The college football world is changing as conference realignment is in full-swing, and the 2024 season is going to look extremely different. The Big Ten and the SEC are emerging as the top two conferences as the Big Ten is adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, and the SEC is adding Oklahoma and Texas. Things are going to look very different, especially in the Pac-12 (Pac-2?). Every single member of the Pac-12 will be leaving next season except for Oregon State and Washington State. It was unclear how those two teams would be able to make things work next season, but the Beavers and Cougars now have a scheduling deal set up with the Mountain West.

Based on geographical location, this move makes sense for Oregon State and Washington State. That was a major factor when conferences originally began, hence the names Pacific Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, ETC. The Beavers and Cougars won't have to travel across the country like Cal and Stanford will as they are now in the ACC. Instead, these two schools will compete against Mountain West teams.

Each team in the Mountain West will play seven conference games against other Mountain West teams, and then then they will also have one game against either Oregon State or Washington State, according to a tweet from Ross Dellenger. Those games will not count toward the the Mountain West standings.

Another crucial change that the college football world will see next season involves the College Football Playoff. Right now, only four teams make it the playoff, but that number will be expanding to 12 starting next year. All power conference champions get bids to the playoff, but that will not be the case for the Pac-2. Oregon State and Washington State would have to earn an at-large bid in order to make it the playoff.

Power fives teams are slated to have much more difficult schedules next season with the new conferences, but Oregon State and Washington State will actually have easier schedules. The Mountain West is not a power conference, so both of these teams should be able to find some success in those games. The Beavers just lost head coach Jonathan Smith to Michigan State, but this will be a good opportunity to keep some success going until their conference situation becomes more clear.

The 2024 college football season is going to be very unique, and this news surrounding the Pac-2 answered one of the biggest questions that remained.