Oregon State to AAC becomes less likely as Power 5 conference membership becomes most viable option for Pac-12 powerhouse: Reports

The Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Cougars have some decisions to make about their future. It seems like one of the programs has made their intentions clear about what they want to do.

Action Network's Brett McMurphy posted about what Oregon State is thinking and the fact that they don't want to leave the Power Five:

"Oregon State, after speaking w/ student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni & the OSU community, indicated in evaluating 'OSU's best paths forward' the top 'key consideration' was 'Power 5 conference membership.'"

It will be interesting to see how that affects any potential merger or expansion talk as they would need the Beavers to agree any move going forward.

---

Where's the best fit for Oregon State?

The Oregon State Beavers, theoretically, do not need to follow the Washington State Cougars.

Instead, the conference that they join could add another program to keep the numbers even on their part. The Pac-12 has not had a good college football offseason, as they have lost eight teams in 2024 and could lose Stanford and California soon.

However, there needs to be an agreement between a conference and the Beavers, and there appears to be one ideal fit: the Big 12 Conference.

The central location of the conference makes it a strong candidate, as the travel with the other programs would not be as difficult. The Southeastern Conference is out of the question, and the Atlantic Coast Conference did not discuss them, instead opting for Stanford and California.

The Big Ten seems to be a step above in terms of quality right now, and that would leave Oregon State joining the Big 12. That would help Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark continue creating a superconference off the Pac-12, the conference that denied a merger years ago.

The Pac-12 completely fumbled their opportunity to continue the Conference of Champions and will now see the remaining four teams leave the league. Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff misplayed the situation since taking over as the head of the conference but has not taken them back to prevalence.

With the west coast of the United States being a bit of a sleeper in the college football world, Yormark could use them to help initiate Big 12 Mexico too. It will be an interesting situation, but if we're taking the Beavers at their word about wanting to remain a Power Five team, only the Big 12 makes logical sense.