Sent to its corner during last round of realignment, how the Pac-12 emerged emboldened as an agent of chaos

When the music stopped in the most recent round of conference realignment musical chairs, Oregon State and Washington State had nowhere to go after the Pac-12 imploded. 

Ten schools grabbed chairs, even ones that didn’t make any geographical sense in the case of Cal and Stanford in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but the two Pacific Northwest schools had no viable option within the Power Five ranks. 

Now, the last remnants of a historic conference have created the next disturbance in the college athletics space themselves. Oregon State and Washington State saw no choice but to inflict on other schools the trauma they’ve experienced the last year-plus in a Darwinian pursuit of survival. 

For the Pac-12 to survive, it needed confusion, disarray and disorder to reign again in college sports. 

“Chaos, right now, is opportunity,” Anne McCoy, the 56-year-old Washington State AD, told CBS Sports on Wednesday, hours before news broke of the Pac-12’s plan to add Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State. 

Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes similarly told CBS Sports Wednesday he was hoping for more disruption in college athletics because “the most logical opportunity for us is if there is continued movement in the marketplace some time in the future that allows us to move into a Power 5 situation.”

Less than twelve hours later, McCoy and Barnes’ intentions became clear. 

Yahoo Sports broke the news late Wednesday night that Oregon State and Washington State had targeted Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State from the Mountain West to refill the Pac-12’s depleted ranks. The news was announced as official on Thursday morning. The Beavers and Cougars are poaching the Mountain West’s…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/sent-to-its-corner-during-last-round-of-realignment-how-the-pac-12-emerged-emboldened-as-an-agent-of-chaos/

Author : John Talty

Publish date : 2024-09-12 15:00:29

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