Personally, I would LOVE to see SDSU join the PAC. You may draw your own conclusions on why I feel this way. 
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I stopped at truck stop on the 5 between Fresno and LA this weekend. I happen to be there right when a ton of Fresno State fans returning from whatever bowl game was in LA also stopped at the same truck stop.
At least 50 of them broke in chanting something about the PAC12. 
Yeah, no thanks. The raisin capital of the world doesnât increase eyeballs on PAC12 games very much.
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I would like to see San Diego State added since their basketball and football teams are occasionally ranked in the top 25. Plus it will add 2 million San Diego county viewers to the TV / Amazon audience. I would also like to see UNLV added for the Allegiant Stadium / T-mobile arena associations for conference championship games. Plus 1 million viewers in the Vegas market. Not strong academic centers but neither are Wazzu or Oregon State.
My guess is MWC teams will only be invited if they increase the TV package. If the networks wonât give the PAC more money with two MWC teams then I donât see it happening.
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UNLV actually opened a Med School recently. Athletically and academically itâs a long play, but maybe a little premature.
SDSU has the strongest hand, IMO, with SMU maybe as a dark horse.
If the Aztecs somehow sway Jeff Tedford to coach FB, even my 4 year old grandson could make that decision.
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Pony Exce$$ can stay in the metroplex. Houston would be a better fit.
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Houston would be doubly nice - really good academics, 5th biggest US city + damages the B12 and their con man commissioner.
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And they have a Medical School.
Looked it up:
Stanford. #6
UC Berkley #22
USC #27
UW #59
Oregon # 99
Colorado #99
Arizona #103
ASU #117
Utah # 105
OSU #162
Washington State #179
SDSU #151
SDSU becomes Tier 1 in 2024, already offer PhDâs in nursing.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/san-diego-state-university-1151
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Although I am happy to see the U continues to climb the academic ladder, I find Utah alum being academically snobbish hilarious. The U definitely has some top programs, for sure. I even interned at one of the top tech companies in the Research Park in the 90âs (Evans & Sutherland).
Still, I think itâs hilarious, and Iâm a bit of academic snob. Haha
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At least weâre ahead of ASU.
Then again, who isnât?
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Maybe not so much. Itâs not snobbery, either. We know the U. isnât Stanford. The fact is, 9 of the 12 PAC members are in the Association of American Universities, which is pretty elite company. (The 3 non-members are ASU, WSU, and OSU.)
I think that status matters to the PAC-12 members. More about the AAU:
SDSU doesnât have a law school or a medical school. It would detract from the PAC-12âs image (maybe just their self-image) to add them. But maybe it will happen.
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LOL not certain many of you would get into SDSU today. Because itâs a cal state school itâs cheaper than UC but itâs still in San Diego so itâs got that going for it and itâs become really competitive. At least wilner thinks itâs a good option lol. i guess if they do get in iâll be like most of you - went to college at a WAC school that got into power conference long after i was gone.
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Oh, I am well aware of AAU and academic snobbery. I work in private equity and most of my former and current colleagues went to Ivy, Stanford, or Northwestern. I sit and sat on boards that are mostly Ivy and Stanford grads. Our bio fund partners often have both PhD and MD behind their names.
My point is that I get the image thing. The U isnât that, not even now. And, again, glad to see the U is making academic moves. Nonetheless, I find academic smack funny, especially having moved back to Utah 4 years ago.
Your account name checks outâŚ
I donât disagree. Itâs just that SDSU doesnât have the credentials that the PAC cares about. Hey, Iâve spent the last 40 years working in LA surrounded by people with degrees from the Ivy League and the academically elite PAC-12 schools. I know how the U. is seen. This is not about the U. being elite or better than SDSU, itâs about how the PAC-12 presidents see the themselves and the conference. I doubt theyâll see SDSU as a good fit.
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That, we agree. Not sure the PAC has that many options.
With la schools gone and two/three prestige schools remaining out of ten. I think the conference can adapt to the new reality. And get realistic about how little overlap there actually is between post grad activity and undergrad football players and fans.
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That could very well be what happens.
Since we veered off into academics, a couple of points:
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The US News rankings are one of many rankings, one that is seen as limited, mostly focused on undergraduate metrics.
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The Uâs academics are definitely ascending, President Randall is pushing research in a big way, actually making some existing faculty a bit uncomfortable. Football recruiting isnât the only thing that is an all year endeavor. (For those of you on LinkedIn, you can see just how hard different areas of U of U research are pushing to attract talent.)
In my part of healthcare research, in the past 5 years weâve been grooming our best post-doctoral students to seek faculty positions in the most elite institutions elsewhere in the nation, specifically as a way to elevate the reputation of our own institution over the long term. Everyone wants to stay at the U because of quality of life factors and the team we have, but as an institution we need to reach higher. (Thatâs some serious vision, long term thinking on a time horizon after weâll all be retired.)
Weâre increasingly bringing onboard established ultra high-achievers in clinical/research areas that are setting the bar really high, above what it was 10 years ago, and in the process putting pressure on researchers who 15 years ago were otherwise âsolidâ. 70 hour work-weeks mixed clinical & research, really pushing the boundaries in their areas of expertise.
(Iâm familiar with this phenomenon based on working at Microsoft in the 90s. Really smart workaholics attract like-minded achievers. Itâs not career-length sustainable, but the amount of progress a few people can make is staggering, with genius, synergy, work ethic.)
The U isnât Stanford, Cal or UCLA, or USC, obviously. The goal is to pass CU and close in on UW. That will happen, I think in 20 years or less. There are some obstacles to making that happen - (population size, cough) - but the Uâs leadership is anything but in care-taker mode.
(I donât think I could get into the U now, based on my lazy HS performance.)