THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Would be nice for Pac-12, Mountain West to make nice

Maybe Gloria Nevarez and Teresa Gould can settle things with a game of darts.

A 40-yard dash?

What about writing (victorious) legal briefs in less than an hour?

Several thousand words, annotated.

Or, here’s a thought.

Have these commissioners enjoy (lol) kicking field goals against each other at halftime of San Jose State’s last home game in November.

That’s a beautiful time of year in the Santa Clara Valley, so it would be a lovely setting.

Wait, oops!

No, that won’t fly.

The Spartans’ opponent on Nov. 29 is Fresno State — one of the five schools soon to be switching conferences — and Nevarez surely wishes that scheduling difficulties hadn’t forced these old regional rivals into teeing it up this season.

Meanwhile, Gloria and Teresa have a problem that needs to be settled and, honestly, everyone who knows them (and the schools they represent) would love to see this issue resolved with, oh, I don’t know.

A game of Monopoly?

Matching their stamp collections?

Anything, please, ANYTHING but letting hours and days go by until their reps have to come out swinging in court.

I THINK you probably know that Nevarez is commissioner of the Mountain West Conference, while Gould holds that same position with the new Pac-12.

These two executives have been friends almost forever.

They worked together at UC Berkeley, both served as deputy commissioners in the “old” Pac-12, and there’s no question that they respect the other’s smarts.

I’m sure that each of them gets a headache just thinking of this particular business — a collision between the two conferences — pretty much every day and night.

If you haven’t followed this scrap between the Mountain West and the Pac-12, you’re not going to be shocked to learn it’s about money.

Universities and conferences have been dancing around and changing partners all over the nation for a while now, and nobody gives it much attention.

Once the dollar amounts and percentage are settled, at least.

The slap in the face with THIS new arrangement, though, involved five Mountain West programs deciding just to bolt — accepting invitations from the rebuilding Pac-12 (essentially just Washington State and Oregon State at that point).

Boise State, Fresno State, Utah State, San Diego State and Colorado State will become members of the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026.

Since that original lineup, the Pac-12 has added Texas State, along with Gonzaga for basketball only.

The Mountain West scooped up Grand Canyon University as a basketball member, and did it quickly, lest the Pac-12 have the same thoughts about the Phoenix TV market.

Lawsuits began flying when the Mountain West demanded a $55 million “poaching” penalty, claiming it was included in the conference by-laws.

Nah, said the Pac-12 on behalf of its five MWC immigrants, there’s no such thing.

The Pac-12 sued, and later three schools (Boise, Colorado State and Utah State) sued again separately when the MWC withheld their shares of current conference income.

SO, HOW do things stand now?

Simple.

Mediation has failed (so far), and if the parties can’t agree on the cash issues, the matter goes to court in early September.

The Mountain West has asked that the Pac-12 suit (over the poaching penalties) be dismissed, and how that flies with a judge will likely set the stage for the next round of mediation.

At the moment, the MWC is asking for $18 million per school as departure fees — plus that $55 million from the Pac-12 itself.

Focusing on simply the costs to leave, the Mountain West has been tough.

A long fight, however, is horrible for all the schools involved — not to mention intercollegiate athletics throughout the West.

The Pac-12 and MWC are the only two “Group of 6” conferences on this side of the Rockies and, quite frankly, a time will come when they need each other.

For now, the Mountain West wants that $18 million per school, while the five departing programs are thinking more in the neighborhood of $11-12 million.

Yes, it will get done, even if there’s a judge involved.

Nobody needs the bitterness, though.

Among other things, there might be another school or two that wants to follow the other five from the MWC to the Pac-12.

UNLV, maybe?

Look, everyone needs closure, if only to determine the price of poker here.

A few extra million really matters.

This ain’t the SEC.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”