Washington president on Big Ten move: 'It was about stability' - ESPN

University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce said Saturday that the program's departure from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten alongside Oregon was «not just about dollars and cents» but rooted in myriad factors, one being that the proposed TV rights deal between the Pac-12 and Apple did not provide the long-term stability the school was seeking.

«When you have a deal that people are saying that one of the best aspects are that you can get out of it in two years, that tells you a lot,» Cauce said in a conference call with news media. «This was about national visibility for our players, being on linear TV so they can be seen, so they could have the national exposure. It was about stability. It was about having a future that we could count on and built towards.»

Cauce went on to say that the TV deal the Pac-12 presidents had been discussing a few days before was not the same one that was on the table at the end, and that the opportunities and stabilities provided by the Big Ten were «simply unmatched.»

«I have to say this was heart-wrenching,» Cauce said. «For more than a year, all of us worked really, really hard to find a viable path forward that would keep us together.»

Arizona State President Michael Crow, who also spoke to the media Saturday in the wake of ASU's departure to the Big 12, had a different outlook despite also leaving the conference. According to Crow, ASU was heavily interested in the Apple deal, which would have allowed for instant digitization of ASU football, men's basketball and women's basketball games and could also have enhanced the viewing experience as well as the athletes' ability to use game tape for their own purposes.

«There was some risk but huge opportunity,» Crow said. «Some of the schools