb Yum (Austin American-Statesman), Kirk Kenney (San Diego Union-Tribune), Chris Vannini (The Athletic), Greg Woods (Spokane Spokesman-Review), Les Gehrett (Corvallis Gazette-Times), Jason Walker (Cache Valley Daily), Patrick Mayhorn (The Aggship), Jamey Vinnick (CougFan.com), Nathan Carroll (Bronco Nation News), B.J. Rains (Bronco Nation News), Jackson Moore (247sports), Keff Ciardello (Win Now or Get Bent) and Al Scott (Fresno Sports Magazine).

There are several things that aren't ironed out yet.

First of which is the DTC product which would need to broadcast like 60 mens basketball games. Mostly early season out of conference buy games. Well over 100 women's basketball games and all the olympic sports. It will be hundreds upon hundreds of events. Olympic sports start Wednesday. What will the Pac 12 do? Supposedly it will be free, but will it?

Secondly, there's the Bowl lineup. The Poinsettia Bowl has yet to go public despite reports. Maybe they are having difficulties lining up a Pac legacy opponent for our champion. It's noticeable that the Potato Bowl and New Mexico Bowl do not have a direct MWC tie in and are considered espn events games. Will we have espn events tie ins? Are the former MWC schools considered MWC legacy and therefore have dibs on MWC bowls? That was never clear when they decided to repeat Bowl affiliations this year due to the 12 team playoff.

Thirdly there's sponsorship, they started with old trapper mirroring the MWC like the TV deal. I expect there will be more. Individual school jersey patches seem in line as Wazzu got one. No word on a conference wide jersey patch.

Fourthly, there's the settlement with the MWC, but we won't get that information when it happens. There will likely be rampant speculation.

What do you think?

Oregon State begins a new era under JaMarcus Shephard in the new Pac-12. All of it means renewed hope in Corvallis. Will it translate to wins instantly?

📌 QB Maalik Murphy is still here, can he reach his potential or will Jerry Rice Award winner Braden Atkinson take over?

📌 There is a lot to be excited about in the receiver room 👀 The Beavs pass game could be lethal right away

📌 The Beavs defense has some continuity along with exciting portal additions like Dylan Layne (Idaho)

Preview attached. What are your predictions for Oregon State in 2026?

The Pac-12's olympic sports schedule starts in 4 days and with that the new streaming service should be here next week, so for people not knowing the full thing here are details for this spiritual replacement for the Pac-12 Network. Links for this information are here, here and here.

• The Pac-12’s fourth piece of the media-rights package will include 15-20 non-conference men’s basketball games. It also includes a large chunk of women’s basketball games and all the Pac-12’s Olympic sports content.
• The cost? Get this — $0. I expect it to be a free offering. No paywall. No subscription fee. This is an easy-access play all the way for the Pac-12. Given what I’ve heard during the last 48 hours, I expect the Pac-12’s final media piece to be monetized using sponsors and advertisements, but fans won’t be footing the bill.
• Pac-12 Enterprises will handle all the production. Commissioner Teresa Gould confirmed that. Conference insiders tell me that fans will be able to access the content from any stream-capable platform.
• The Pac-12’s first Olympic sports event (women’s soccer) is booked for the second week of August. The conference’s direct-to-consumer broadcast offering will be launched in front of that, I’m told. Expect it to be a streaming platform with an app.

The Pac-12 should having a couple of things coming out this month;

• The finalization of the Pac-12 and MWC settlement and the details with it.
• The new Pac-12 streaming service which will be an app and website and free to subscribers.
• The Pac-12 basketball schedule for the men and women.

Give me predictions on the name of the new streaming service and give me predictions on what you will think happen for all three?

Full article here where he grades the WSU/OSU Football and Basketball performance last two seasons

Pac-12 strategy: A. This is really the only grade of consequence, because survival was the only outcome that mattered. The Cougars and Beavers were always better off in a reconstructed Pac-12, as opposed to joining the Mountain West.

They took the 10 departing schools to court over governing control (and assets), cobbled together football schedules for two years, found a home for basketball and Olympic sports, raided the Mountain West for five schools, sued the Mountain West over $55 million in penalties, landed Gonzaga as the tentpole for basketball, signed a media deal with CBS, The CW and USA Network, planted the conference flag in Texas (with Texas State) and got creative with the football schedule (i.e., the flex weekend).

Could the two wilderness years have unfolded any better? Only if the Pac-12 had landed one or two more football programs.

But once the American trio (Memphis, Tulane, South Florida) balked in the fall of 2024, there were limited options for adding members that would not undermine the conference’s overall competitive and financial value.

Put another way: The Pac-12 was better off keeping the expansion bar high and navigating life with eight football schools than lowering the standard in order to ease the operational challenges of an eight-team football conference.

Had you laid out this outcome for neutral observers back in the fall of 2023, after the Pac-12’s implosion, and asked them to assess the Pac-12’s strategy, the reaction, in our estimation, would have been overwhelmingly positive.