Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
Utah State Athletic Director Diana Sabau told me her school was "in a state of readiness" when the opportunity to leave the Mountain West to join the Pac-12 Conference presented itself last September.
"The Pac-12 brand has tremendous relevance," she said.
A week later, Gonzaga leaped.
"The basketball appetite is ferocious here," Sabau told me. "Everyone was excited to begin with, then when Gonzaga announced, our fans went crazy and started asking 'When can we buy tickets?'"
Utah State's AD and I spoke about the conference's media rights strategy, her department's plan for revenue sharing, and what she thought of the first 12-team College Football Playoff, among other things.
The Aggies have sold out their basketball season tickets and launched the "Reach and Rise" fundraising campaign last summer, aimed at raising $125 million over five years.
The current haul: $24.7 million.
"We knew we'd be chasing a brave new world, we can't be flat-footed. … (Logan) is a small community," Sabau said, "we've got 55,000 people, but they care about Utah State."
Sabau's work history is interesting. She came to Utah State from the Big Ten, where she oversaw 28 sports for the conference. Previously, she worked at Ohio State, where she served as OSU's administrator for football. Her bosses in Columbus once included Pat Chun (now the Washington AD) and Martin Jarmond, the AD at UCLA.
What's the Pac-12 going to do with media rights? The conference is currently shopping its rights and preparing for another expansion bite. Sabau declined to go into depth on the subject, but said "It's an exciting time" and hinted that the plan may involve some innovation and "a new approach to broadcast."
On Boise State making the 12-team CFP playoff:
"I wanted Boise State to achieve and keep achieving," she said. "You can't put a value on that. I love the fact that you saw a G5 that was a conference champion get a bye and compete at a high level. That gives everyone hope for the future."
On revenue sharing with athletes at Utah State:
"We will not participate this coming year as a member of the Mountain West. We'll listen and learn… we'll still have our collective, and cover the cost of tuition… there will be a gradual elevation, and in 2026 we'll grow even more. We're evolving that every day but we don't have anything cemented permanently."
On the NIL and revenue-sharing cost of building a Top 25 football roster:
"Let's talk in six months."
Emptying the notebook:
OREGON STATE: How good can quarterback Maalik Murphy be at Oregon State next season? I asked Brandon Huffman, the national recruiting editor at 247Sports this week.
"He was a tremendous get (for OSU)," Huffman told me. "All you need to know is that Sark wanted him."
Murphy's NIL haul in Corvallis includes $1.5 million in cash, as I previously reported. Oregon State offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson recruited Murphy when he was at UCLA, but lost him to Texas and Steve Sarkisian. Then, Gunderson recruited Murphy a second time last offseason, but the QB chose Duke over OSU.
"Third time's the charm," Huffman said. "There's clearly a trust there. When you're not at a Power 4 school, you've just got to win the games on your schedule. You keep your mouth shut, you go out and you win games, you can find yourself in that 12-team playoff. I think Oregon State was a QB away from not being a 5-7 team and potentially being a 10-2 or 11-1 team."
WASHINGTON STATE: Jimmy Rogers, the new head football coach at Washington State, will join me on the radio show next Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Tune in on 750-AM (Portland), 1050-AM (Eugene), Bend (92.5-FM), Medford (107.9-FM), Roseburg (1490-AM) and Klamath Falls (960-AM). Or stream it from anywhere in the galaxy.
WASHINGTON: Coach Jedd Fisch is sitting on something special in quarterback Demond Williams Jr., isn't he? If UW can improve the offensive line and surround Williams with some talent, the Huskies offense could be great. Fisch's rise at Arizona is an interesting study. His first full recruiting class included guys such as QB Noah Fifita. Arizona went from 1-11 to 5-7 to 10-3 in three years. It looks to me like year No. 3 will be a sweet spot for Fisch in Seattle.
OREGON: It's apparent that the Ducks coaching staff loves QB Dante Moore. It looks like Moore will be handed the keys to the operation in Eugene next season. Moore is a better athlete and a stronger passer than Dillon Gabriel. There were some rumors about Oregon being interested in chasing Quinn Ewers, but Brandon Huffman told me: "Those were embellished by a lot of other fan bases."
ASU: Kenny Dillingham's program is wisely capitalizing on a great football season and offering season-ticket packages for 2025.
The Sun Devils went undefeated at home in 2024, were the Big 12 champions, and finished ranked No. 7 in the AP Top 15. ASU was picked dead last in the Big 12 by the media and not ranked by AP voters to start the season. It was the eighth time that Arizona State started a season unranked but finished in the Top 25.
