College football has turned into a full-scale game of Risk. Diplomacy is necessary. Conquest is inevitable. And when it finally ends, the power dynamic will be stark. There will be those who seemingly control everything and those off to the side pouting about how unfair the world is.
The reality is: This all stinks. It is not logical to send the Oregon volleyball team to play in the middle of Pennsylvania. It is not logical to think that Washington and Washington State might not play for the first time since World War II. It is not logical that Wazzu, Oregon State, Cal and Stanford have no homes.
Nothing about college athletics is logical. What’s worse: We are past the breaking point. “What’s good for college athletics” is out the window. To survive is to be aggressive. And if a school or conference is passive, as New Mexico coach Danny Gonzales said, they become a Wikipedia page.
That is where Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez is. She has to be on the prowl to keep her conference afloat.
On Wednesday morning, the Mountain West released a statement that stated the conference “is exploring all opportunities to strengthen the league, including through the addition of new member schools.”
The conference doesn’t have many other options. After the defections of Oregon and Washington to the Big 10 and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah to the Big 12, the Pac-12 has all but dissolved. Which leaves the four remaining schools in limbo.
According to reports, the ACC has explored adding Cal and Stanford — again throwing any logistical logic to the wind. Nevarez admitted the Mountain West “makes a lot of sense,” for those two academic flagships, adding “We’re ready to have those conversations if it comes to that.”
Obviously, Stanford and Cal will wait on the ACC’s decision before engaging with the Mountain West. But, in the meantime, Nevarez and her staff are willing to exhaust all their options to bring Washington State and Oregon State into the league.
“I just think there’s a lot of commonality between Oregon State and Washington State if they were to consider us,” Nevarez said in an exclusive interview with BNN and KTIK. “You think about the schools in our league, there’s a lot of fit there. There are a lot of similar, land-grant, large public institutions, only shows in town, really strong fan bases.
“Again,” Nevarez continued, “I don’t want to jump in front of the process Oregon State and Washington State are going through, but we’re ready. We’re putting a lot of thinking into it.”
Asked if the Mountain West made it known they were ready to add Oregon State and Washington State if the two were interested, Nevarez laughed: “Yeah. I think that’s clear.”
The Cougars and the Beavers were the red-headed stepchildren of the Pac-12 — forgotten about, kicked around and, now, left without a landing spot. And even if they were to find a home in the Mountain West, the budget cuts would be massive.
In the Pac-12, those schools were pulling in over $30 million annually from the conference’s TV deal. Currently, the Mountain West’s TV deal, which expires in 2026, every school receives around $4 million while Boise State garners just under $6 million annually.
In an interview with ESPN, Washington State President Kirk Shultz said of the Cougars and Oregon State’s future: “It may be the two of us accept an invitation to join [the Mountain West], and we rely on private dollars to make sure our budgets are at the top of the league.”
Nevarez understands that if Washington State and Oregon State join the Mountain West, there will need to be some out-of-the-box thinking
“We are looking at every possible option and every possible lever that we could pull on to be creative and innovative,” she said. “Dollars is certainly a big piece of that and we are modeling and working through those. But, also, you can get creative in scheduling, in travel partners.”
As for the rumors of a possible merger between the Mountain West and Pac-12, Nevarez did not rule it out. But, she pointed out, the word merger can mean a million different things with a million different consequences. There needs to be the entanglement of entire corporations and talks of liquidity and assets.
It is all very confusing. And, at the moment, it is hard to foresee the Mountain West giving much more than an inch. It has the power. It has the $17 million exit fees ($34 million if the school leaves without two years’ notice). It has actual structure.
“We know we have a strong negotiating position. We have a strong league and a brand,” Nevarez said. “Our linear media rights deal is certainly an asset. So we’re really just ready and looking forward to capitalizing on opportunities that may come up.”
As for what those opportunities are or a timeline for those opportunities?
“Your guess is as good as mine,” she said.
