[gailtate]

Such a crushing finish.  I was so hoping the Bruins would win.

So proud of UCLA.   They really did a great job showing the nation that even the 4th best team from the Pac-12 can hang with the best team in the USA.  Wanted them to win for the Pac, but not super worried about it since it was an all upside deal for the conference and its rep.

Now I want to see Gonzaga absolutely thrash Baylor.    Baylor has amazing athletes, so my guess is they will be unable to resist playing at the Zags preferred pace.

The day I root for any Calif sports team south of Santa Barbara will be a cold day in hell.  UCLA having a nice run does nothing for Stanford.

Gee Lex, I thought you were a big Pt. Loma fan.

The Lex perspective is one of the Pac-12's many PR problems.
Good luck to our next Pac-12 commissioner on that issue BTW.

Our collective inability to completely embrace the brand of the conference is part of the reason the conference is a weak brand.   The weak brand creates a bounty of problems.  Demographics and time zone challenges will persist for a long time, but maybe the conference commissioner can work on creating some conference pride beyond Bill Walton's odd efforts on ESPN during hoops season.

Never thought of it that way but it makes sense. Still, not having data that that suggest some "embrace" that fans in the other Power Five conferences put on their respective leagues, I can't be sure that there's a connection. What I do see are some pretty nasty attitudes among rivals in the SEC, Big 10/12 and ACC. They make the ones in the Pac12 pale in comparison. I can relate to Lex's schadenfreude complex but direct it mainly toward USC. Can't imagine Buckeye fans rooting for Harbaugh or Auburn people ever supporting Bama, either.

[gailtate]

Such a crushing finish.  I was so hoping the Bruins would win.

So proud of UCLA.   They really did a great job showing the nation that even the 4th best team from the Pac-12 can hang with the best team in the USA.  Wanted them to win for the Pac, but not super worried about it since it was an all upside deal for the conference and its rep.

Now I want to see Gonzaga absolutely thrash Baylor.    Baylor has amazing athletes, so my guess is they will be unable to resist playing at the Zags preferred pace.

The day I root for any Calif sports team south of Santa Barbara will be a cold day in hell.  UCLA having a nice run does nothing for Stanford.

Gee Lex, I thought you were a big Pt. Loma fan.

The Lex perspective is one of the Pac-12's many PR problems.
Good luck to our next Pac-12 commissioner on that issue BTW.

Our collective inability to completely embrace the brand of the conference is part of the reason the conference is a weak brand.   The weak brand creates a bounty of problems.  Demographics and time zone challenges will persist for a long time, but maybe the conference commissioner can work on creating some conference pride beyond Bill Walton's odd efforts on ESPN during hoops season.

Never thought of it that way but it makes sense. Still, not having data that that suggest some "embrace" that fans in the other Power Five conferences put on their respective leagues, I can't be sure that there's a connection. What I do see are some pretty nasty attitudes among rivals in the SEC, Big 10/12 and ACC. They make the ones in the Pac12 pale in comparison. I can relate to Lex's schadenfreude complex but direct it mainly toward USC. Can't imagine Buckeye fans rooting for Harbaugh or Auburn people ever supporting Bama, either.