Oregon State and Washington State reached a settlement with the 10 schools that deserted them in the Pac-12.
The settlement calls for Oregon State and Washington State, the lone remaining members of the Pac-12, to receive $65M total. Each of the 10 departing schools will pay $6.5M to make up that total.
The Pac-12 effectively collapsed due to horrible mismanagement from the conference’s leadership. UCLA and USC made the first move by exiting to the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah left for the Big 12. Oregon and Washington later joined USC and UCLA in exiting for the Big Ten.
The moves left just four Pac-12 schools, so Cal and Stanford begged to get into the ACC. Oregon State and Washington State were left behind and sued the departing schools over who would control the future of the crumbling conference.
The payments the two schools will receive are big in the short term, but the schools will be in bad shape over the long run. They are schools getting left behind as college sports further cleave toward a “haves” and “have nots” world.
Oregon State and Washington State have formed a temporary football alliance with the Mountain West for 2024. The other athletic programs for the respective schools will compete in the West Coast Conference.
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