The AthleticDirectorU Athletic Department Power Index, powered by Athlete Viewpoint, continues with a look at the Pac-12 Conference. The Athletic Department Power Index will evaluate the desirability of Athletic Director jobs in every Division I conference across the country.

It’s imperative to note the Athletic Department Power Index is not intended to analyze the performance or potential of the current Athletic Director at the respective institutions. Rather it is an assessment of the opportunity itself through the eyes of both peers and aspirants in the event it were to become available.

Over 100 sitting Athletic Directors and executive-level administrators who currently are or could soon be a Pac-12 AD were invited to share feedback on each AD job in the league. The data was used to provide detailed insights about the potential for success at each school.

The nine variables utilized to determine the rankings include:

Athletics facilities relative to Pac-12 peers

Perceptions about the ability to generate donor & corporate support for the athletics program

Perceptions about institutional leadership (e.g. President, Trustees, C-Suite) in support of the athletic program

Perceptions about the quality of the institution’s brand

Perceptions about the potential for serious compliance & NCAA rules violations

Potential for Football success relative to Pac-12 peers

Potential for Men’s Basketball success relative to Pac-12 peers

Potential for success in non-revenue sports relative to Pac-12 peers

Quality of Life (cost of living, schools, culture, geography) if all other factors were equal

Here are the overall rankings, with a rating of seven constituting a much better likelihood for success than other league AD jobs and one as a much worse likelihood for success:

Here are the full category by category ranking results:

The Pac-12’s football profile is the source of regular debate among national and regional media members with just two programs (Oregon in 2014-15 and Washington in 2016-17) making the College Football Playoff field since its inception. Here’s how survey respondents view the potential of each football program in the league (graded on a scale of seven as ‘much better than peers’ & one as ‘much worse’):

As of late October 2019, both USC and UCLA have announced they will begin searching for new Athletic Directors. How do the opportunities in Troy and Westwood compare to other AD chairs around the league (graded on a scale of seven as ‘much better than peers’ & one as ‘much worse’)?

To view additional results from the Pac-12 Athletic Department Power Index, including how facility and donor support profiles match-up, brand perception and specific comments from respondents, click here. The tool allows you to sort ratings by any question and compare schools individually.

This Athletic Department Power Index intends to review all of the Division I conferences in the coming months. As was the case with the Pac-12, selected individuals will be invited to participate and share their views about specific conferences and the subsequent data will be shared in a similar manner. The technical expertise, survey development, survey distribution and data visualization are provided by Athlete Viewpoint.

Up next in the series: the Missouri Valley Conference.