After the madness of SEC Media Days, the other FBS conferences' pre-season football bazaars tend to be a bit more understated. That doesn't mean there aren't occasional weird moments, like earlier today at the Big 12 media day when Oklahoma State coach Mike "I'm a man! I'm 40!" Gundy was interrupted by a horde of drunk West Virginia fans.
That was funny, but this moment is downright embarrassing and tells quite a bit of a tale about the Pac-12's membership and awareness about each others' football teams. A reporter from Salt Lake City's Deseret News addresses new Washington State head coach Mike Leach by former coach Mike Price's name. Price, mind you, left WSU for Alabama ten years ago (only to be quickly ousted due to a stripper incident). Utah (on whose behalf the Deseret-News reporter was presumably in attendance) wasn't even in the Pac-12 conference back then, making it an even weirder mistake.
But that's the Pac-12, isn't it? At this point, more casual fans can name the teams and coaches in the MAC than those in the Pac-12. If the media can't keep the coaches straight, it's pretty clear fans can't be expected to. [ESPNU]
h/t to Michael