Assuming Oregon and Washington are still holding out for the Big Ten, and the California schools are probably not interested, that leaves Oregon State and Washington State, I think.
I’m not sure can assume that UofO will wait for B1G. The rumors looked like Oregon could be the one to jump.
Nothing in realignment is forever.
Get fucked, geography? The new conferences are making increasingly less sense.
They’re effectively exercises in media exploitation at this point, and they will be as long as media companies will pay a premium for “sticky” live viewing. The athletes and coaches want to compete at the highest level possible, and the presidents want increased exposure to donors and prospective students and faculty, along with a self-sustaining (and ego-boosting) athletic department budget.
I’m honestly at the point of saying split the athletics off from schools completely. It’s just fucking stupid. I love that athletes can get paid for what they do (and strongly advocate for it; fuck the NCAA’s bullshit), but with the hours athletes put in, and the little time they can put toward school itself, it’s really just professional sport by another name. Have the schools do school, and sports be handled by professional organisations like they are in Europe and the rest of the world.
USC making the double move