Monday Dots: Lost Weekend

I watch the ripples change their size

But never leave the stream of warm impermanence and

So the Dots float through my eyes

But still the Dots seem the same

• Since we last Dotted, Washington officially announced its departure from the Pac for the Big 10. Every journalist, pundit, blogger, and rock published a think-piece on the demise of the once-great conference over the weekend, so here’s a rapid-fire summary of some of the highlights. Feel free to add more in the comments because there’s no way I’ve caught everything here.

• Larry Stone captures the emotional letdown of losing the Pac-8-10-12.

• Matt Calkins opines that the move, however unhappy it feels, is the right one for the program’s long-term future.

• Seattle Times news reporter Erik Lacitis weighed on with a feeling of loss and curiosity about whether Nebraska and New Jersey can ever mean as much as the local rivals.

• Jon Wilner took one last (deserved) shot at Larry Scott in tracing the missteps that got the Pac-12 to this point of collapse.

• Kate Shefte got in touch with some Husky legends to get their points of view on the departure and what comes next.

• To no one’s surprise, UW President Ana Mari Cauce explained the school’s rationale was financial and that remaining the Pac with Apple’s media rights offer was not viable.

• Kalen DeBoer talked briefly to the media after the team’s fourth fall practice, which gave reporters a chance to get his first impressions of the move. There are also some updates on the actual football team at the heart of this conundrum.

• Christian Caple nicely summed up the conflicting emotions of sadness at leaving the conference but understanding of the necessity.

• Caple also summarized practice #4, where Michael Penix got some rest, Austin Mack received some QB reps, and Thaddeus Dixon stood out on defense.

• For 247, Chris Hummer writes about the trend of top college football programs swallowing up the smaller ones in the name of revenue creation and the issues that creates in long-term viability.

• Dawgman’s Scott Eklund also summarized the media availability for President Cauce and AD Jen Cohen.

• ESPN’s Bill Connelly penned a sad eulogy for the Pac conference that was.

• Justin Wilcox has been around the Pac and now finds himself at one of the schools left out in the cold. He expressed his own dissatisfaction with the process that brought us here.

• Stewart Mandel has more details on the Apple+ TV deal that was not enough to save the Pac.

• Now in the Big 10, perhaps The Athletic will deign UW as worthy of coverage once again. The Dawgs are prominently featured in a 2024 scheduling preview.

• Dean Straka looks at UW and Oregon’s histories with the existing Big 10 slate of teams for CBS Sports.

• Bryan Fischer of Fox Sports takes a broader look at the next dominos to fall across CFB.

• And here’s one final dot to complete this Georges Seurat-esque pointilism painting of a post. Ethan Arles reports on the move for the UW Daily.