Wednesday Dots: Invis-alignment

He looked to be sixty and maybe I was ten

Mama used to whoop me but I’d go see him again

I’d clap my hands stomp my feet, try to stay in time

He’d play me a song or two then take another look at Dots

• The Athletic has the latest on the talks between the Pac-12 and the Big 12. The rumor and innuendo has it that the “four corners” schools (Arizona, Arizona St, Utah, and Colorado) are in talks with the remnants of the Big 12, and that Oregon and Washington may or may not be interested in joining them. When the Pac’s flirtations with Oklahoma and Texas a decade ago catalyzed the whirlwind of conference realignment, who would’ve thought that UW and Oregon might functionally replace those two in their former conference?

• Also on The Athletic, Stuart Mandel looks back on recruiting coverage in the pre-Rivals, pre-247 era. The story contains a great anecdote about Brock Huard faxing notes to the USA Today every week of his senior high school season as a sort of diary. From 1-900 numbers to magazine subscriptions, people have always been willing to pay money to dream about the bright future of a top recruit.

• Locally, Larry Stone weighs in on the deterioration of the Pac. Stone is dead on that the departures of USC and UCLA mark the end of an impressively long and relatively stable era for West Coast collegiate sports. It’s hard to imagine that whatever comes next will be as enjoyable for local fans.

• The newest Dawgman recruiting blog looks at the current state of UW’s recruiting class, including a list of players who might be on the verge of jumping in the boat. Fortunately, the conference instability has not diminished the coaching staff’s ability to accumulate talent.

• The coaching staff isn’t taking a break, either. Real Dawg’s Mike Martin profiles the newest UW offer, a 2024 offensive lineman from Washington DC. Jordan Seaton doesn’t have deep ties to the PNW, but sounds like he has a good relationship with Courtney Morgan.