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It was supposed to be an all-in showdown on the Ninth Island.
No, not the McGregor-Holloway fight, although that one at least had a moment of action before being decided to the satisfaction of no one.
But the battle of public relations between the Mountain West and the Pac-12 never materialized.
No mas? No show.
The Pac-12 did not even put in an ante.
Heres the back story: Two years ago, 10 of the 12 Pac-12 schools departed for other conferences.
Oregon State and Washington State were left behind with each other, whatever TV revenues were abandoned, and the conferences name.
OSU and WSU had two options: 1) beg to follow Oregon and Washington into the Big Ten, or 2) merge with the Mountain West.
They chose none of the above.
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Instead, OSU and WSU negotiated to play football games against Mountain West teams during the 2024 season.
Then in September of that year, whether it was through poaching or persuasive marketing, five Mountain West schools Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State agreed to join the Pac-12 beginning with the 2026-27 academic year.
It took cross-my-heart loyalty pledges and retention payouts to keep UNLV and Air Force from joining the secession.
Along the way, basketball powerhouse Gonzaga joined the Pac-12.
The Mountain West countered with additions such as UTEP and Grand Canyon, and Hawaii becoming an all-sports member.
Both conferences went to court to argue over poaching penalties and exit fees worth millions of dollars.
This summer, both were supposed to boast about their members, television partners, sponsors and overall well-being.
This week, the Mountain West is hosting media days in Las Vegas.
Each of the 10 football programs was asked to bring four players, the head coach, a top administrator, a media relations director, two digital creators and a mascot.
(UH does not have an official mascot.) Television and broadcast partners will attend.
Commissioner Gloria Nevarez will promote the leagues strengths and five-time-zone footprint in her annual state-of-the-MW address.
The two-day event will be held at the Palms, once a celebrity hot spot in the early 2000s.
In recent years, the Mountain Wests media days were held at the 21-and-older Circa Resort &Casino in downtown Las Vegas.
The Pac-12 also was expected to launch its football season with media days in Las Vegas.
After all, the Pac-12 has embraced Las Vegas as a favorite venue.
For the next two years, the Pac-12s basketball tournaments will be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
But Pac-12 officials have been secretive in recent weeks.
They have declined to reveal financial details of their new television contracts.
And deputy commissioner Rick Hart recently told reporters the Pac-12 decided against holding a media day.
The Pac-12 is the only FBS conference without a traditional media day or official preseason kickoff event this summer.
We could have, Hart told Front Office Sports.
We talked about it.
Those are expensive.
..
Traditionally, you spend a lot of money, you bring everybody together for two or three days, you disrupt camp or whatevers going on.
Maybe you get the media there, maybe you dont.
Maybe you get 72 hours of publicity alongside all the other leagues that are doing media days.
Its pretty noisy.
Theres a lot of static.
And then everybody moves on.
But media event would not conflict with training camp, which cant open more than a month from the opener.
UH, for example, plays Stanford on Aug.
29, college footballs Week Zero.
The Warriors first practice of training camp is July 29.
The preseason hype probably offsets the cost of a media event.
The Mountain West pays for meals and lodging for each teams representatives.
The schools pays for their travel expenses.
To the cynics, there are these conspiracy theories of the Pac-12s non-plans.
1.
If the Pac-12 announces lucrative sponsorships, TV deals and payouts to members, it could enhance the Mountain Wests claim the poaching/secession caused damage.
2.
The Mountain West would receive better coverage if the Pac-12 held a media event at the same time in Las Vegas.
UNLV and Nevada are Mountain West members; the Pac-12 does not have a member in the Silver State.
Maybe the Pac-12 has an entertaining and superior product.
But the proof wont be in the promotions.