A little piece about today’s exciting UO-UW matchup plus a lot of realignment stuff we already know. But I like Ross Delinger’s writing style, and the article includes a few realignment details I found interesting:

Within the Big Ten office last summer, then-commissioner Kevin Warren led an expansion exploration that spanned more than a dozen schools, many of whom reached out to the league about an acquisition after the Los Angeles schools joined. Conference office administrators created a list of desired programs thought to be attainable, according to multiple sources who have seen the list.

They included Notre Dame, North Carolina, Clemson, Florida State, Pitt, Kansas, Cal, Stanford, Arizona, Virginia and, of course, Oregon and Washington. In fact, outside counsel for UO and UW met with Big Ten administrators twice last year — once in Chicago and another in New York.

“We had this list of schools and went through it with the chancellors and presidents,” said a conference official who wished to remain anonymous. “Kevin wanted them [Oregon and Washington] to come in with USC and UCLA, but for whatever reason, the L.A. schools didn’t want to create a West Coast pod. He wasn’t able to convince them.”

…

A day later, Pac-12 leaders held a meeting where Kliavkoff assured the room that the Buffaloes’ departure would not impact any impending deal. He even previewed the television contract options, multiple administrators who were in the room recall.

Officials would have two options to consider: (1) a more traditional TV package, with partners like ESPN, Fox, CBS and a streamer; and (2) a predominantly streaming package with subscription-based incentives.

They’d get more details at a meeting Aug. 1. The league had given networks a July 31 deadline to submit bids.

By midnight on July 31, the Pac-12 received one bid: the Apple package. It was the first official offer from a media partner since the conference turned down a bid from ESPN the previous fall (ESPN offered $30 million per school).

During that Aug. 1 meeting, athletic directors and presidents learned of the details of the Apple deal, all of which failed to live up to expectations.

One Pac-12 administrator described it thusly: “It was sh**.”

…

The league entered deep enough negotiations that NBC and USA Network were presented as legitimate places for the Pac-12’s A-package of football games. And then, during a meeting in late spring or early summer, the bad news arrived.

“Hey, guys, NBC is out,” one person says describing the meeting.

“Poof, it was gone,” says a person who had knowledge of the call. “The presidents had to be leaving these meetings going, ‘What the f*** is going on?’ The league lost all credibility. Schools lost faith.”

…

“On that Wednesday, it was shared with us that Fox was in the mix offering more money,” a Big Ten source said. “It would not be dilutive. It was new money. We’d already studied the demographics and realities [on UW and UO] last year, so it moved quickly.”

That doesn’t mean all schools agreed. Ohio State, Michigan and especially Penn State were at first against more expansion. Though they eventually voted for the move, leaders in State College expressed disappointment to the point that one administrator described their feelings on adding Oregon and Washington as “no f****** way.”