Is it too late for the Pac-12 to join in on the return of college football?

For a conference that once was thought of as elite, the Pac-12 has been the laughing stock of college football for the last decade.

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Evidently, there's still a significant chance that the "conference of champions" returns to almighty glory on Halloween weekend.

After Kevin Warren and the Big Ten crawled their way back like an ex girlfriend, the Pac-12 became the only Power 5 conference left on the outside looking in.

In an interview four months ago on the Dan Patrick show, Pac -12 commissioner, Larry Scott was pretty adamant that the conference wouldn't play this year.

“I don’t believe we’re going to play football, if students can’t be brought back safely to campus,” Scott said on the show. “I don’t think we’re going to treat student-athletes or football players, as some special class. I don’t think we’ve got the ability to quarantine them and put them in a bubble, the way some pro sports might."

Although their conference commissioner and the entire country made peace with the idea that the conference wouldn't be playing this fall, the players and coaches continued to fight tooth and nail to ensure they had a season.

 

We hadn't heard much news regarding the Pac-12, until USC wide receiver, Amon-Ra St. Brown put the pressure on California Governor Gavin Newsom in a letter on Tuesday evening

In the letter, the USC players urged Governor, Gavin Newsom to loosen the restrictions that are currently in place for the state of California.

"The current reality is that there are too many restrictions imposed by state and local public health officials in California that prevent us from resuming practices and competitions. We cannot practice in groups larger that 12, we cannot gather as a team, and we cannot utilize any of our indoor facilities," the letter continued. "From the onset of this pandemic, the Pac-12 has rightfully and responsibly maintained that their decisions would be based on science, and it not appears that the science and technology have turned in favor of playing."

 

Newsom spoke out the next day saying that he had met with Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, admitting that the teams could technically play if they wanted to.

It was also reported that USC AD, Mike Bohn and UCLA AD, Martin Jarmond met with local officials to try and work out some of the legal hurdles that they'd need to jump trough.

 

Nothing is set in stone, but it appears as if the conference is back on track and headed in the right direction.

But, if you take a step back and look at the situation as a whole, you realize the real reason why they decided to make a comeback push; public perception.

In today's society, everyone wants to look good in the media and appear as if they have everything figured out.

Larry Scott knows that if his conference is the only Power 5 group not to play this fall, it will make him look like an absolute clown. Even though he's been a circus act for the last several months since cancelling.

Not playing would also have a profound negative impact on landing recruits.

College football coaches from across the country have already been able to pluck the top recruits in the state of California and get them to play elsewhere. If the conference doesn't play, then they'd be losing out on even more talented high-school football players

Let's take USC for example, in 2020 USC finished with the 64th overall class according to 24/7 Sports .This is absolutely embarrassing for a team that used to be considered a powerhouse in CFB .

Why would recruits want to play in the Pac-12 when they can take their talents to plenty of other schools that have prioritized football over politics?

Can scary Larry actually get football to return by Halloween, or has his failure buried them like a mummy in a tomb?

 

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