Hope remains for what is now the Pac 2 as this week the last two remaining Pac 12 schools Washington State and Oregon State, successfully were given a temporary restraining order from Whitman County (Wash) Superior Court Judge, Gary Libey blocking the ten departing Pac 12 schools from making any governance decisions impacting the future of the conference and dictating the future of the Cougars and Beavers. 

WSU and OSU are using the legal system in hopes they are able to retain the Pac 12 brand and assets paving a way for the conference to live on past the next major shakeup with college football in 2024.  

On July 27th, 2023 the University of Colorado Board of Regents re-started a conference realignment domino chain when the school voted unanimously to return the Big 12 filling one of two openings created by Texas and Oklahoma who left the conference for the SEC.

After adding Colorado the Big 12 also extended an invitation to The University of Arizona which resulted in Washington and Oregon turning their eyes back to an open invitation to join the Big 10, following USC and UCLA who announced they would be leaving the conference last year. 

With a conference in disarray, Utah, Arizona State, Stanford and Cal all were able to find landing spots with Washington State and Oregon State left to create a new path of their own.

In receiving the temporary restraining order, the door opens for a new Pac 12 Conference which could include a merger with the Mountain West, but would a new Mountain West Pac 12 Conference be enough to keep the conference among the elite, or will the Pac 12 need to look beyond the Mountain West? 

Let’s evaluate the Mountain West candidacy and propose how a merger between Washington State, Oregon State, The Mountain West and The American Athletic Conference can rebuild the Pac 12 back to the conference of champions. 

Climbing the Mountain

The Mountain West attempting to join the BCS party is not a new idea as in 2011 the conference petitioned to receive an automatic BCS berth due to recent conference success against power 5 programs and Boise State cracking the BCS Bowl party, but was unsuccessful as speculation emerged then powerhouses TCU and Boise State would leave the conference. 

TCU balked at staying with the MWC and accepted an invitation to join the Big 12, while Boise State was rumored to leave the conference but remained in the MWC but was not enough to move the automatic BCS berth needle. 

While the Mountain West has regressed as a conference over the last decade, joining the Mountain West on the surface appears to be a natural fit for the two remaining Pac 12 schools. Washington State (Pullman, WA) and Oregon State and Corvalis both reside in metropolitan areas similar in size. 

Mountain West Conference Schools (Football)

• Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs, CO)
• Colorado State (Fort Collins, CO)
• New Mexico (Alburquerque, NM)
• Wyoming (Laramie, WY)
• Utah State (Logan, UT)
• Boise State (Boise, ID)
• Nevada (Reno, NV)
• UNLV  (Las Vegas, NV)
• San Diego State (San Diego, CA)
• San Jose State (San Jose, CA)
• Fresno State (Fresno, CA)
• Hawai’i (Honolulu, HI)

Utah and BYU, former conference members, have shown, if given the chance, some potential top BCS candidates could emerge if Washington State and Oregon State are able to rebuild the conference. Here is a look at the top five candidates today. 

BCS ready

1. Boise State: The Broncos have been on the verge of being a perennial BCS school for years. They entered onto the national scene with their historic win over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and have been the class of the conference since with six conference championship games and three titles. Boise State brings a national brand to the Pac 12 and a strong fan base. 

2. San Diego State: SDSU finds themselves emerging as the only show in town as first the Chargers leave San Diego for LA and now UCLA and USC give the Aztecs the gift as being the largest school to represent SoCal in a west coast conference. San Diego State can compete on the field and with strong fan support. Recruiting to the beaches of San Diego will not be hard and the Aztecs could find themselves as a perennial conference contender for years. 

3. Colorado State: Don’t let the recent on field performance fool you, the Rams are BCS program ready. Canvas Stadium is new, beautiful and a must see for out of town fan bases wanting to see their team. The stadium anchors arguably the best facilities in the conference and as former coach Sonny Lubick showed, the Rams can compete on the national level and when they do they get the fan support needed to be a successful BCS school. 

On the verge:

4. Fresno State: The Bulldogs play in a 40,000 seat stadium with a passionate fan base with the on field performance to justify being a competitive Pac 12 school. If Fresno State can upgrade their facilities then they will be right there with the top 3.

5. Air Force: The United States Air Force Academy brings a national brand and always is competitive. The restrictions of being a service academy will impact the talent the Falcons can bring in and struggle with a local fan base, but it doesn’t matter because there is no better atmosphere than Air Force. 

Some work to do

Hawai’i played in a Sugar Bowl in 2008, but lacked overall fan support and facilities to be a perennial BCS contender.  

UNLV is in Las Vegas, which has become a hotbed for sports expansion, but Sam Boyd Stadium would need renovations or a partnership with the Raiders to play at Allegiant Stadium. 

New Mexico meets the metropolitan size attractiveness with Albuquerque but like Hawai’i lack the fan support to be considered BCS ready. 

Nevada and Utah State both have newer stadiums but they are smaller, which would need to be upgraded.  

