Oregon State and Washington State have reached a substantial settlement with the ten schools that bolted from the Pac 12.
During NCAA Conference Realignment, the Pac 12 Basically Disintegrated
The Pac 12, once dubbed the Conference of Champions, is no longer comprised of 12 teams. Due to conference realignment, the only teams remaining are Oregon State and Washington State.
Conference realignment resulted in the expansion of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC, while the 108-year-old Pac-12 Conference has been decimated.
In the first half of the 20th century, what is now known as the Pac-12 Conference was called the Pacific Coast Conference. The conference previously went by the names Big Five, Big Six, Pacific-8, and Pacific-10. The Pac-12 moniker was adopted in 2011 when Colorado and Utah joined the conference.
Some now refer to the Pac 12 as the Pac 2. In any event, the future of the conference is uncertain.
As reported by Los Angeles’ KTLA 5:
“Officials at both [Oregon State and Washington State] have said their desired path forward is to rebuild the Pac-12, but without Stanford and Cal that becomes even more complicated. Joining the Mountain West or American Athletic Conference now becomes more likely.”
Oregon State and Washington State Reach $65 Million Settlement with the Departed Universities
OSU and WSU took legal action against the ten schools that abandoned the Pac 12, and that legal action has resulted in a nice payout for the two universities.
On March 25, 2024, CBS reported:
Oregon State and Washington State reached a settlement with the Pac-12’s departing 10 members, officially bringing an end to the months-long legal battle over the conference’s future. Combined, Oregon State and Washington State will make $65 million in 2024 from the fiscal distributions of the departing members….
“[Per the express terms of the settlement,] the departing members ‘shall have no vote, direction, input, or other power with respect to the Conference’s (Pac-12) use, allocation or expenditure’ of those funds.
“That means Oregon State and Washington State can apportion those funds with impunity, a boon for the remaining Pac-12 programs as they navigate an uncertain future. Moreover, the departing members cannot seek to dissolve the Pac-12 unless both OSU and WSU consent in writing. Further protections allow the remaining Pac-12 schools to seek an injunction if a departing member moves to dissolve the Pac-12, with severe financial penalties [prescribed] for such an action.
“The settlement also confirms that departing members are not entitled to any revenue generated during and after 2025. The 10 departing schools are each set to join their respective new conferences in July 2024.”
The Road Ahead for The Beavers and Cougars
As one of the founding members of the conference, Oregon State joined the Pac 12 in 1915, along with other founding members Washington, Cal, and Oregon. Washington State joined the conference two years later, in 1917.
Oregon State and Washington State are exploring options for a future not involving their traditional conference opponents.
As noted by CBS:
Washington State and Oregon State have been hard at work improving their immediate outlook following the Pac-12’s effective dissolution. In December, the two programs announced they will join the West Coast Conference as affiliate members in all sports except football and baseball over the next two seasons. The football teams agreed to a scheduling alliance with the Mountain West for the 2024 season, with an option to extend into 2025.
Stay tuned to Gridiron Heroics for continued reporting on conference realignment, the Pac 12, and the future of Oregon State and Washington State.
For more related sports news, focused primarily on the USC Trojans, SMU Mustangs, and Los Angeles Rams, please follow me at @vshjah_Victor.
