L.A. Stadium a Godsend for Pac-10

I'm sure you've read about it by now. The Governator signed a bill last week allowing the construction of a 75,000-seat stadium in the City of Industry in hopes of luring an NFL team back to the Los Angeles area.

While Angelenos weigh the pros and cons, from a Cal fan’s perspective, a new stadium could turn out to be absolutely beneficial for the Pac-10 conference as a whole. Three quick reasons why:

1. If an NFL team moves to Los Angeles, USC would no longer have a media monopoly on So-Cal football coverage, especially in the recruiting arms race. Ever since DeSean Jackson stunned Pete Carroll by signing with Cal in 2005, it signified Jeff Tedford’s willingness to go to war over the state’s best high schoolers. Less television and print exposure for USC would be helpful for the rest of the Pac-10’s recruiting efforts in the area. Moreover, it would ease the Trojans' stranglehold on previously non-affiliated fans who had been looking for someone to support with season ticket dollars since the Raiders and Rams departed in 1995.

2. The Pac-10 has always suffered from a lack of contracted arrangements with elite bowl games (usually the ones played on or after New Year’s Day). For example, the conference’s reputation has taken an annual hit during the postseason because while their champion gets a slot in the prestigious first-tier Rose Bowl (January 1), the runner-up’s prize is the much-maligned Holiday Bowl in December (in recent years against the Big 12’s fourth-place team).

A brand new stadium in the second biggest market in America would be a prime candidate to attract a first or second-tier big money bowl for the Pac-10, whose major bowl contracts next season have already slightly improved under new commissioner Larry Scott. In 2010-11, the conference champ gets the Rose Bowl bid, and the runner-up will enjoy an upgrade in an invitation to the newly signed Alamo Bowl (January 2). The Holiday Bowl will then slide to number three where it belongs. Now imagine sticking this hypothetical L.A. bowl anywhere in the Pac-10 pecking order at #2-3. In that scenario, the Holiday Bowl plummets down to #4, and the conference's profile immediately takes a leap since its three best teams would be assured of securing berths in three elite January bowls.

3. In addition, the Pac-10 might use the momentum this stadium will generate by showcasing it as the site for a future conference championship game, and subsequently, expansion. By adding two upstart powerhouses like Utah and BYU to transform the Pac-10 into a 12-team conference, they would be able to compete with the Big 12, SEC, and ACC, who have parlayed their title games into multimillion-dollar TV contracts. Such a game would also improve the champion’s overall strength of schedule in the polls since the winner would have likely played one extra ranked team, an advantage the other 12-team conference titlists have enjoyed over the Pac-10 in the BCS era.