The remaining Pac-2 schools passed on by the ACC in the latest round of realignment, Wazzu and Oregon State, were reportedly passed on by the American (AAC) conference and are imminently set to join the Mountain West according to college football insider Jim Williams.
“We are close to realignment ending for now once Oregon State and Washington State and the Mountain West work this out,” Williams wrote. “The American is taking a pass on the West for now. They likely ran the numbers and saw the travel costs could really be too much. A great many connecting flights etc., spending all day getting to OSU and WSU might have been a bridge too far.”
The ACC accepted Cal, Stanford, and SMU to the conference after weeks of realignment rumors, though Florida State and North Carolina both reportedly voted no on the two Pac-4 schools and SMU from the Group of Five ranks due to worries about the conference’s revenue distribution model.
Pac-2 schools make sense geographically for Mountain West but deserve more
Wazzu and Oregon State deserve more than to just be left out of the Power Five, or soon, Power Four, ranks and relegated to the Mountain West. If anything, Cal and Stanford’s recent history and the lack of support for athletics by their region should’ve relegated the other half of the Pac-4 to the Mountain West.
The Big Ten, in theory, would be the ideal landing spot for these two schools due to the existing in-state rivalries with Washington and Oregon, but neither school brings nearly as much as their in-state counterparts or the two Los Angeles schools, UCLA and USC, that are joining the conference. The Big 12 has been rapidly expanding, and may not have the bandwidth for these two schools.
Regardless of what happens next, here’s to each school having a cult-like following supporting them and lifting them up to a great next chapter for their athletics programs.