Oregon and Washington to accept Big Ten invites as the Pac-12 disintegrates
The California Golden Bears are facing the end of an era in college football.
Everything has crumbled. After a meeting this morning to ratify a new Pac-12 Grant of Rights failed, Oregon and Washington have moved onto the Big Ten, essentially ending any hopes of the Conference of Champions surviving as a Power 5 conference. The Big Ten unanimously approved the two programs joining. Brett McMurphy broke the story.
The Big Ten is getting even bigger with Oregon and Washington becoming the latest schools to join the conference from the Pac-12 starting in 2024, sources told Action Network.
The departure of the Ducks and Huskies increases the number of schools leaving the Pac-12 in the past 13 months to five (UO, UW, Colorado, USC and UCLA) and could be the fatal blow to the Pac-12.
The Ducks and the Huskies will accept a reduced share for the next few years that will likely move up to a full share over time.
This is likely the first of many steps that will see the Pac-12 reduced to nothingness by the end of August. Arizona is expected to accept a Big 12 offer shortly. Arizona State and Utah are expected to come along.
Meanwhile, Cal, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State are the only programs with no obvious home. Cal and Stanford were rumored Big Ten expansion candidates, but the Big Ten might have targets in the ACC as well. More from McMurphy:
The Big Ten now must decide whether to stay at 18 schools or expand further. The league’s options are adding Stanford and Cal or waiting to see if any schools become available from the ACC, such as Florida State, Clemson, Miami or North Carolina.
Is Cal really fighting hard to stay alive in this in any way? Hard to say!
The doom scenario is here for the California Golden Bears, enabled by university arrogance and inaction. I’m not feeling good right now.
The only hope now is Cal and Stanford to Big10. I can't even imagine how the locals here in WA and OR are going to react at the idea that they are losing same conference status for their State schools. It's an abomination. The Apple Cup and former Civil War are massively important to the alumni bases here. What a total first class F*&*ing travesty for the sport I love.
Cluster F*&K
I'm usually NOT the guy to default to cynically dogpiling "bad leadership," but good gracious - can you imagine being the conference commissioner whose incompetence and lack of vision led to the probable death of an organization that had been delivering to West Coast fans/alumni since 1915?
Sure, we can take bets. Cal (and friends) find a MWC home. Cal and friends stay in some tiny, gimpy version of the Pacific Conference for another few years. Cal gets a charity invite from the B10. Who knows, who knows. Cal's beleaguered football program folds, or contracts into a DII-scale operation. Who knows anything anymore. I just know I'm bummed beyond belief.