Colorado's Deion Sanders on schools leaving the Pac-12: 'Everybody's chasing the bag'
Sanders called out the hypocrisy of those who chastise players for chasing money but not school administrators
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders was the voice of reason when it comes to college athletics hypocrisy on Friday.
Sanders was asked at his post-practice news conference Friday about the ongoing conference realignment saga. Before Sanders took to the podium, Yahoo Sports reported that Oregon and Washington would be joining the Big Ten. Their departure from the conference follows Colorado's, as the Buffaloes said earlier this summer that they’d be heading back to the Big 12.
The three schools — and potentially others in the coming days — are leaving the Pac-12 because the conference hasn’t been able to find a media rights deal with annual payouts competitive with the other four power conferences. And Sanders made it clear that players shouldn’t be chastised for trying to make as much money as they can through name, image and likeness deals while college administrators are let off the hook for also chasing bigger payouts.
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“I don’t care what conference, who we’re playing against; we’re trying to win,” Sanders said. “All this is about money. You know that. It’s about a bag. Everybody’s chasing the bag. Then you get mad at the players when they chase it. How’s that? How do the grownups get mad at the players when they chase it when the colleges are chasing it?”
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel made the same point in an excellent column earlier this week. Leaders in college athletics have lamented the effects of the transfer portal and the current lack of rules governing athlete endorsement deals while schools are simultaneously trying to make as much money as they can. The stability of the Pac-12 crumbled a summer ago when USC and UCLA left for the Big Ten and its bigger annual media payouts.
Sanders also made sure to get in a crack at Dan Lanning's remarks from earlier in the week. When asked about Colorado's move to the Big 12, Lanning said he didn't "remember them winning anything" in the Pac-12.
"Same teams that were talking about us, right?" Sanders asked with a chuckle.
With the three schools leaving the conference as of Friday, the Pac-12 may totally cease to exist after the 2023-24 sports seasons. Arizona has been in negotiations with the Big 12 and Arizona State and Utah could follow. If those three schools head to the Big 12 with Colorado, just four of the Pac-12’s schools would remain in Cal, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State.
There don’t seem to be many good options for Oregon State and Washington State if the Pac-12 folds. Washington State president Kirk Schulz and athletic director Pat Chun said in a statement Friday they were looking at their options for the future.
“We are disappointed with the recent decisions by some of our Pac-12 peers,” Schulz and Chun said. “While we had hoped that our membership would remain together, this outcome was always a possibility and we have been working diligently to determine what is next for Washington State athletics. We’ve prepared for numerous scenarios, including our current situation. With exceptional student-athletes, a strong Cougar tradition and incredible support from our fans, donors and alumni, we will chart the best path forward together.”
