Is the Mountain West Conference the only realistic landing spot for Oregon State and Washington State?
We noted a few weeks ago that the Big 12 “would be the first preference for the Cougars and Beavers, but they’re not calling the shots. Brett Yormark is. If the Big 12 shuts the door to WSU and OSU, the merger with the Mountain West might have to be accepted, as undesirable as it might be. Oregon State and Washington State are not in a good position to become independent the way Stanford conceivably could.”
It turns out that the Big 12 does not want Oregon State and Washington State, and that Stanford did not want to be independent in football. OSU and WSU are part of a “Pac-2” now that Stanford and Cal have moved to the ACC. Is it Mountain West or nothing? With the AAC closing the door to WSU and OSU, that seems increasingly likely.
Let’s look at the Wazzu and Oregon State views of conference realignment as it stands: