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The Pac-12, or what’s now left of it, has folded, leaving only two teams left to save the remains. The Beavers and the Cougars.
Ironically, the first Pac-12 conference game for both teams just so happens to be with each other over in the country lands of Pullman, WA on Saturday night primetime.
With all the noise this off-season of the “Pac-2’, with Oregon State and Washington State being the lone two remaining, we (Brenden Slaughter, BeaversEdge Publisher & Kuria Pounds, WazzuWatch beat writer) have teamed up in unity to give our thoughts on everything that unfolded, what Saturday’s game means for both programs and how each fanbase has supported each other through the confusing times.
We pose four deep-ranging questions and give our thoughts below!
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Q: Your perspective on the Pac-12 collapsing, now becoming the “Pac-2”?
The whole situation is just unfortunate…
The demise of the Pac-12 is one that could have been avoided with competent leadership, collaboration, and decision-making, and that’s what makes the current situation we find ourselves in all the more disappointing…
Growing up outside the Portland area and having the Pac-12 be my world week in and week out, there’s definitely a major disappointment that it’s all coming to an end as we know it…
My all-time favorite moment as a college football fan was being in the stands in 2008 when Oregon State took down No. 1 USC…Knowing that a matchup of that magnitude is likely to never happen again, at least not in the current state of affairs, is certainly disappointing…
Perhaps a best-case scenario happens and OSU & WSU get invites to the BIG12, but I’m not sure that’s more likely than rebuilding the Pac-12, and no question the schools that you could invite to the P12 don’t hold the same weight as the schools departing…
Losing the rivalry matchups is also a bitter pill to swallow… Matchups between Oregon-Oregon State and Washington-Washington State are a rite of passage around these parts and while the two teams departing have indicated a willingness to continue the series, I’m not sure OSU & WSU will or should…
The silver lining here is if WSU & OSU get the legal ability to control the Pac-12 money, I could see a scenario where they can maintain a semi-independent status while rebuilding the conference, but there are still a lot of variables in play…
All in all, this whole thing could have been avoided, and it’s a shame we’re losing such a key piece of West Coast college football history all in the name of money and TV markets…
- Brenden Slaughter
I grew up in the Seattle area, not really appreciating college sports as much, with me being an avid professional sports fan, but of course, I still had to root for the Pac-12. Why? Because it’s what you do growing up on the West Coast. As soon as I committed to Washington State, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but the complete 180 happened.
I absolutely fell in LOVE with college sports, especially the spectacle of college football, from a press box booth. The Pac-12 has had many, many memorable moments throughout the merger of 2011, bringing in Colorado and Utah. But now, just 12 years later, seeing it crumble to the surface is just so disheartening.
College football has changed forever since the introduction of NIL, with big schools leaving for big conferences, and the “little guys” getting left in the dust, fending for their own.
The Cougars and Beavers have brought a lot of success to the Pac-12 throughout its time, including bowl wins, top 25 appearances for multiple sports, NCAA championships, and even an underdog Elite 8 run, but because “money talks” it’s just now up in the air.
- Kuria Pounds
Q: The connection Beaver and Cougar fans have made because of the situation...
Oregon State and Washington State fans have certainly been brothers in arms throughout this whole process, and the good thing for each school is, that neither is alone…
It’s certainly less than ideal to be in the position OSU & WSU are in, but it would be even worse if it was just OSU or WSU solo looking for what their future would be
That all being said, in terms of fandom, it really does seem like the Beaver and Cougar fans have built upon an already-existing relationship of being the underdog programs in small college towns and now have aligned themselves together against the Evil Empire known as the departing 10…
Social media has definetly reflected this increased friendship between these two programs, and outside of this weekend when they face off, it really seems like OSU & WSU fans have had us against them mentality…
Beaver & Cougar fans have always had a lot in common, but the way that they were left in the college football wastelands almost created a bond that was even deeper than before. For better or worse, OSU & WSU are the last two on the Pac-Titanic, let’s hope the floating door can support more than one :)
- Brenden Slaughter
The bond between both the OSU and WSU fan bases has always been a “brotherly-love” type of situation, unlike each of the other schools, which is branding themselves as the “PNW rivalry”.
The Beaver and Cougar fans all around the world have had mutual respect for each other, even going to support each other’s programs in other competitions and contests, I even saw a video on Twitter of Reser Stadium cheering as soon as the Cougars pulled off the upset against Wisconsin just a couple weeks ago.
But this situation has brought both fanbases a lot closer into a whole new level, with both Ol’ Crimson and Ol’ Beav now flying in unison at every College GameDay from here on out, and just the love both programs have sent each other’s way during this difficult time.
If it wasn’t already evident that the Cougars and Beavers have no personal hate towards each other, take a look at this past week.
It’s the first game of the Pac-12 regular season, and instead of any subtle messages, nasty Twitter comments and all such, it’s a united message from both fan bases that the Pac-2 is here to compete and the Pac-2 is here to stay.
- Kuria Pounds
