The Definitive Guide to CW-10 Schools

We discussed it on our latest episode, and it was written about in the Athletic, but the Pacific Athletic Conference is in actual TV negotations with The CW:

Max Olson (or maybe Stewart Mandel since they co-wrote the article, blessed us with this amazing sentence:

Two sources indicated there have been recent discussions between the Pac-12 and The CW, a national over-the-air broadcast network better known for scripted shows like “Gossip Girl,” “Supernatural” and “Riverdale.”

#journalisming at its finest. National writers with no dog in the fight reporting based on multiple sources familiar with the situation. The pair also added:

Even before USC and UCLA left, Klivakoff had said the next deal would include a heavy streaming component, in part because the 11-year-old Pac-12 Network has such limited distribution. Both Amazon and Apple have been widely reported as potential partners. The person with knowledge of the discussions said the streaming companies’ lack of experience negotiating a college sports rights deal has contributed to the slow pace of the negotiations.

Kliavkoff himself has remained mostly quiet about the negotiations and kept his circle tight. Even the schools’ athletic directors are being kept in the dark. But the presidents have been regularly briefed, and some of their mixed messaging over the past several months has contributed to a sense of disarray within the conference.

You know who also hasn't negotiated a college sports rights deal? Me. And you. So we are about as prepared for this as the Conference of Champions apparently. But given that there is a serious possibility that they may end up being broadcast as part of an Arrowverse Mega Crossover Event, I am here to lay out the Pac-10 schools as CW shows.

Note: It was discovered in the research of this article that The CW has purchased the streaming rights to multiple shows (including Spike TV originals like Blue Mountain State) which are available to stream on Pluto TV, Tubi and the CW app. I am not going to pull from those shows in order to be true to the "CW Shows" - but I include this knowledge to further underscore the absurdity of this entire damn situation.

Stanford: One Tree Hill

We will start with Stanford, as Oakland A's broadcaster Jessica Kleinschmidt prompted this with the perfect jab:

Obviously the tree reference is spot on. But also One Tree Hill revolves around a basketball team (makes sense since Stanford doesn't care about football) in a town where the rich kid who grew up with everything tries to figure out his half brother showing up who grew up other the other side of the tracks showing up. Peyton's music career is somewhat akin to trying to make it in Silicon Valley.

Cal: Nancy Drew

She's a nerd. She doesn't care about sports. She's very intelligent. The covers of the books are blue and yellow. This makes UCLA the Hardy Boys. The financials of their athletic department are a mystery in dire need of solving. It all makes sense.

Oregon: All-American

The only way Beverly Hills High School is good at football in this show is excessive use of performance enhancing drugs, and spending their way into buying the best players available from the LA area.

Also the show is based on the life of Spencer Paysinger - a player who grew up in South Los Angeles, but drove to play at Beverly Hills High, BEFORE GOING ON TO PLAY AT OREGON! A match made in heaven.

Oregon State: The Republic of Sarah

I have never watched this show, but here's the summary from Wikipedia:

When a massive vein of coltan—an incredibly valuable mineral—is discovered under the town of Greylock, New Hampshire, a mining company prepares to extract the mineral which would effectively remove the town from existence.  Sarah Cooper, "a rebellious high school teacher"^[2] in Greylock, organizes and leads opposition.  However, an unexpected result occurs when  the town becomes its own nation, separate from the US. Thus Sarah and the rest of the town must grapple with developing their own country.

Oregon State played a season with only half a stadium becuase of construction that wasn't finished in time. Nobody thinks of the Beavers as an elite academic institution, so the "high school teacher" leading the charge feels right.

Oh and they also become their own nation, which is what the Beavers will have to do when their conference falls apart and nobody invites them to join a new league.

Washington: 100 Days to Indy

This upcoming documentary could also be a 30 for 30 about the future of Oregon adn Washington if {stuff} really hits the fan here soon.

The name is self explanatory.

Washington State: Hart of Dixie

Outside of Mike Leach, the first thing I think of when I ponder Wazzu is that they have a vet school. And they're in the middle of nowhere - which isn't dissimilar to Hart of Dixie where Rachel Bilson's character moves to a small down in Alabama to practice medicine in search of her biological father.

And like Rachel Bilson, deep down we all love Wazzu and wouldn't mind if they got invited to be on our TV more often.

Arizona: Walker

Jeff suggested "Would I lie to You?" in dedication to Jason Scheer, who has consistently been ahead of the game with journalisming scoops on this whole saga, but I'm going with Walker:

The Wildcats are the Ag school in the Grand Canyon State and along with ASU were once in the Border Conference with Texas Tech and UTEP. They're not and never will be Texas (ranger) but they try.

Their university president recently said told the Athletic:

I tell Brett this all the time, and I’ve got really good friends over the years who are presidents now in the Big 12 schools, I love you guys, but if the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t expect any of you to leave the Big 12 if you didn’t know what deal you were getting there. We’ve got to see what deal we’re getting, and then I’ll be able to make an informed decision

He previously worked for the University of Houston medical system, knows lots of people throughout the Big 12 and is seemingly going to be the first school to join the conference based out of Texas.

Arizona State: 90210

It's a reboot of something that was great in the 90s, but could never come close to recapturing what it used to be. And despite being in Tempe, 15% of ASU's students are from California (they enroll more freshman students every year than a half dozen state schools in California) and they opened a campus there recently. They're obsessed with wanting to be from California.

Colorado: Penn & Teller Fool Us

Don't let Coach Prime being the center of attention fool you - the Buffs still haven't been relevant in CFB since Kordell Stewart was their starting QB. They had their run of success in the early to mid 90s finishing ranked 8 years in a row with a national title in there, but in the last 25 seasons have finished ranked just 3 times.

They're trying to pull a quick one on you with Deion Sanders bringing lots of attention, but like Penn and Teller haven't gone on tour with big crowds since the 90s, neither has the University of Colorado.

Utah: Crazy Ex Girlfriend

Again, I have never seen this show, but that title was too good to pass up. Let's consult wikipedia:

Despite drawing consistently low ratings throughout its four-season run, the show received widespread critical acclaim and won several awards

Utah is on the best run of their program history, regularly finishing ranked and winning conference championships - but still nobody outside of the diehards obsessed with them gives a damn. Sounds a lot like the above.

The show apparently focuses on a lawyer who moves to CA from NYC after running into her ex boyfriend. Sounds like a potential from to the Big 12 for them. She also spends a full season telling herself it's not because of him (which I will admit is flipped from how they act about BYU as they are trying to avoid being in a conference with the Cougars at all costs), but as we've seen over the last decade on social media, despite how much they try to tell themselves that they've moved on and left us in the dust, they too are like the tagline of this show, and deep down they will Never. Let. Go.