Take Two: What's The Impact Of The Pac-12 Expanding For Oregon State

With the Pac-12 Conference officially adding Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State to the Pac-12 Conference, BeaversEdge Publisher Brenden Slaughter and writer Ryan Harlan give their thoughts!

Brenden's Take

What a whirlwind the last 36 hours have been...

While we had some inclination that something would happen regarding Oregon State's future in the near term after they announced they'd be ending the Mountain West scheduling agreement, the news to expand the Pac-12 by adding four teams caught me by a bit of a surprise.

Sure, we knew rebuilding the conference was a viable option for Oregon State and Washington State, but hope remained that they'd get an invite to the BIG12 or ACC.

That never came to fruition and rather than sitting around and waiting for good news, Athletic Director Scott Barnes and President Jayathi Murthy became proactive for the first time in the process, taking matters into their own hands and taking a significant step forward.

On the surface, there are multiple ways to look at the new Pac additions, both from a glass-half-full perspective and half-empty. Let's start with the good that comes from adding Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, and Colorado State.

Firstly, it stabilizes the Beavers' future and that cannot be understated. Without the scheduling alliance with the MW, the Beavs were essentially on their own (along with WSU) in terms of scheduling for the foreseeable future.

They need two more teams to reach the magical number of eight, and in theory, that would allow the Pac-12 to regain power status and potentially regain the auto-bid to the College Football Playoff.

If that turns out to be the case, it would be a monumental win for the Beavers. Having a path to the College Football Playoff is how you remain relevant in today's money-hungry CFP world.