There is "not much" NCAA President Charlie Baker can do to help Washington State and Oregon State amid the collapse of the Pac-12, though the association is going to do what it "can to help,” according to Brent Schrotenboer of USA TODAY. WSU and OSU are “in crisis mode” as they were "left without a place to sit” after the latest round of conference realignment. Both schools “essentially were orphaned and abandoned from the conference shelter that gave them a regular schedule of opponents and revenue,” and Baker “doesn’t have the authority to change it.” Now WSU and OSU have to “scramble to fill largely vacated sports schedules for next year” while “hoping their athletes and coaches don’t abandon ship amid the uncertainty.” In football, it is likely the schools will “fill out a large part of their schedule with six games against teams from the Mountain West,” but basketball and other sports “present whole other scheduling problems.” The NCAA allows a "two-year grace period for schools in a league that’s shrunk below the minimum eight members." WSU and OSU won a "key court ruling recently when a state court judge gave them control of the Pac-12’s governing board despite opposition from the 10 departing members." Gaining control of the Pac-12 board means “gaining control of around” $150M in revenue, which will “help bridge the gap over the next two years in a Pac-2” (USA TODAY, 11/24).
INTO THE UNKNOWN: The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Laine Higgins wrote WSU is “really headed for the wilderness of college athletics” as the school enters the "unknown as members of a conference with just two teams left.” The impact will land “almost immediately," as the first week of December will see the NCAA transfer portal open. A “mass exodus” from WSU is then “likely to begin as top athletes eye less uncertain futures and richer endorsement deals available on other campuses.” Talent drain could “crater the football team’s potential,” kicking off a “dangerous downward spiral for the athletic department’s chief revenue-producing program.” If an "exodus of players begins as expected," fans and officials alike “fear the university may not have the resources to attract new talent.” WSU football coach Jake Dickert earlier this month said, “You need NIL money to get portal guys, period. The facts are, Washington State, we’re way behind. Not even competitive in some aspects of the NIL.” Higgins noted about 28% of WSU’s revenue in the last fiscal year "came from the Pac-12’s media rights distribution" and at the moment, that is “going to zero, as the Cougars do not have a new television deal in place." WSU also “lacks a fan base rolling in oil money or any singular megadonor” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/24).
LEAVING AMID UNCERTAINTY: In Corvallis, Steve Gress wrote it “should come as no surprise” that OSU football coach Jonathan Smith has left the school to become Michigan State's new coach. But he “probably wouldn’t have accepted" the role if "not for the changing landscape of college football.” It is “hard to fault Smith for being open to a new job” with the “uncertain future of Oregon State.” Both Smith and OSU AD Scott Barnes had gone on record acknowledging how they have “talked often about how they could move forward.” Still, “both of their proverbial hands were tied.” Gress wrote he feels OSU “does want to treat football like it has in the past,” but he is “not sure that is realistic.” Smith last week said that it “wasn’t just about stability for him, but his assistant coaches and staff” (CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES, 11/25). In Spokane, Vince Grippi noted Smith is a former OSU quarterback who “returned home to rebuild the program.” Grippi: "If the Beavers can’t keep a legacy in the fold, a well-paid, successful legacy at that, how will they, or the Cougars, keep their programs at a level that gives their fans hope?" (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 11/25).
