Leaders from Oregon State and Washington State held a conference call with reporters Thursday to discuss the status of the Pac-12 conference, realignment options and upcoming legal proceedings. Here’s what you need to know:
- Of the 10 current members of the Pac-12 conference, eight will be leaving to join other leagues next summer. Oregon State and Washington State are the two remaining members of the Pac-12 and have expressed interest in trying to rebuild the conference.
- Oregon State president Dr. Jayathi Murthy said the two schools had “very good conversations” with Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez and there was mutual interest from both sides in “some kind of partnership.”
- The two schools are still trying to get clarity on the Pac-12’s fiscal situation as it stands. “Our two schools continue to seek financial records from the conference and diligently review the documents to get an accurate picture of the conference’s financial position,” said Washington State president Dr. Kirk Schulz.
- The No. 14 Oregon State travels to Pullman, Wash., to play No. 21 Washington State at 7 pm ET on Fox on Saturday in a battle of undefeated football teams.
Backstory
Washington State athletic director Pat Chun said the two schools are planning for several potential scenarios and remain flexible as they approach the 2024-25 academic year with no schedules in place. or ensure conference affiliation. The two athletic directors briefly touched on the minimum requirements to exist as a conference next year, discussing how many members are needed for each sport to maintain automatic qualification for the NCAA championships. .
“But the reality is there’s a grace period of two years while we think about our path forward and the many options we have,” Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes said.
Barnes said no agreements have been signed because it’s too early in the process to know what form the relationship will take between the two schools and existing schools in the Mountain West. Murthy said the two schools are trying to get a better understanding of the Pac-12’s current assets and liabilities — assets that include media rights payments, NCAA tournament units and College Football Playoff revenue. Liabilities include debt owed to Comcast and fallout from a legal dispute over the Holiday Bowl.
Part of the reason the two schools took legal action against the Pac-12 conference and commissioner George Kliavkoff earlier this month was to get clarity about the league’s financial situation.
“We have to have the whole picture,” Schulz said. “I don’t think it’s going to take months to get the full picture (of assets and liabilities, and potential partnerships). I’m hopeful that in the next 30 days or so we’ll have a good which is a decent idea for most of them and that helps in our decision making.
Asked about a promotion/relegation proposal for western FBS football teams from Boise State associate athletic director Michael Walsh, administrators declined to discuss it specifically. Barnes said he believes there will likely be more examples of unfair revenue distribution models within conferences, contracting leagues and/or a pure relegation model in future sports. in college.
That “will happen, I think,” Barnes said. “I think that will come. … We see that it works in the same way (with the Premier League) in Europe, and, certainly, it is worth our study.
Chun said he hasn’t studied Boise State’s model but doesn’t believe Oregon State or Washington State are in danger of relegation in a relegation model because both are top-25 football programs right now. He and his teammates pointed to Saturday’s game as an example of why these athletes and athletic departments deserve to compete at the highest level.
“The future is not what the past was, but there is a bright future for us,” Murthy said.
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(Photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)