With the dust settled on the latest round of conference realignment musical chairs (at least, for now), there are four Pac-12 schools remaining without a clear home come 2024: Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State. As Cougars school president Kirk Schulz described it in an interview on Wednesday with ESPN’s Pete Thamel: “It’s like a breakup; it’s awkward. No one wants to sit there for too long.”
Following USC and UCLA’s defection for the Big Ten last year, Oregon and Washington have followed suit to join the conference. The Big 12, meanwhile, has added Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State. All of the moves will take place ahead of the 2024 fall season.
With the situation far from resolved for the remaining four Pac-12 schools, Schulz lamented the state of college sports and pointed to realignment as the primary culprit for selfish behavior from university leaders.
