The future of college football changed immensely on Friday, as there appears to be a conclusion into the Pac-12 saga. According to SI’s Pat Forde, Washington and Oregon are expected to agree to move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten “in short order,” joining USC and UCLA as schools to defect.
The decision comes just hours behind reports that Oregon and Washington were leaning toward staying in the Pac-12, after it appeared that talks between the two schools and the Big Ten had cooled off overnight. However, that did not last the morning, as both Oregon and Washington are expected to apply to join the Big Ten instead of remaining in the Pac-12.
Additionally, longtime Pac-12 member Arizona appears on the verge of joining the Big 12, Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports reports, and both Arizona State and Utah could be next to follow. That comes on the heels of Colorado’s decision to rejoin the Big 12 after 13 years in the Pac-12.
USC and UCLA were the first two schools to decide to leave the Pac-12, as both schools agreed last year to join the Big Ten.
If all of those schools defect, that would leave Stanford, California, Oregon State and Washington State as the lone current Pac-12 schools remaining. As of Oregon and Washington’s decision, it is unclear how the other four schools will proceed.
