David Hookstead
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The Mountain West Conference reportedly is doing its best to land Oregon State and Washington State.
The Beavers and Cougars are fighting to find landing spots after the PAC-12 disintegrated leaving just those two programs and Cal and Stanford.
There’s currently a movement underway to get Cal and Stanford into the ACC. If that happens, WSU and OSU will be isolated and alone with limited options.
Washington State and Oregon State have decisions to make.
The two most realistic options are heading to the AAC or MWC. Both conferences are in hot pursuit, according to Yahoo, and the MWC has already started its pitch.
MWC commissioner Gloria Nevarez has already presented a plan to Washington State and will do the same with OSU in the near future, according to the same report.
The two options are simple. Absorb the programs into the MWC or attempt to bring the MWC under the PAC-12’s banner. The former is certainly easier.
AAC commissioner Mike Aresco will meet with both programs as will in the coming days to make his pitch.
Will WSU and OSU join the MWC or AAC?
The clock is ticking for the Beavers and Cougars. The time for a decision is here. The PAC-12 won’t exist as fans know it by next summer.
Arizona, ASU, Colorado and Utah are leaving for the Big 12 and USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are going to the Big Ten.
It remains to be seen what will happen with Cal and Stanford but joining the ACC is definitely still an option.
The MWC geographically makes a lot more sense than the AAC, but why would the MWC give up it banner for the PAC-12’s?
No matter what happens, it seems unlikely the PAC-12 hangs onto its CFP auto-bid if it absorbs the entire MWC. Taking the name doesn’t do anything. The MWC isn’t the conference that collapsed. It has a TV deal and brand recognition. It has the power in this situation. The conference might as well force OSU and WSU to come under its banner.
Whatever happens, it has to happen soon. Time is ticking and the longer WSU and OSU wait, the fewer options the programs will have.
You move under the P12 banner to keep the NCAA tourney payouts. If they go to the MWC, dissolving the Pac-12, the payments are not made.
Also, OSU will be interesting, Scott Barnes tried to blow it up when Utah left for the Pac-12 with an under the table agreement to link to BYU. He was AD at USU at the time.