San Jose State has a history of not being well supported and lacks the facilities to be a BCS school. 

Wyoming is more of a wildcard as they have a passionate well supported fan base with Wyoming athletics being all the state has to offer. They lack in size, but regardless of who you are they can beat you and will. 

Is the Mountain West Enough?

Based on history a now weaker Mountain West still may find it even harder to receive a BCS bid on their own by only adding Oregon State and Washington State if the automatic PAC 12 qualifier does not come with the schools. 

The conference overall lacks the facilities and fan support to be competitive from top to bottom. With Boise State, San Diego State and Colorado State, the new Pac 12 have some building pieces but to truly be a power conference they need help from a conference already with a national footprint. 

Enter in the American Athletic Conference

The American Athletic Conference enters into the PAC 12 conversation as it has in recent years been competitive in the BCS conversation and brings a conference with a national footprint possibly attractive to a depleted PAC 12 with schools located in the Northeast, Southeast stretching into Texas. 

The AAC itself has been dealing with conference members jumping conferences as it recently lost Cincinnati, Central Florida and Houston the the Big 12 and SMU will be leaving after this season to join the ACC. While the conference lost some of its heavy weights it still has a strong program with Tulane, a national brand with Navy and large population centers with Tampa, Houston, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Dallas and New Orleans in play. 

American Athletic Conference (AAC) Schools

• UAB (Birmingham, AL)
• Coastal Carolina (Conway, SC)
• Eastern Carolina (Greenville, NC)
• Florida Atlantic (Boca Raton, FL)
• Memphis (Memphis, TN)
• Navy (Annapolis, MD)
• North Texas (Frisco, TX)
• Rice (Houston, TX)
• South Florida (Tampa FL)
• SMU (Leaving for ACC)
• Temple (Philadelphia, PA)
• UTSA (San Antonio, TX)
• Tulane (New Orleans, LA)
• Tulsa (Tulsa, OK)

A Pac 12 merge with the American Athletic Conference gives the conference a BCS contender in Tulane, which also brings a New Orleans fan base sure to drive television revenue. 

South Florida has shown the ability to compete and the facilities to be a BCS school now and a school in the Tampa area with Florida Atlantic down the road in the Miami area. 

Navy brings a military academy into the conference which has a national draw and the AAC is trying to lure Army to replace the departing SMU. 

The AAC conference has a true national footprint, which would be attractive to Oregon State and Washington State, but travel for these schools would be difficult and still the revenue for these schools would not be the same as what other Pac 12 schools have found in other power 5 conferences. There is a better option which includes the Mountain West. 

The Pacific American Conference

The Pacific American Conference or “PAC” for short merges Oregon State, Washington State, The Mountain West and American Athletic Conference into one twenty eight  team super conference with four divisions expanding from west to east and north to south. 

The conference would keep natural conference rivals together and be aligned geographically and feature six division games, three additional conference games for a total of nine with the ability to schedule three additional out of conference games. 

Divisions

Pacific

• Washington State
• Oregon State
• Fresno State
• SDSU
• San Jose St.
• Hawai’i
• Nevada

The Pacific division keeps former Pac 12 rivals Washington State and Oregon State together and maintains a west coast only footprint. Western Mountain Schools move over but keep natural rivals with Fresno State and San Diego State. Nevada and San Jose State are close in proximity and this division provides easier travel for Hawai’i.  

Mountain 

• Colorado State
• Wyoming
• Tulsa
• New Mexico
• Utah State
• Boise State
• UNLV

Traditional Mountain West schools come together to form the Mountain Division. Colorado State and Wyoming maintain “The Border War”, while Boise State and Utah State bring recent Mountain West success. Las Vegas is represented in this division offering a large metro area with potential while New Mexico and Tulsa bring the southwest in creating a new potential geographical rival. 

Mid-West

• Army
• Memphis
• North Texas
• Rice
• UTSA
• Navy
• Air Force

In what could be one of the most decorated divisions in the country. The Commander in Chief Trophy would be played as part of the Pacific American Conference. The rivalry between Navy, Air Force and Army already is one of the most special sporting events in the country. Now with the three schools being conference rivals the stakes are even higher as well as potential revenue to the conference. 

The remaining schools bring Texas rivals together along with a Memphis program who easily fit into this division geographically and a strong national brand.. 

Atlantic

• Coastal Carolina
• Eastern Carolina
• Florida Atlantic
• South Florida
• Tulane
• UAB 
• Temple

The Atlantic Division brings Tulane who would currently be a strong piece in securing automatic bid status. The Green Wave have been a perennial top 25 team as of late and a program who could be poised to make a leap to a power 5 conference.

Along with Tulane the teams from the Atlantic bring the Southeast Region into the conference giving the new version of the Pac 12 conference a true nationwide footprint, but keeping regional rivalries together.

For the Pac 12 Conference to survive among smaller conferences bringing together teams who have been on the verge of being accepted into a power 5 conference, or schools which gain national interest like the service academies are essential in creating a conference attractive enough where people will want to tune in to watch it.