Pac-12 updates as Oregon, Washington leave for Big Ten, putting conference’s future in peril

Trying to keep up with all the moving parts regarding the Pac-12?

So are we.

We’ll do our best here to keep you — and frankly ourselves — up-to-date.

UPDATE: The Big 12 Board of Directors have approved the admissions of Arizona State, Arizona, and Utah to the Big 12.

In response to all of the news, the Pac-12 released this statement on social media:

Oregon’s Board of Trustees has approved a move to the Big Ten:

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, both Arizona State and Utah “have applied for formal membership to the Big 12 Conference:”

According to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, Oregon and Washington have agreed to join the Big Ten in 2024.

Oregon and Washington will be approved by the Big Ten board in the coming hours. Each school is not expected to get a full revenue share from the Big Ten.

Utah and Arizona State are now poised to join the Big 12 if approved.

The Pac-12 might be having its dying breaths as we know it, and the future of college football realignment could be taking another massive step forward.

With the Pac-12’s media deal potentially turning to shambles, the rest of the major schools in the conference are looking for landing spots in case it falls apart. The Pac-12 was already on its last legs after USC and UCLA decided to bolt to the Big Ten in 2024. The media deals weren’t coming in, and other schools such as Arizona, Oregon and Washington were beginning to look elsewhere. Arizona is flirting with the Big 12 and it might not be long before they head to the other conference.

However, the Pac-12 had a final meeting under the assumption that they could get the schools to sign a Grant of Rights deal with the new media plan. A Grant of Rights is when the media rights of each individual school are signed over to the conference. The ACC has a Grant of Rights currently in place, and Florida State is REALLY trying to get out of that.

Yeah, so a Grant of Rights might not actually be good for the individual schools, especially with a conference without a set TV deal. So that didn’t get done today, and now those deals for Oregon and Washington with the Big Ten and Arizona with the Big 12 might get done. Oregon and Washington would join USC and UCLA in the Big Ten, after the two California schools made the decision to leave last year. Arizona would join Colorado in the Big 12, after Colorado made the jump in July. These moves would take place in 2024.

Well, it doesn’t look great for the Pac-12. That Grant of Rights deal that they wanted everyone in the conference to sign? Yeah that isn’t happening now and the media deal is kinda tanking. So Oregon, Washington and the Arizona schools could still both be on their way out.

If you needed any more indications that the Big Ten is ready to pounce, the presidents have all jumped on a conference call this morning, when there wasn’t one expected.

It’s all looking like the Pac-12 is going to lose out on Oregon and Washington, once the financials are agreed upon. Arizona is still up in the air, but right now it’s a bit of a Texas standoff. Waiting for someone to move first.

Remember earlier this week when rumors were that Oregon and Washington were entertaining going to the Big Ten and Arizona was really looking at leaving for the Big 12 and the Pac-12 was on their way to a fiery collapse?

Yeah, a lot can change in 24 hours.

Now, reports are that Oregon, Washington and Arizona are in fact staying in the Pac-12. Oregon is surely staying, after ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that the Ducks chose to stay in the conference and not move to the Big Ten.

This is a huge move for the Pac-12, because Oregon is one of the major breadwinners for the conference, both in football and in other sports. In addition, that Nike money and national brand won’t be going away anytime soon. Washington had a Board of Regents meeting at (/checks notes) midnight on the east coast Thursday, but evidently nothing came of it when it comes to moving to the Big Ten.

This move is also massive because it could persuade Arizona to stay in the Pac-12. Arizona was heavily leaning towards making the jump to the Big 12, but Arizona State wasn’t as enthused. This is a problem because the Board of Regents works for both Arizona and ASU. So if one goes, they both go. Arizona still wants to leave, but the deal with the Big 12 hasn’t been established yet. Action Network’s Brett McMurphy is saying that the Pac-12 might actually get the deal done.

NOT SO FAST, MY FRIEND! According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Pac-12 actually might not get the deal done today, and the big schools may in fact leave.

Love realignment. Absolutely love it.