The future of the Pac-12 Conference is in shambles with Utah, Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado, Stanford, Cal, USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington all leaving in 2024. Some are headed to the ACC, others to the Big Ten, and others to the Big 12, leaving just Oregon State and Washington State with nowhere to go. As such, Oregon State and Washington State have been in a battle in order to remain in the conference, with the name Pac-2 going viral.

On Tuesday, the judge ruled in favor of the schools staying together due to the grace period given by the NCAA, but a two-team conference would be impossible for scheduling purposes. As a result, the Pac-12 Conference (or the Pac-2) is set to attempt a scheduling alliance with the Mountain West Conference, per Chris Vannini and Stewart Mandel of The Athletic.

‘According to three sources involved in the discussions, the most imminent possibility is for the two schools to remain “Pac-12” members, but form a football scheduling alliance with the Mountain West. The Beavers and Cougars would not be eligible for the championship of that conference but would play the majority of their games against each other and various MWC schools for either one or two years. While the schools would operate under the Pac-12 “umbrella,” they would not attempt to stage a conference championship for themselves.'

What does this all mean? 

Pac-12, Oregon State, Washington State

To put it simply, Oregon State and Washington State would still operate under the Pac-12 Conference brand despite being the only two programs. But, they would schedule games against the Mountain West Conference while not being a part of it for football. The situation can be thought of as similar to Notre Dame, which is Independent but plays and schedules games against others as non-conference agreements.

Per the NCAA rules, there is a two-year grace period for conferences to get back to at least eight teams minimum, so that would give the Pac-12 Conference a chance to recruit teams and programs to join and be able to keep the Pac-12 Conference alive, although it remains to be seen which programs they would target.

The tough part is that no matter how good the Oregon State and Washington State football teams are, they wouldn't be eligible for the MWC title game. And, as one source said, “Our desire is playing for championships. Obviously our focus is West, but it may be that some sports have to play in another conference,” (per Vannini and Mandel).

There is still the distinct possibility that the MWC and Pac-12 Conference merge together in a year or two, although that remains to be seen amid ongoing conference realignment. Nonetheless, at least for 2024, there is a chance that the remaining Pac-12 Conference programs play a majority of games against the Mountain West in a strange scheduling alliance.