Pac-10 Basketball: Good Luck Finding a Single Game To Watch on Television

I grew up in in rural Oregon.  I was born into a baseball-loving household.  The beautiful thing about being from Oregon is that you can choose any baseball or football team as a child and root for them as if they were your own.  No one is bound by geographical loyalties, although basketball brought the obligatory Trail Blazers allegiance. 

Being baseball fans, my family never discussed other sports—only baseball.  My dad chose the Atlanta Braves as his favorite team.  My two older twin brothers chose the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals.  I chose the Detroit Tigers because I got a cool hologram sticker of the Tigers mascot as a child.  There was only one real problem; I just didn't care all that much for baseball. 

Fast forward to 2005.  Something happened that changed my sports watching career (which was non-existent at the time) forever.  I transferred to the University of Oregon.  I fell in love with college football. 

I didn't and don't seem to care as much about the empty emotions of the NFL.  College football struck a chord with me that no other sport ever had.  I also got into college basketball during my time at the University of Oregon.  In 2007, the Ducks made it all the way to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament.  I couldn't connect with my family about it, but college football and basketball became my baseball.

Fast forward to present day.  I live in Ann Arbor. The Pac-10 is bad at basketball, and the Oregon Ducks suffered throughout much of this season. 

A curious thing happened, though.  Right around the time the university finished Matthew Knight Arena, the Ducks started winning basketball games.  I was no longer content in just checking the scores after the games.  I wanted to watch the games.  There was only one problem: I didn't get any of the games on my extensive satellite package.  It got worse—I didn't get ANY Pac-10 games on television. 

I decided I would just have to settle for watching the games on the (previously) wonderful espn3.com.  It was then that I realized I was in trouble.  There was not a single Pac-10 game on the massive site.

I wasn't about to give up.  Oregon was about to play UCLA and I was not to be deterred. I called up the biggest and best sports bar I could think of in Ann Arbor: Buffalo Wild Wings.  They have at least 30 televisions.  They had to have the game, right?

The hostess on the phone assured me they had the game and would put it on a TV for me, so I grabbed my girlfriend and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings.  Two orders of wings and a pitcher of beer order later, a manager came out and informed me that he couldn't find the game on their TV plan.  He showed me the game on a massive printed-out schedule, and said that only FOX Sports NW carried the game, and he couldn't get the station in Michigan.  I asked him if he could get any Pac-10 game, and he looked down to his massive list and shook his head.  He felt bad and was a nice guy, and ended up comping my appetizer.  

I sat and ate my wings, drank my beer and watched the Western Kentucky basketball game on display in front of me.  A couple of beers later, I found myself preaching and ranting to my poor, uninterested girlfriend.  Here is (some of) that rant:

Sports—especially college sports—are more than just a battle on a court or a battle on a field.  They're a battle of geography.  They're a battle of cultures.  I feel that Pac-10 fans feel this more than most.  We have less people than the East Coast (two-thirds of the population of the US lives East of the Mississippi River), yet are more spread out.

We have less sports teams, and those teams have less national media exposure.  It is for that reason that I've always argued that Pac-10 fans are likely to have a more diverse knowledge of sports than fans of any other major conference.  I know that all of you SEC/Big East/ACC/Big Ten/Big 12 fans must disagree, but it makes sense.

A big reason Pac-10 fans are more likely to know more about other teams than vice versa is due to time zone differences.  Pac-10 games come on much later.  If you want to watch a Pac-10 basketball game (hypothetically since it seems to be impossible), you would have to stay up until well after midnight, as tip-off times are typically around 10:30 PM.  No one is at fault for this, but it adds to the trend.

Television networks show SEC football games more than any other conference.  I'm not going to say whether that's good or bad, but it's true.  The consequence for college football fans across America?  We're more likely to watch more SEC games.  I know I watch most of them.  

The Big East and the ACC get more basketball games on television.  The result?  I watch more ACC and Big East basketball games.  I can hear the responses now: "But the ACC/Big East are the best conferences in basketball and the SEC is the best conference in football!" 

Honestly?  This is very hard for me to admit, but those people are right.  I can make an intelligent argument against such claims, but my argument in support would be much more lucid and plausible.  Even if those conferences were better (sigh, they are), I would say it doesn't matter.  The result is that everyone knows more about SEC football and ACC basketball. 

The thing is, Big 12 games and Big Ten games, and even Mountain West or Sun Belt games—they're all on television.  Their image is out there; their brand is gaining popularity. Brand recognition and image—and the access to those images—is everything.  It's the driving force behind popularity, merchandising, recruiting and success.

That's the point I'm trying to make.  Everyone has their teams.  Everyone has their loyalties.  But some loyalties weren't learned during childhood.  Some loyalties are random.  Some loyalties were made by just watching the damn games.  

I don't like the SEC, but I find myself rooting for Tennessee.  Why?  I don't really know.  I just like watching them play.  And there it is, if I want, I am able to watch those games. 

Pac-10 basketball is different than Big East basketball.  ACC football is vastly different than Big Ten football.  And occasionally, sports fans want to check in and see what other teams and conferences are all about.  They're curious about a team's reputation and image and want to learn more about the brand. 

College sports are a collision of passion.  They're a battle of tradition.  They're a conflict of geography and localized jingoism.  That's why we love them.  But when networks fail to provide access to certain regions or conferences—be it the Pac-10, Big East, WAC or even the MEAC, we're all robbed of that battle. 

Let us have the opportunity to choose sides and battle, but don't steal from us the choice.

In the meantime, I'll be watching Oral Roberts play Seton Hall because I can.