The Pac-12 has not yet given up on survival as a conference, with one radical proposal now being floated as a potential option.
The Mountain West Conference has discussed a “reverse merger” with Oregon State and Washington State, according to Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports. The plan would involve the two Pac-12 schools merging with the Mountain West, and that league would rename itself the Pac-12.
The plan has wide support within the Mountain West, though there are a number of hurdles. The conference would have to find a way to obtain the Pac-12’s intellectual property, and there are also questions about media rights and revenue issues. It would be a significant process before the plan comes to fruition, if it is even possible.
It makes sense that the two remaining Pac-12 schools would go outside the box to try to salvage something from the collapse of the current iteration of the conference. Even adding Oregon State and Washington State would be unlikely to turn the league into a Power 5-caliber operation, so it would still represent a clear step down.
The two remaining Pac-12 schools could take an even crazier path in the meantime, but that also remains to be seen.
