The first day of the inaugural early-signing period went as expected for the Pac-12. Washington has the top-ranked class, Oregon salvaged its group, USC flipped a touted prospect, and most of the teams locked up the majority of their recruits.

Of course, you would not have known any of that based on the Pac-12 Networks’ coverage of signing day.

Make that: Based on the Pac-12 Networks’ confounding, inexplicable, lack of coverage of signing day.

There were plenty of replays of football and basketball games on the conference’s network Wednesday morning and afternoon.

There was even a replay of a 1998 Final Four game matching teams that weren’t members of the conference in 1998.

But football recruiting? Not a mention.

No interviews, no news flashes, no end-of-the-day recaps and breakdowns.

The only coverage of one of the most important events of the football calendar by the Pac-12’s media enterprise could be found in a smattering of social and digital content (i.e., pac12.com).

Which means:

Either the folks in charge didn’t think football signing day was important.

Or they thought signing day was significant but the wholly-owned linear TV network (what we think of as the Pac-12 Networks) was not.

If that platform isn’t worthy of delivering content on a vital day for your most significant sport, well, good thing there are seven networks!

Meanwhile, the SEC and Big Ten linear TV networks, assisted by co-owners ESPN and Fox, respectively, produced hours upon hours of coverage, as you would expect.

I’m not sure the Pac12Nets need hours upon hours of coverage, to be honest. But there is a middle ground between hours and nothing.

By opting for nothing, executives at the Pac12Nets did a fine job giving the impression they don’t care much about football recruiting, that they don’t recognize the significance of signing day, not only to the teams but to the fans … not only for the news produced but the promotional opportunities.

Perhaps the Pac12Nets should employ a fan to sit in production meetings and scream “WHAT ABOUT FOOTBALL!” every 30 seconds, just to make sure executives are giving proper consideration 24/7/365 to the sport that matters more than all the others, combined, by a factor of 10.

(But that’s part of the problem with the Pac-12, and with the Pac12Nets: Sometimes, you’re not quite sure whether football matters as much to enough decision makers as the Olympic sports do.)

So I asked two conference officials:

What was the reason for not showing a minute of the crucial first day of the early signing period on the Pac-12 Network?

They immediately noted that the Pac12Nets were producing content on digital and social platforms, just not linear TV.

Then they explained that all the options were considered, and executives concluded that the nature of signing day didn’t lend itself to content on the linear network — to a traditional studio show built on analysis and highlights and interviews.

I get why they liked the digital and social approach: The news unfolds through the morning and afternoon, and the best way to serve office-bound fans would be with quick items on social and digital.

But that cannot be all you do. Not on signing day.

Can. Not. Be.

If football recruiting news is important enough to be delivered socially and digitally but is not right for the linear network, why is there a linear network? (Why are there seven of them?)

How could recruiting, the lifeblood of the sport at the center of college athletics, not be worth a minute of time on your National network.

How are replays of games better than live coverage of football recruiting? (And no, there is no linear coverage planned for today, Day Two, or tomorrow.)

It is an unfathomable conclusion.

At the very least, why not block out an hour or two late in the afternoon for a recap/analysis show that leads into the (live) men’s basketball game at 6 p.m.

You promote it in advance, so fans can record if necessary or tune in from the office on their devices. Tell the schools about it, so they can alert recruits. Then replay it on the National and regional feeds.

After all, as the Hotline has written, the football studios shows are the best thing the networks do.

And remember, it’s not just the news itself that’s worthy of airtime. It’s the promotional component to recruiting.

It’s the on-air talent (specifically, analyst and recruiting nut Yogi Roth) and the coaches talking about what a great class Team X signed, how Team Y filled all its needs, and what Team Z can look forward to over the next two days and into the February signing period.

It’s puff stuff for your programs in a one-stop shopping form, and it’s meaty but digestible content for your hardcore football fans.

Don’t be the SEC, that’s fine. Nobody’s asking for that, and the Pac-12 shouldn’t be that.

But don’t be the Ivy League.

Promotion for the schools + news for the fans + the networks’ first-rate football studio talent should be an easy equation to solve.

I mean, the Pac-12 Networks devoted an hour of coverage to the Players/Coach of the Year awards two weeks ago, but nobody thought signing day was worth a few minutes?

Is anybody home over there?

(Sometimes, I’m not so sure, which is why the Hotline proposed a governing body for all things Pac-12 football.)

During our conversation, the conference officials mentioned that there will be coverage of the February signing day on the Pac-12 Networks (the linear networks, not just digital and social).

That would seem to indicate that perhaps the brass didn’t realize the significance of this three-day December window, when most of the teams are signing most of their players.

(The fan screaming in the production room would have made that point clear. So, too, would a governing body.)

I haven’t confirmed this, but it seems entirely possible that money was an issue.

Because the campuses are unhappy with both the high Pac12Nets expenses and the low Pac12Nets distributions, the production budget is tight.

Maybe the cost of a studio show was part of the calculation to have no studio show.

All that said, the instinct for most fans is undoubtedly to blame commissioner Larry Scott. I’m not sure that’s fair. Scott isn’t involve in Pac12Nets production and programming decisions, nor should he be.

But Scott needs to get involved with the Pac12Nets on a higher level: Related Articles Hotline in the spotlight: Grading my preseason projections for each team (some hits, a few whiffs and general competency)

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Cal chancellor Carol Christ expresses “three sets of concerns” about the Pac-12’s direction, criticizes the conference office itself

Hotline podcast: Should USC become an Independent? Some frustrated Trojans fans believe it’s worth considering

The 15th anniversary of Utah hiring Urban Meyer: Assessing the impact (plus the Hotline’s top-10 coaching hires in the west)

If he hasn’t already, Scott needs to tell recently-hired network president Mark Shuken that football must occupy a more central role than it has over the years … that it must occupy the central role.

That it cannot receive the same treatment as the Olympic sports, which are near-and-dear to so many hearts at the Pac-12 and the Pac-12 Networks.

That offseason football events (bowl selection day, signing days, NFL Draft) are more important than everything else.

That Shuken should double down on his best content, the football studio shows.

That social and digital delivery are important, and growing in importance by the year … but linear cannot be nudged aside, not now, not yet, and probably not for years to come.

The conference has a wholly-owned, seven-feed network for at least six more years.

If it won’t prioritize football on big-event days … and if it won’t prioritize football big-event days on the linear network … then what is the point of it all? Get Pac-12 Conference news in your inbox with the Pac-12 Hotline newsletter Sign Up

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