Mountain West Held Oregon State, Washington State Talks amid Pac-12 Realignment

The Mountain West has eyes for the final two Pac-12 teams yet to find new conferences, Oregon State and Washington State.

According to the Associated Press, "Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez made presentations to Washington State on Aug. 24 and to Oregon State on Monday, associate commissioner Javan Hedlund confirmed Saturday."

The Pac-12 is on its deathbed, with USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington leaving for the Big Ten in 2024, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah heading to the Big 12 and Stanford and California off to the ACC.

Washington State and Oregon State had one potential landing spot denied on Friday, when the American Athletic Conference said in a statement that it "concluded that the best way to proceed for our outstanding student-athletes is to not look westward."

The two schools remain likely to work together to find a mutual home.

Oregon State president Jayathi Murthy told reporters on Friday that a decision about the school's future would be made in the coming weeks, with the hope that the Pac-12 might somehow be salvaged:

"We continue to look for options that work for us, where the needs of our students-athletes are taken care of, where our athletic and academic values align, and where we can play at the national level and be visible. But jumping from a conference was never the first option, making the conference work is always where my heart and my mind lay. And I'm sorry that a top-20 football team ends up where we are because of the focus on media rights and media valuations."

That seems almost impossible at this point unless the Mountain West is willing to merge with Oregon State and Washington State under the Pac-12 branding.

Regardless, that conference would still lag far behind the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC when it came to major football programs and media draws. The Mountain West's top football teams are currently schools like Boise State, Air Force and Fresno State, though Oregon State (were they to join) is currently ranked 18th in the Associated Press Poll.

Still, it's likely the current Power 5 designation is quickly heading to a Power 4. In the great Pac-12 dismantling, Oregon State and Washington State were the odd schools left out.