{"id":535015,"date":"2023-08-07T10:45:43","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T17:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=535015"},"modified":"2023-08-07T10:45:43","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T17:45:43","slug":"stanford-cal-left-out-following-pac-12-collapse-solution-needed-for-top-tier-olympic-sports-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/stanford-cal-left-out-following-pac-12-collapse-solution-needed-for-top-tier-olympic-sports-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Stanford, Cal Left Out Following Pac-12 Collapse; Solution Needed for Top-Tier Olympic Sports Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stanford, Cal Left Out Following Pac-12 Collapse; Solution Needed for Top-Tier Olympic Sports Programs<\/strong><\/p>\n

The conference that has been one of swimming’s best over the past decade, the Pac-12, will either cease to exist or become a shell of itself after the 2023-24 academic year. Revenue from football is the primary driving force behind decisions in college athletics, and the failure of the Pac-12 to secure a television deal to its universities’ liking led to an exodus. USC and UCLA announced their pending departures more than a year ago, and more recently, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah have all defected to the Big-12, with the latter three of those schools officially switching conferences Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, the conference is left with just four members: Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State. None of those programs are considered needle-movers in terms of revenue, and with that singular focus, the four schools have yet to be seriously courted by the Big 12, Big Ten or any other revenue-heavy leagues. However, the Cardinal and the Golden Bears each have become premier institutions in Olympic sports, and the potentially enormous drop of football money could seriously hamper those universities’ abilities to be competitive in sports across the board.<\/p>\n

Sports Illustrated’s<\/em> Pat Forde<\/strong> opined that Stanford and Cal’s departure from Power-Five status could diminish the performances of U.S. Olympic teams. Forde added that the possibility such a drop-off (and not the Bay Area rivals’ pristine academic reputations) could help both schools find homes or at least solutions to address their financial shortfall. Forde wrote:<\/p>\n

“But here is the looming downside to downsizing Stanford and Cal: the impact on the American Olympic movement. These are two of the most vital feeder schools for Team USA.<\/p>\n

“Does that matter to Mr. and Mrs. America? Seemingly so. Outside of the almighty NFL, the biggest tribe in American sports convenes for the Olympics. Average viewership for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 was 15.6 million per night. That\u2019s like having an Ohio State-Michigan football game for 17 straight nights\u2014and the ratings from Tokyo were far lower than most Summer Games.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Forde wrote that 32 members of the U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo were current or former Stanford students and 16 were current or former Cal Bears. Forde, of course, would know that phenomenon well considering that his daughter, Brooke Forde<\/strong>, was a Stanford-trained Olympian in Tokyo, helping the U.S. women to silver in the 800 freestyle relay.<\/p>\n

In total, nine of those Tokyo-bound athletes were swimmers: the younger Forde plus Katie Ledecky <\/strong>and Simone Manuel<\/strong> from Stanford;\u00a0Katie McLaughlin<\/strong>,\u00a0Abbey Weitzeil<\/strong>,\u00a0Ryan Murphy<\/strong>,\u00a0Andrew Seliskar<\/strong>,\u00a0Tom Shields<\/strong> and\u00a0Bryce Mefford<\/strong> from Cal.<\/p>\n

In the column, Forde listed several possible pathways forward for Stanford and Cal after the fall of the Pac-12:<\/p>\n