to land the four corners schools. He got Colorado to jump first, even before they had final TV numbers from the PAC 12. He had Arizona ready to go as well. You better believe the sales pitches and pressure he put on those schools made a big difference. Colorado said as much. They also said Yormark’s creative vision for the conference is mostly what sold them.

It’s been reported that Colorado leaving lowered the amount the PAC 12 could get from TV and thus created more instability for that league.

Of course the incompetence of the PAC 12 played a big role, but I am almost certain all 10 of the remaining members would have signed that Apple deal were it not for Yormark offering a far better alternative to the 4 corners schools.

Even ASU and Utah were planning on signing that deal right up until the moment Oregon and Washington announced they were bolting.