Wazzu's football program is about to go down the drain now. Their OC along with their star quarterback, John Mateer, is headed to Oklahoma. Their QB coach is gone. Their DC got fired. Currently, there's around 20 players in the transfer portal. As of this morning their head coach is leaving for Wake Forest. And they still have their Holiday Bowl game against Syracuse coming up.
Kind of seems like what the Beavers went through but for some reason it was a year later in Wazzu. I guess the hope for the conference right now is that Boise St makes a run in the CFP.
How is this a surprise in any way? Wake Forest is in a power-4 conference. WSU is basically a G5 program now.
well, the Pac-X still isn't a legal FBS conference yet. They only have 7 FBS members and need 8. They were hoping for a couple of AAC schools but that ship sailed. They have taken too much of an adversarial stance with what's left of the MWC, and have followed up with a lawsuit to try and wriggle out of the contract they signed. Which also means they have developed a reputation as an overly litigiousness organization the landscape of options has pretty much dwindled down to Texas State (unless they can convince UTEP to back out of it's pledge to join the MWC). But Texas State has made a lot of noise about committing to staying in the Sun Belt conference. That may be negotiating 101 but like a lot of these schools, the travel costs of joining the Pac-X are extremely heavy compared to the media pay-outs. There was a rumor that Texas State was demanding the Pac-X pay a 20M buy-in with a guarantee of a partial annual coverage of travel costs. And UTEP would have demanded similar (that may explain the Pac's desperation, hail-mary lawsuit against the MWC as it would pretty much eat up all the settlement money OSU/WSU got from the 10 departing members) bottom of the barrel options are New Mexico State or Sam Houston State now Sacramento St. is a possibility, But they are currently an FCS school, and the rule is that the elevation from FCS to full FBS requires a 2-year probationary period. So Sac. State would not elevate the Pac at 8 FBS schools till 2027, at the earliest. And without an opportunity to be eligible for the FBS playoffs, it will be next to impossible for the Pac-X to even get a tentative media deal. The MWC was willing to merge with the Pac-2, and do so under the PAC name. Just as long as the Pac-X accepted all of the MWC schools as full members. And doing that would have fit all the self-righteous rhetoric the Pac-2 spouted about the collapse of the Pac-12. AND, as a bonus, OSU/WSU could have kept all of the settlement money they were awarded. But no, OSU/WSU were better than that! The Pac-12's hubris is the main reason why it collapsed. And the hubris of OSU/WSU thinking they were superior to the MWC enough they could dictate terms may have painted themselves into a pretty bad corner. so then, the WSU head coach has an opportunity to escape this mess and uncertainty and actually be a HC in one of the Power-4 conferences. Easy decision
Had not heard this before - interesting. So if the Pac had Sac State join for the 2025 season then it would only be the 2026 season they are still on probation. I guess I'm not sure what exactly the costs to the conference of one team being on probation would be.
There isn't a chance of Texas State joining on its own to the Pac. There would need to be a number of much closer teams (UTSA, North Texas, etc) to even entertain that thought. They do want to move to a bigger conference eventually - but they have time and will be strategic in growing the program. The school has plenty of money and improvements coming either way so there is no rush. I live nearby and am on campus a lot and know a lot of staff personally.
the cost is that the NCAA would not recognize the Pac-X as an FBS conference. Meaning they couldn't be eligible to participate in the playoffs or share in playoff revenue. And that would be true for 2 seasons, 2025 & 2026. That would be the case for all 7 programs. There might even be an escape clause for a program like Boise St. The MWC would probably welcome back Boise St. and San Diego St. Do you think Boise St. wants to be ineligible for the payofss then next 2 seasons? that's not to say the Pac-X can't add Sac State. They may do that. But they really need to find that 8th member before next season, and it's pretty certain that any prospective member like Texas St or UTEP is leveraging their power vs the Pac's desperation. I'd imagine the last thing the Pac-X wants to do is add scandal-plagued New Mexico St.. But they have become an option as just about all the other options have bailed
2025 (next year) the 5 MWC schools will not have joined but its the 2nd grace year of less than 8 schools. So yeah seems like 2026 would be the problem. I wonder if the Pac can have NM St or another school temporarily for 1-2 years only? Maybe give them a huge payout and consideration to eventually be a full member. Theres really no point to add Sac State if it doesn't help get the conference to 8 schools.
you're right...not till July 2026. OSU has that weird home & home with WSU next season I would think that the absolute last thing any of the 7 Pac teams do is let New Mexico St. join, even for 1 year. The scandals with that school's athletic teams are too fresh. I'm still not clear on why the Pac-2 didn't just add UNLV when they had the chance. UNLV has a 32,000 student enrollment and the football stadium, at 65,000, would be the biggest in the Pac-X. Las Vegas metro population is over 2M, and having that as a premier venue & destination would have added a lot of value UNLV + Nevada would have been much better than Utah State + nobody
I believe the Pac wanted UNLV - it might have been the most in demand of all the MWC schools. The Pac may not have wanted Nevada though, and sounds like UNLV was able to negotiate extra concessions from the MWC to stay put.
...meanwhile, the Beavs mens basketball team has a nice record (vs mostly low tier opponents -- but then again, so are the Beavs) -- the January 16th game at Gill Coliseum vs Gonzaga will be "the one" to watch!!
Now that’s what you call Coug’n it. All my buddies I grew up with went to WSU. I’m sure they’re devastated.
The only Coug alum I know is an a-hole. He can suck it. But I typically do like the PAC and want it to do well.
I went to high school in Vancouver where it’s overwhelmingly Cougar country. I’d go back and visit the Palouse and there was nothing to do in Pullman but get blacked out drunk. It was so desolate out there. I’m surprised they could ever find an inner city kid to commit there.
A desolate place to get blacked out drunk might be a welcome alternative to some from the inner city.
College towns are the best colleges to attend. Corvallis was a dream city while going to school. Places like UW in Seattle....no thanks. I think nowadays Eugene is too big of a city to just be a college town.
