Why Oregon football could find success as independent school

Oregon Football as a football independent school may not be so crazy after all. On3’s Andy Staples pondered the idea amid more college football realignment with Colorado going to the Big 12 and the rumors of Arizona jumping ship as well.

At least from a football perspective, Oregon could run free of a conference and continue to create a competitive schedule. Heck, it’s mostly worked for Notre Dame for a very long time.

So why see those Ducks fly away from the Pac-12 and live on their own terms?

“Oregon independent is one of my favorites,” Staples said on his podcast, via the On3 YouTube channel. “I do like that. And actually, as a football program, I like the idea of an independent Oregon. Because think about the leverage. Phil Knight could just convince every Nike school to schedule them. 

“Like listen, hey, we’ve done a lot of business over the years guys. Your swoosh people, your Jordan Brand people, schedule our guys. So in football, I think you’re fine doing that. Now you want to join the West Coast Conference in the other sports. Ala BYU back in the day.”

There were rumors of Oregon and Washington being the next Big Ten targets, in terms of expansion. The Big Ten already grabbed USC and UCLA starting in 2024.

However, that did not materialize and now Arizona could be the next domino to fall in the Pac-12, going to the Big 12. As of now, that’s all speculation.

So Oregon going independent? Might not be the worst idea in the world, especially if the Ducks are in limbo following another potential Pac-12 departure.

Wildcat Authority publisher Jason Scheer, who was the first to report that Arizona’s Board of Regents was set to meet on Tuesday, also reported that the Pac-12 is gearing up to present a new media deal to league members, but there is “pessimism within the conference,” and it could be commissioner George Kliavkoff’s “last stand in keeping the conference together.” 

Whether Kliavkoff’s plea is listened to remains to be seen, but there’s no love lost when money is involved — and Colorado will earn a nice check from the Big 12’s media rights deal once they join the conference this time next year. The same could be on the way for Arizona, and any other teams that could wiggle themselves out of their current Pac-12 contracts.

If any more of the Pac-12’s programs leave, there will have to be an evaluation over conference expansion. Some teams that have come up as possible additions over the past year are San Diego State — which has made its interest in joining the Pac-12 quite clear — and SMU. Some wildcards, though, include UNLV and Colorado State in the Mountain West.

Barkley Traux contributed to this report