Dear University of Oregon community,
I am pleased to share that the University of Oregon will join the Big 10 Conference in August of 2024. I am thrilled we have the opportunity to join the nation’s preeminent academic-athletic conference. Our student-athletes will participate at the highest level of collegiate athletic competition, and our alumni, friends, and fans will be able to carry the spirit of Oregon across the country.
The connections we will make with some of the leading public research institutions in the world will lead to new opportunities for our students, staff, faculty, and university stakeholders through the Big Ten Academic Alliance and other venues. We look forward to a long, robust partnership.
We seized this opportunity considering many factors, including the reach and visibility afforded the University of Oregon by joining a nationwide conference that includes more of the country’s leading public research institutions. We also know the Big Ten shares our commitment to prioritizing student-athletes’ well-being and academic demands.
In coming years, the UO will prioritize the long-held traditions of competition across all sports with Oregon State University.
I want to thank our University of Oregon community and our passionate Duck fans for their unmatched love and devotion to the UO. We are excited for the future ahead.
Sincerely, and Go Ducks!
Karl Scholz
President
Thank God we have cut ourselves loose from academic deadbeats like Stanford and Berkeley so that we can pursue the exciting Big Ten research partnerships—starting with Purdue. Purdue’s program in Hotel Management is the envy of the world in training scholar-hotel managers, and offers exciting collaboration possibilities with several of Oregons top programs. Plus Oregon faculty now have online access to the Purdue Library, and its Rick Mount Archive of Indiana Basketball, named after scholar-athlete Rick Mount, which includes an original script of the movie “Hoosiers”—the inspiring tale of scholar -athletes from a small school triumphing over the scholar-athletes from the big city.
Hahahaha. Someone from UO mocking Purdue academics. That’s rich.
UO should have built up its applied programs years ago. Dismissing Oreg. State as vo-tech has done little to help UO…
Purdue is a “superior” institution. I’d be much happier if UO had Purdue’s international reputation.
The British firm Quacquarelli Symonds ranks Purdue 99th worldwide. Meanwhile, it ranks UO in the 721-730 range.
Why is there no Call for Papers appended to the announcement of this exciting conference to which prominent public R1s are going?
Comment of the week.
Looking forward to guidance from the Provost’s office about how to manage…you know…teaching when student-athletes are traveling to Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin… A quick look at Expedia tells me that Eugene-Madison is 5:40 minutes on a good day, with a change in Denver. Elite sports aside, this move throws up huge obstacles for your average terrific, committed student who happens to also have the passion and skill to compete in college-level sports.
Charter flights. Lorraine Davis will proctor their exams on board at $110 an hour, billed to the academic side of course. https://uomatters.com/2008/05/uo-pays-lorraine-davis-197278-to.html
For football, basketball, sure. But how about soccer? softball? are we planning on starting an airline?
The decision was made by the richest man in Oregon months ago, rubber stamped by his board flunkie on a golf course, and spun by his new, overpaid flunkie. So much for the UO’s governance model.
I’d love to see UO’s program sanctioned by the Big Ten/NCAA in the coming years. Justice served for all involved.
From John Feinstein in the Washington Post (Aug 9):
The funniest — and most annoying — thing about all the announcements from school presidents, athletic directors and conferences were the constant references to “student-athletes.” Let’s put aside my argument that the term is the single most hypocritical (not to mention redundant) phrase in all of sports. My question is this: Who do these guys think they’re fooling at this point?
No one — no one — thinks any of these moves are about anything but money. There’s nothing wrong with following the money in today’s world, but let’s not turn this into a stand-up act by claiming it’s “for the student-athletes.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/08/09/conference-realignment-change/
Do Tell…
If the richest man in Oregon did this he got a really crap deal for us. Most sketchy sites are reporting 50 cents on the dollar compared to the “existing” members including SC and UCLA (yes the statement better than what the pac could pay is true, but come on). Is that rich man topping up somehow? What will the UO be on the hook to pay like retirements and the like.
Yes, I expect that Kevin Reed will hide the true terms of the agreement from PR requests by arguing they are a “trade secret” – because every academic conference keeps its honoraria secret, right?
Old timers say that UO has come a long way since the bad old days of Pres Paul Olum, Myles Brand, Dave Frohnmayer, serious Assembly meetings, the faculty lunch tables in the old EMU, the Knight Library. Now the Independent Board, the Union, the famous Phildo. The Knight Library is open but empty, while the Knight Campus appears to be closed and sterile. And now UO magically transformed into a Midwest powerhouse. Spreading that famous “Spirit of Oregon” to flyover country!
https://athlonsports.com/college-football/one-pac-12-president-wanted-all-but-osu-and-wsu-to-join-the-big-12
According to published reports, an unnamed Pac12 President asked a Big12 Pres if the Big12 would take nine Pac12 teams, including UOwe and UW, but excluding OSU and WAZZU, Since no one has denied the story, gotta say it’s true. What does it reveal of the character of the conference if they’re willing to backstab Oregon State, a PAC charter member? I’m guessing Da Beavs and WAZZU were factored out because their football stadiums had much smaller seating capacities than other Pac12 venues.
If Uncle Phil is supposed to have masterminded the agreement with the Big10, he did one hell of a piss poor job. While UOwe will refuse to release contract details, other unis aren’t obligated to do any such thing. From my SC in-laws, OR/WA’s deal was worse than what JH is saying. They’re getting anywhere from $30 million to $40 million less/year than other Big10 members. That stipulation is in place for six seasons, meaning the Big10 PNW element will receive anywhere from $180 million to $210 million less than even scandal plagued Northwestern, who no one cares if they have a football team, or not. Seems as if the Big10 treats charter members a lot better than their Pac12 colleagues,
To be fair, SC in-laws hate UOwe, with reason, and that seeps into their analysis. Nevertheless, they contend the Big!0 wanted both Los Angeles schools to flourish and vie for national championships, That same conference had no such aspirations for OR/WA, in fact, both schools are being relegated to less than the bottom third of Big10. This agreement, if it plays out the way I’m being told, financially kneecaps the PNW members. If that’s the best Nike/Uncle Phil can do, then it’s time for admins to flee JH…
And then there were four… Just in case you haven’t seen this yet, it’s the best bit of comedy farce I’ve seen since George K. said waiting gives the conference better options.
_
New Pac-4 website
It makes me wonder how these schools will brig in enough money to pay their players. Oh right, it’s the NCAA cartel. Never mind.
Kevin B. Blackistone, WaPo (Aug13):
It is now difficult not to recall the most audacious act by possibly the most immodest university president in history, Robert Maynard Hutchins. It isn’t because he terminated football at the University of Chicago during his reign there in the second quarter of the previous century. It is his reasoning for doing so.
“The trouble with football,” Hutchins, a philosopher, declared to the press in 1938, “is the money that is in it.” Hutchins went on to write in the Saturday Evening Post, “Athleticism is not athletics or physical education, but sports promotion, and it is carried on for the monetary profit of the colleges through the entertainment of the public.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/08/13/college-football-league-realignment/
New Prez Schorzie is also saying “Hayward Magic” helps academic quality:
“Hayward Magic inspires amazing performances on the track, generates meaningful collaborations in our research facilities..”
Meanwhile, here’s a scathing op-ed on Michael Schill’s handling of the hazing incidents in Northwestern football.
https://saturdaytradition.com/northwestern-football/hickey-northwestern-prez-michael-schill-is-the-biggest-dolt-in-college-sports/