You can’t put a price tag on being prepared for life.

Evidently the Pac-12 runs its sports network on a similar business model to the way its athletic programs operate.

Hey, if it ain’t broke…

We welcome our “network partners” overlords.

Remember when everyone and his brother were hailing Pac-12 Commish Larry Scott for his genius in negotiating his conference’s new broadcast deals?  All that money, served up on a platter.

Yeah, well, the bill’s come due.

The Pac-12 is in discussions with its network partners to change programming practices and avoid another season with an overwhelming number of night games, according to sources inside and outside the conference.

I wouldn’t necessarily characterize the back-and-forth as negotiations, because the league has a contract with ESPN and Fox that isn’t going away for a decade.

But Pac-12 officials were not happy with the ’13 broadcast schedule and are working with their partners to find an acceptable resolution for all parties involved. One source called the league’s approach “fair but firm.”

The conference spent three months listening to complaints from fans and school officials. Commissioner Larry Scott and his lieutenant are keenly aware of the frustration.

Whether they can do anything about it remains to be seen.

A $3 billion dollar deal and the networks want say so over broadcast times.  Some kinda nerve there.

But here’s what they can do: They can reduce or eliminate the exclusive window for the over-the-air broadcasts on ABC and Big FOX.

Maybe they eliminate it altogether.

Maybe they scrap it for half of the 10 broadcasts.

Either way, it would create more flexibility for the Pac12Nets.

I don’t know the specifics of the options being discussed.

But I know this: If nothing changes, the uproar from fans and campuses will be significant.

Maybe Larry can hit ‘em into silence with the conference’s bank account.  After all, we know who’s gonna win here.

The scariest thing I saw yesterday.

From yesterday’s Pac-12 championship game, this is the most astonishing example of a defensive player timing the snap count I think I’ve ever seen. It happened on a third-and-goal from the one-yard line, to boot.

I swear, that’s like watching a jungle cat pounce on a hapless target. Incredible.

Don’t say a word.

In the SEC, it’s okay for self-important football officials to blather about their work on the radio.

In the Pac-12, it’s a no-no for coaches to say anything in public about officiating – even a conference apology for a blown call that wiped out a touchdown in a loss.

Accountability is overrated.

Down goes Oregon.

Best line of the night:  “On the bright side, think of all those kids in Africa that will get those “We Want Bama” T-shirts.”

Nike, for the win loss!

Maybe he should have taken a knee.

With all the upsets and all that was at stake yesterday, it’s only natural that there would be some bad feelings in the aftermath.

“I’m not a diplomat and I don’t care if I’m a diplomat. All I care about is winning games and that the kids get better and we play hard, and I think it was shit that he threw the ball at the end of the game like he did. You can print that, and you can send it to him and he can comment too. I think it was low class and I think it was bullshit to throw the ball when the game is completely over against our kids that are basically our scout team.”

Yeah, that was rough watching a team that was winning… wait, what?

Washington State continued to throw the ball late into the game with the outcome no longer in doubt, and Aliotti made it clear that he wasn’t happy with Cougars’ head coach Mike Leach’s aggressiveness until the final whistle.

“I’m pissed off that they scored those last two touchdowns,” Aliotti said.

That was in a game in which Oregon won 62-38.  Mike Leach had some nerve trying to run his offense in the fourth quarter.

Nick Aliotti’s panties are in a wad because his team defensive stats aren’t everything they could have been.

Over the course of the evening, Halliday broke the Autzen Stadium for passing attempts (89), completions (58), and total plays (93) and the Pac-12 records for both passess attempted and completed, which were set by Arizona’s Matt Scott last season.

In fact, the 89 passing attempts surpassed the conference level and broke former Purdue quaterback Drew Brees’ FBS record of 83.

“I’ve never been in a game where the team throws the ball 89 times,” defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said. “Usually a team doesn’t get 89 snaps. I knew they were going to throw it a lot, I think they rushed for like four yards…we’re going to have some great run stats.”

Man, if there’s an Alabama-Oregon national title match up, Nick Saban may not be the biggest jerk on the field.  Imagine that.

This is how you measure improvement with Pac-12 officiating.

At least the conference acknowledges the possibility that officiating mistakes are something to be concerned about, which is a helluva lot more than you heard in the days of the immortal Verle Sorgen.

Progress of a sorts, although small comfort to Wisconsin.

Proof that Pac-12 officiating makes you stupid.

From start to finish, I can’t figure out what anybody was thinking when this happened.

Including her.

#karma—
Jen Bielema (@jenbielema) September 15, 2013

Your husband falls into a better paying job because Bobby Petrino can’t keep it in his pants and you’re whining?  Give me an effing break, lady.

Thursday morning buffet

Plenty of goodies to get your day started with:

• The rents Gator football prices are too damn high.
• The Maryland athletic department has a few more lean years ahead of it, despite the upcoming move to the Big Ten.
• More love for Georgia’s receivers coach:  “Coach Ball really does a good job with guys like that that are bigger bodies and maybe a little bit raw.”
• The SEC’s new scheduling tradition is to ignore the old scheduling traditions.
• The SEC and Big Ten announce they won’t license their trademarks to EA Sports anymore.  The Pac-12, too.
• Here’s Sports Illustrated‘s preseason Top 25 list.  I wish somebody there would explain how Texas A&M is third and Georgia is twelfth.
• On the other hand, check out CFN‘s prediction for who plays in the national title game.
• Unsurprisingly, Tennessee has released single-game tickets for its game against Georgia.
• Dawg Blog explores what we might expect to see from Clemson on offense and defense in the opener.
• Georgia Tech plays a small role in Texas A&M’s approach to the Manziel mess.
• One more thing about Florida this season – just as overlooked as the turnover margin story is the fact that the Gators have to replace Caleb Sturgis.
• And here’s a long interview with Bill Connelly about his new book.

Monday morning buffet

It’s the start of a new week.  You need to eat.

• If this is the kind of stuff I’m missing, I could get used to the AJ-C‘s new paywall real fast.
• When I say it’s not easy being a mid-major, this is what I’m talking about.
• Todd Grantham’s not worried about his young safeties.  We’ll see if he feels the same way after the Clemson game.
• It looks like Mike Slive’s got more catching up to do on the commissioner pay front.
• Bernie’s a braver Dawg than I am.
• Most surprising thing about this poll?  That better than forty percent of the participants aren’t willing to pay more on their cable bills for the SEC Network.  Least surprising? That more than a quarter of them would be interested in a Finebaum show on the network.
• Do you care about this?  I don’t.