Oregon State, Washington State Looking To Create Schedule Agreement With Mountain West

Should Mountian West allow in Beavers and Cougars?

A seven plus one model?

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The saga with the leftover Pac-12 teams with Oregon State and Washington State has been pretty wild. The latest now involves the Mountain West and these two schools.

It is not shocking that the Mountain West and Pac-2 are trying to work together and the latest news is the possibility of a scheduling agreement over the next two years.

Multiple outlets are reporting that there will be some cohesiveness among the two leagues, but each has a little bit of different pieces.

The Athletic is reporting that even if Oregon State and Washington State play the majority of the games with Mountain West teams, they would not be eligible for that conference title. Plus, the Beavers and Cougars would not be able to have their own Pac-2 title game.

Yahoo Sports is reporting a seven plus one model with the Mountain West dropping off a conference game and inserting Washington State and Oregon State as an eighth “league” game. The teams that play either Washington State or Oregon State would rotate a home-and-home over the two-year period.

Teams that already have scheduled Oregon State or Washington State will remain on the schedule. This is of particular interest to San Diego State who has a home-and-home with the Cougars in 2024 and 2025. Reports are they would play Oregon State as the eighth league game.

Plus, there are other schools that face either schools with Boise State (Oregon State, 2024), Fresno State (Oregon State, 2025) and San Jose State (Washington State, 2024).

Losing a conference game is interesting and not 100% ideal to miss out on a league opponent. However, to help these two schools out, there will be financial incentives with the two remaining Pac-2 schools having a lot of money to use to help them weather the storm of uncertainty.

There is also a poison pill built in if these two schools left behind try some shenanigans, per Yahoo’s reporting:

The agreement, expected to include a lucrative financial package for Mountain West members, is likely to feature a long-term commitment to the conference with an intent at a full merger beyond this two-year cycle. Part of the agreement includes a financial penalty that can be levied upon Oregon State and Washington State if the two programs attempt to acquire only a portion of MWC schools in the future.

The last line is important because there have been talks of the Pac-2 leftovers to steal a few of the Mountain West schools to keep the Pac-12 name. Oregon State and Washington State are trying to do that as it is, since there is value in the Pac-12 name.

The only way to keep that name is for the Mountain West to join the current schools and keep that Pac part of the name for the conference. While there is value it is nowhere near the $25 million or so per year that was being offered up by Apple this past Summer.

This agreement is for football only and not the other sports. There is a very likely scenario that Washington State and Oregon State could play non-conference games against the Mountain West in other sports. That would make a lot of sense to do that and play a higher-quality opponent.

This all seems like a win-win for both leagues. Mountain West schools get a few more bucks and a quality game on the schedule. Oregon State and Washington State get to fill out its schedule with six games each and will only need to add a couple for non-conference purposes.

Losing a league game does hurt the Mountain West, but this deal likely paves the way for the two conferences to permanently combine once the 2026 football season is here.

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