CFB insider clears air on teams joining Pac-2 plus as Washington State and Oregon State eyes for a potential ACC or Big 12 membership
The Pac-12 will be down to the Pac-2 next season, as the Washington State Cougars and Oregon State Beavers are the only two teams that have not announced their intention to leave the conference.
While there have been talks that the programs could look to rebuild the conference by recruiting schools from the American Athletic Conference, college football insider Jim Williams shared that will not be the case, while adding the Pac-2 programs could look to join the ACC or Big 12, tweeting:
"RUMOR DEBUNKED: High ranking source familiar with the American confirmed that NO member would be leaving to join a newly formed PAC 2 PLUS. Also sources with both Oregon State and Washington State confirm their hopes once the lawsuit is over to join either the ACC or the big 12"
While the Pac-12 has, arguably, been the strongest conference in college football this season, the conference will part ways following the year. The Cougars and Beavers remain without a home and it is unclear where they will wind up. There have been reports that they could stay in the Pac-2 for one season or look to rebuild the conference with programs from the AAC or Mountain West Conference.
Furthermore, the programs could join the AAC or MWC, however, they have not shown an interest in doing so, holding out hope for an invitation from one of the remaining Power 5 conferences. As things stand, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC have not shown interest in the two programs.
How has the Pac-12 become the Pac-2?
The UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans were the first to announce their intentions to leave the Pac-12, sharing their plans to join the Big Ten in June 2022. In July 2023, amid conference official's failures to negotiate a long-term media rights deal, the Colorado Buffaloes announced that they would join the Big 12.
The remaining nine schools were presented with a media rights offer from Apple in August. The following day, the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies shared that they would join the Big Ten, while the Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils, and Utah Utes announced that they would join the Big 12.
The California Bears and Stanford Cardinal became the latest to announce their departure, as, in September, they shared their plans to join the ACC. The Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Cougars are the only Pac-12 programs that have not announced their plans for 2024.