Oregon State Desperately Trying To Keep Pac-12 Leftovers Together

The collapse of the Pac-12 Conference has been one long, slow motion train wreck after another, especially for Oregon State.

READ: PAC-12 FUMBLING LUCRATIVE TV OFFER WAS BEGINNING OF END, AS LAST FOUR SCHOOLS NOW SEEK SAFE HAVEN

And the remaining four members are facing one difficult crisis after another.

Stanford and Cal have reportedly made overtures to the ACC Conference, hoping to bolt the dying embers of the once great conference.

Washington State's been mostly silent, but their neighbors to the south are apparently committed to making the Pac-12 work. Somehow.

Jayathi Murthy, the president of Oregon State, sent a letter out to the school's community members, explaining their efforts to move forward. According to the letter, Murthy believes they're "making progress" in defining Oregon State's best move forward.

"We continue to believe that preserving the Pac-12 is in the best interests of OSU student-athletes and the remaining universities, and so we are doing everything in our control to stabilize and rebuild the conference," it says.

"All this week, Athletic Director Scott Barnes and I have been meeting with OSU student-athletes, staff, faculty, alumni, and state and local government representatives to hear directly from them about how Friday’s events potentially impact students, our community, OSU and our state. I have heard feelings of frustration, anger and dismay. And I have heard your readiness to work together and to fight."

EUGENE, OR - NOVEMBER 27: An Oregon State helmet sits on the back of a bench during a PAC-12 conference football game between the Oregon State Beavers and Oregon Ducks on November 27, 2021 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Oregon State Desperate Or Hopeful?

The message from Murthy seems to show hope of retaining some semblance of the Pac-12 Conference.

But with the Beavers' main rival soon to be in the Big Ten and few major schools willing to take a chance, those hopes may be baseless.

Oregon State doesn't offer much value to other conferences, with a tiny television market, no significant track record of success, and no national fanbase.

With that in mind, they may not have much of a choice.

Keep the conference together, build with smaller schools and hope for broader changes in the NCAA. Or wait for an invitation to another conference, likely at a major discount. If that invitation even comes.

It's not a good situation for the Beavers, even after a promising 2022 season and newly renovated stadium.