Oregon State Football Conference Realignment: Beavers Exploring Mountain West Possibilities
In the wake of the Pac-12’s mass exodus, Oregon State might soon be left without a conference all together.
The Beavers have several options. Though Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes has said rebuilding the Pac-12 would be the program’s No. 1 choice, the Mountain West could also be the next home for OSU.
It doesn’t seem likely Oregon State could go to the Big 12.
The Beavers might have several things going for their athletic department, but there hasn’t been much buzz about them joining the Big 12.
OSU would make it 17 schools in the Big 12. Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah are the Pac-12 members which plan on going there next year.
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Oregon State doesn’t appear to be heading to the ACC, either. Cal, Stanford, and SMU are in the ACC’s expansion plans, however.
News likely would’ve leaked out from some source that Oregon State was in consideration among those schools.
USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington are the other Pac-12 schools which are leaving, as they’re going to the Big Ten. Washington State and Oregon State are the only two Pac-12 schools which haven’t been heavily tied to another Power Five conference.
The Mountain West is positioning itself as a destination for Oregon State.
According to CBS, Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez made a pitch to Oregon State to join her conference. OSU doesn’t appear to be in a rush to make a decision. That might be because the athletic department is holding out hope it can rebuild the Pac-12 or it can go to another Power Five conference.
OSU and WSU took action which indicates the universities intend on seeing if they can keep the Pac-12 alive, via ESPN. They sought a restraining order, which a judge granted, via a legal complaint they filed against the Pac-12 and its commissioner, George Kliavkoff.
The presidents of Washington State and Oregon State should reportedly make up the conference’s board of directors, according to Pac-12 bylaws, since those two schools are the only ones in the league who have yet to indicate they are leaving. That could mean those leaders alone eventually gain the power to decide what to do with the Pac-12 and its resources like TV revenue.
A promotion/relegation model similar to that of European soccer could be possible for the Pac-12 and Mountain West, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported this week.
With this idea, two teams every one or two years would move up to the Pac-12 and another two would move down to the Mountain West based on success. This operation could also expand by adding FCS teams like North Dakota State and South Dakota State.
Some Mountain West decision makers are reportedly open to unique ideas like this, but not everyone might be in favor of this model and plenty more would have to be solidified. Washington State and Oregon State still have matters to sort out with the remaining Pac-12 assets, so a decision regarding this matter might not be made in the immediate future.
The AAC was hoping to add Oregon State as it positions itself as the next “power” conference. But the American reportedly has stopped considering bringing in OSU and Washington State and might look elsewhere in its expansion plans. The conference is exploring the possibility of adding Army, per multiple reports.
The AAC lost Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati to the Big 12 this year but is hoping to be seen as among the top five college football conferences after adding UAB, UTSA, Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, and Rice this year.
Oregon State has been a member of the Pac-12, though it has gone by different names, since 1964.
When OSU joined, it was known as the Athletic Association of Western Universities. Then the league became the Pacific-8 Conference in 1968 before being renamed the Pacific-10 Conference in 1978 when Arizona and Arizona State joined. It officially became the Pac-12 in 2011 after Colorado and Utah became members.
The Pac-12’s media deal with FOX and ESPN is reportedly worth $250 million per year and will expire in 2024-25. The conference was seeking a new deal before several teams decided to leave.
Oregon State could be missing out on some money if it goes to the Mountain West, comparatively.
The Mountain West agreed to a $270 million media rights deal in 2020 with CBS and FOX, according to The Athletic. That would mean teams are scheduled to be paid $4 million per year.
The arrangement would end after the 2025-26 season.
The AAC and ESPN agreed to a 12-year contract beginning in 2019 worth about $1 billion, via USA Today. The deal was to pay each program just less than $7 million per year when it was made but increased over time. SMU, for example, reportedly received about $8.2 million in 2022.
