As pointed out by James Parks for Sports Illustrated; “Reduced to just two schools after this year’s historic college football realignment, what’s left of the Pac-12 gathered for their media days, with plenty of libation on hand.” Held in Las Vegas on the same day the Big-12 was over at Allegiant Stadium but in a much smaller venue, the PAC-12 event was advertised as; “After Hours with the Beavs and Cougs.” As Commissioner Teresa Gould said; “We are drinking tonight. If anyone has earned the right to drink, it’s the Pac-12.”
When I think about the realignment and the demise of the “Conference of Champions” as we knew it my heart really goes out to Oregon State. After Jonathan Smith, a Chris Peterson protege from his Boise State days and then with the Huskies, lost the head coaching job at Washington to Jimmy Lake after Peterson’s retirement—in what turned out to be a dismal turn of events for the Huskies—he left to be head coach at his Alma Mater in Corvallis and built a great program from the ground up in a very Chris Peterson like way. After the conference melt-down, were he to stay at Oregon State, he would have been faced with even smaller budgets than what the PAC-12 schools had been receiving which was significantly lower than conferences like the Big Ten and would have been unable to keep the quality of assistant coaches and coordinators he had been able to put together for the Beavers.
As a matter of fact, in fiscal year 2022 the Power 5 league members in the Big Ten, SEC, and Big-12 all received significantly more revenue than the PAC-12. Ohio State and Michigan were receiving $58.8 million dollars a year while Washington, who made it to the national semi-final last year, got the job done with almost twenty-two million dollars less. With the former PAC-12 Commissioner unable to procure a lucrative media rights deal for the PAC-12, the league collapsed and with regards to Jonathan Smith specifically he decided quickly that if the Big Ten wasn’t interested in his team then he would become a head coach for one of their existing teams—Michigan State. And as a result and unlike the other PAC-12 coaches now in the Big Ten his team gets a full share of revenue, enabling him to bring his program to the Spartans in what I am sure will be a much quicker start to excellence than he experienced at Oregon State. Currently projected to finish 14th, I’m going to speculate that just like he did in the PAC-12 Jonathan Smith and his program at Michigan State will exceed expectations.
Now back to, “After Hours with the Beavs and the Cougs.” Oregon State’s 2024 schedule will include Idaho State from the Big Sky Conference and a bunch of teams from the Mountain West along with their long standing in-state rivalry match-up against the Oregon Ducks of the Big-10 and Cal of the ACC. Washington State has a five year agreement with their in-state rival Huskies to continue the Apple Cup. This year’s version will be played September 14th at Lumen Field (Seattle Seahawk’s Stadium) with the teams splitting the revenue evenly. After that they’ll rotate the next four years between Gesa Field in Pullman and Husky Stadium. The rest of their schedule is similar to Oregon State’s in that they start off against Portland State from the Big Sky Conference and compete pretty much exclusively against Mountain West Teams except for the Apple Cup and a game against their “PAC-2” opponent Oregon State on the road in Corvallis on November 23rd. Neither team is expected to ever make anyone’s Top-25 this year, or get even close, but they are both projected to win enough games to make them bowl eligible.
Here are links to videos, articles, and other comments regarding the two remaining teams in what was the PAC-12.
College Football Network predictions for the “PAC-2”
Oregonlive article: “Oregon State coach Trent Bray continues to believe Beavers are on a path to contend for a CFP berth.”
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/jul/21/at-pac-12-media-day-wsus-dickert-voices-confidence