Then There Were Two: Oregon State and Washington State are the Last Remaining Pac-12 Schools
By Joe Hathaway on Friday, September 1st, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
CORVALLIS, Ore. & PULLMAN, Wash. – Following even more massive changes to the Pac-12 conference, only Oregon State and Washington State now remain.
Stanford and UC Berkeley announced on Friday, September 1 that they would be joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The two Bay Area schools announcements come on the heels of a mass exodus of former Pac-12 schools leaving the withered conference. Oregon and Washington announced last month that they would be joining the Big-10 Conference.
That leaves the Beavers and the Cougars as the last two schools in a conference that’s disintegrating before their eyes.
Speaking on the shakeup on Friday, Oregon State President Jayathi Murthy called the changes regrettable but not really unexpected.
While much is still unclear about the school’s future, Murthy said they are focused on making the best decision for the whole university and that this isn’t just a sports issue but one that impacts the whole school.
Murthy and OSU Athletic Director Scott Barnes also talked about wanting to maintain the history of both the Pac-12 and the regional rivalries while they work towards a solution for the 2024-2025 season.
One option for OSU and Wazzu is to possibly join the Mountain West Conference.
Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Friday she made presentations to both schools—Washington State on Aug. 24 and Oregon State on Monday—pitching the conference’s case to be both athletic programs’ next home.
Whether the two schools were ready to join the conference on the heels of the Cal and Stanford news, Nevarez told the paper, “Too soon to say.”
