Sports & A Beer – College Football Realignment

College football has a great product and loyal tailgatin’ fans but boy do the people in charge seem intent on not being content raking in cash hand over fist.

TV deals have created strange looking for literally greener grass dynamic as teams bolt one conference for another no matter how much air travel that means for the gymnastics or lacrosse teams.

The former Pac12 nee Pac10 is now just Cougars and Beavers. There are two “Big” conferences with more teams than games in a year. Supersized SEC and ACC and rivalries trampled into dust.

But there is a path out of the chaos. It starts with their being one TV deal that is evenly split with bonus money to individual teams that rank in the top 10 and those that make the playoffs. Further, at least half of your games have to be played in your time zone and each university will be required to retain at least one legacy rivalry game.

For example, the mighty Oregon State Beavers would have to play six games against West Coast opponents and their big game against the Ducks. That leaves six games against whomever would bring them closer to the top ten from a strength of schedule viewpoint.

For a beer you could go one of two ways. You can find a beer that has lost its way and find out what can be done to make the beer better or you dan give in to the football fat cats and find the most expensive, barrel-aged stout and cackle like a tycoon.

Pac 12

Deschutes Brewery is now  “Official Craft Beer of the Pac-12 Conference.” Which I see as a bit odd and a missed opportunity.

There is no university in Bend and Deschutes has locations in Portland and Virginia but not any of the PAC12 towns.

There is also the tiny issue of underage college drinking but let’s table that as separate from this discussion.

It would have been much more fun to have Deschutes partner with a brewery from Seattle, Pullman, Corvallis, Eugene, Berkley, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Boulder. Last time I checked there were breweries in those towns or at least nearby.