Pac-12 survival: Washington State, Oregon State engaged in strategic discussions with multiple conferences

Washington State and Oregon State must find a permanent home by the summer of 2026, when their NCAA grace period expires.

This is the fourth in a series of stories on the Pac-12 schools beginning their new eras: Big Ten commissioner on leading West Coast schools | Cal, Stanford enter ACC with $150M+ budget problem | Our ‘value-creation’ ideas for Big 12 scheduling

As of today, Aug. 2, 2024, Washington State and Oregon State are alone.

At midnight, the 10 departing Pac-12 schools joined their new conferences, leaving the ‘Pac-2’ schools to face an uncertain future and roiling landscape.

What’s next for the Cougars and Beavers? Conversations, that’s what.

With Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould running point, the schools are in discussions with multiple conferences — in both the Power Four and Group of Five — about strategic partnerships that could take effect as early as the 2025 season, according to an industry source.

Those discussions, the source added, are not specific to WSU and OSU potentially joining one of the power leagues, although that option “definitely” has not been dismissed.

Instead, the conversations are wide-ranging in nature and include possible scheduling alliances or “creative ways to work together” that could provide “a stepping stone to the future,” the source added.

“It’s all at a very broad level.”

A ticking clock hangs in the background.

Thanks to a two-year grace period provided by the NCAA, Washington State and Oregon State have until the summer of 2026 to find a permanent home.

But because of the time required for realignment to play out, the schools need to finalize their plans by next spring, multiple sources have told the Hotline in recent months.

One option for the Cougars and Beavers is to join the Mountain West in a traditional realignment move.

Another scenario: Rebuild the Pac-12 with schools from the Mountain West and perhaps other leagues.

“Some form of affiliation with the Mountain West is likely,” the source said. “But given other uncertainties, (WSU and OSU) could have other options to consider.”

One reason “other options” could materialize: The game inventory WSU and OSU would provide media partners, especially networks interested in kickoffs within the Pacific Time Zone.

In that regard, nothing has changed. Pullman and Corvallis were well positioned to host games on Saturday night — the so-called fourth window — last summer when the Pac-12 collapsed, yet they found no takers.

But the ACC’s tenuous existence provided a spark for renewed discussions, the source said.

Florida State and Clemson have taken the ACC to court in an attempt to untangle the grant-of-rights agreement that binds the conference together. If the Seminoles and Tigers depart, a restructuring could ensue.

“That’s what has changed since last summer,” the source said. When the Pac-12 fractured in August 2023, “those lawsuits didn’t exist. They have caused people to re-think the situation: ‘If this, then that.’”

The conversations are not based on the presumption the ACC will collapse in the next year.

“It’s more about possible changes in 12 to 36 months,” the source said.

“Washington State and Oregon State are strong football brands … They drive viewership. What are the opportunities over the next 36 months for two strong brands?”

The Big 12 is “not interested” in adding the Cougars and Beavers as members, a second industry source said.

Gould declined to comment.

The ongoing strategic discussions aren’t limited to scheduling. The Pac-12’s production studio in the Bay Area — essentially, the infrastructure remaining from the defunct Pac-12 Networks — is also part of the conversations.

The 10 departed schools must produce on-campus events to satisfy the requirements of their new leagues’ media contracts.

Could the ongoing conversations eventually result in WSU and OSU being invited into one of the power conferences?

“An offer could come,” the source said, “but some dominoes have to fall to put that into motion, or (there has to be) the expectation of impending dominoes falling.”

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