The NCAA gave word to Oregon State and Washington State that the schools can compete as a two-team conference for the 2024 and ’25 seasons, according to Jon Wilner of The Mercury News.
NCAA bylaws dictate that conferences must have at least eight members to compete at the FBS level.
However, the bylaws also dictate that a conference shall continue to be considered an FBS conference for two years following “the date when it fails to satisfy the eight full FBS member requirement due to one or more of its member’s failure to comply with the FBS membership requirements.”
The NCAA confirmed that Washington State and Oregon State’s interpretation was correct—that the schools can continue to compete in what’s left of the Pac-12 for the next two seasons.
The schools intend to keep the conference open to new membership for financial reasons, as assets and intellectual property for the conference could be worth more than $100 million after the departing 10 schools exit next summer to the ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten.
Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports noted earlier this week that Oregon State and Washington State are in negotiations with the Mountain West to create a scheduling alliance, which could lead to a merger down the road.
Whether or not that comes to fruition remains to be seen, but Oregon State and Washington State have some time to keep their options open on what happens next in regard to their future conference home.
