The Pac-12 Hotline newsletter is published each Monday-Wednesday-Friday during the college sports season (and twice-a-week in the summer). This edition, from Sept. 18, has been made available in archived form.

Colorado Cashes In

One of the most exciting Pac-12 games of the non-conference season was also incredibly lucrative for the host school.

Colorado rallied to beat Nebraska in overtime in Week Two while smashing the Folsom Field cash record.

With the receipts tallied and books closed, the Buffaloes provided the Hotline with an official count from the Cornhuskers’ first visit since Colorado joined the Pac-12:

The Buffs collected $3.5 million in revenue from the game, effectively doubling the previous school record.

Oregon’s appearance in Boulder in 2015 generated $1.8 million in game-day revenue, while Utah’s visit in 2016 — with the division title at stake — produced a tick under $1.8 million.

The windfall from the Nebraska game was due, in large part, to Cornhuskers fans gobbling up available tickets and making the trip to Boulder.

According to CU, ticket sales were responsible for $2.7 million — and that’s just from single-game sales; revenue from season tickets isn’t allocated on a per-game basis.

Additionally, the Buffaloes took in $700,000 in concessions (a typical game is $388,000) and $66,000 in merchandise sales (typical: $55,000).

Key point: Parking isn’t included in athletic department revenue; it’s handled by campus.

But if you assume a low-six figure total for parking and whatever indirect unallocated benefits the game-day experience produced (donations, season-ticket sales), then the total income for the university is pushing $4 million.

It’s like these teams are rivals or something. — Jon Wilner.

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Hot off the Hotline

• The cost of so-called buy games is rising, but Washington has taken things to the next level in the Pac-12: The Huskies paid Arkansas State $1.75 million for a game in 2021. Athletic director Jen Cohen chatted with the Hotline about that substantial — and unavoidable — slice of major college football.

• The Hotline authored a (very real made up) letter to USC president Carol Folt regarding her search for an athletic director, which is critical not only for the Trojans but the Pac-12 at large. It’s a lengthy read, so here’s a one sentence summation” “Please, please don’t eff this up.”

• Three weeks down, nine games remaining, and there are a handful of postseason locks in the Pac-12. We break it all down the latest bowl projections.

• A Hotline analysis of the Pac-12 schedule last season revealed 74 percent of the games were either on the Pac-12 Networks or at night on FS1/ESPN: That’s too much product seen by too few people. We took a deep dive into the origin and evolution of the night games — and the unintended consequences of the presidents’ cash grab.

• ICYMI: The Monday newsletter assessed the Pac-12’s first instance of admitting an officiating error in the age of transparency. Previous editions of the newsletter are available in archived form.

Support the Hotline: Several Hotline articles will remain free each month (as will the newsletter), but for access to all content, you’ll need to subscribe. I’ve secured a rate of 16 cents per day for a full year or — introductory offer alert! — just 99 cents for the first month, with the option to cancel anytime. Click here. And thanks for your loyalty.

Key Dates

The Sept. 20-21 broadcast schedule (all times Pacific) …

6:00 p.m. (Friday): Utah at USC (FS1)9:00 a.m.: Cal at Ole Miss (ESPNU)12:30 p.m.: Washingto at BYU (ABC)4:00 p.m.: Oregon at Stanford (ESPN)7:00 p.m.: Colorado at Arizona State (Pac-12 Networks)7:30 p.m.: UCLA at Washington State (ESPN)

Huddle Up

(Note: The Hotline newsletter includes links to sites that could require a subscription once the number of free views has been reached.)

• We’ll start with the Friday night affair: Utah’s limited history in the Coliseum is stocked with disappointment, much of it delivered in unusual fashion, notes the Salt Lake Tribune’s Kurt Kragthorpe … The games-within-the-game include the Trojans’ ability to contain Zack Moss.

• Injuries have forced Colorado to mix and match, especially in the secondary, in advance of the conference opener in Tempe. Meanwhile, coach Mel Tucker is busy playing mind games: “It’s how do you move the needle, right? How you capture someone’s mind to get them better on a day to day basis?”

• Arizona State’s youth movement up front has entered new territory: The Sun Devils are starting a 17-year-old at left tackle this week.

• Chip Kelly has no interest in recreating the style he used so successfully at Oregon. (“That was 2012.”) However, he’d love to run the wishbone … Also in Westwood: Previously-suspended linebacker Keisean Lucier-South has taken the first step toward returning to the lineup: He’s practicing.

• A roundup of bowl projections for Cal.

• Mario Cristobal, Willie Taggart, Chip Kelly and the lessons learned about life outside Eugene, from the Oregonian’s John Canzano..

• Arizona made every effort to deploy its top defensive personnel as often as possible against Texas Tech, and we saw the results. (But shouldn’t that always be the goal?)

• Marshawn Lynch at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway? Yes, please.

• Mike Leach on a Pac-12 mascot brawl? Yes, please.

• Lastly: USA Today crafted a list of the most powerful programs in college football based on historical impact and recent success (sorry, Ivy League). One Pac-12 school made the cut. The Pete Carroll era “will stand the test of time.”

Media Landscape

• HBO has spoken: The network will produce a ‘Hard Knocks’ style series on college football this fall, with Arizona State and Washington State in starring roles. Each program will be featured in an hour-long episode in October (narrated by Liev Schreiber). Should be compelling stuff. Both coaches, Herm Edwards and Mike Leach, are fascinating subjects for the camera (in very different ways, of course).

Legal Affairs

• The Seattle Times’ Matt Calkins weighs in on California’s Fair Pay for Play Act and the impact it could have across college sports: “What this likely would do, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out, is force other states to pass legislation to keep up or gain a competitive advantage.Texas Bill 2023a would require student-athletes to maintain a 0.0 GPA. Yes, such a bill would violate NCAA rules, but if it also would preclude the NCAA from punishing players, what’s to stop it?”

Looking Ahead

What’s coming on the Pac-12 Hotline:

• I was 6-3 against the spread last week. Picks for this week’s games are scheduled for publication Thursday morning and will, as usual, include audio of my conversation with handicapper Raphael Esparza of Doc’s Sports.

• Justin Wilcox sure seems like the perfect fit for Cal. The Hotline reached out to the two people responsible for Wilcox getting the opportunity to interview with the school brass. (Once that happened, he was inevitable.) A behind-the-scenes look at the hiring process.

The next newsletter is scheduled for Friday. Enjoy it? Please forward this email to friends (sign up here). If you don’t, or have other feedback, let me know: pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com.

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