The Mountain West Conference and the remaining two members of the Pac-12 Conference signed a football scheduling agreement for 2024, but it appears the two sides will not extend that agreement past this season.
According to a report from The Athletic, the deadline for the Mountain West and Pac-12’s football scheduling agreement for the 2025 season was Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. Under that agreement, each Mountain West team played one less conference game and replaced that with a game against either Oregon State or Washington State.
“The football scheduling arrangement with Oregon State and Washington State was a one-year agreement,” the Mountain West said in a statement to The Athletic on Monday. “For the 2025 season, the Mountain West and its member institutions are moving forward with their conference and nonconference schedules. Our focus remains on the current season and our exceptional teams.”
If the two sides are unable to come to a new agreement, the football schedules for Oregon State and Washington State in 2025 would be up in the air.
Oregon State currently has six games scheduled for next season, beginning with back-to-back home games against California and Fresno State. Here’s a look at the Beavers’ current schedule for 2025:
2025 Oregon State Football Schedule
- 08/30 – California
- 09/06 – Fresno State
- 09/13 – at Texas Tech
- 09/20 – at Oregon
- 09/27 – Houston
- TBA – Portland State
Without a Mountain West agreement to fill out its slate, Oregon State would need to schedule six additional contests.
Washington State is in slightly worse shape with only five games scheduled for next season, which means they need seven additional opponents. Here’s how the Cougars’ schedule for 2025 looks at the moment:
2025 Washington State Football Schedule
- 08/30 – Idaho
- 09/06 – San Diego State
- 09/13 – at North Texas
- 09/27 – at Virginia
- TBA – Washington
With just under a year until the 2025 season kicks off, Oregon State and Washington State still have plenty of time to fill out their schedules. There are plenty of other teams with incomplete non-conference schedules as well, according to previous announcements and public record searches.
According to our research, 27 teams still need a non-conference opponent in 2025, and three teams need two opponents (Northwestern, Stanford, and ULM). That is, of course, if those spots haven’t been filled already but remain unannounced.
Most of those 27 teams, however, will likely complete their schedules with an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Both Oregon State & Washington State would make excellent independent teams in CFB.
This would be fair to Mountain West Conference courtesy of Boise State Fan however I have a lot of respect for both teams.
WSU and ORSU could play each other HaH late in the season. And the Apple Cup and Civil War could also be moved to the last weekend of the season (or late in the season). That would leave them with 4-5 more slots to fill (most late in the season). Nothing says they can’t play 3 FCS games, though.
Teams can only count one FCS win towards the six they need for bowl eligibility. They’ll need to be 8-4 to be bowl eligible, if one assumes that they win all 3 FCS games.
OSU and WSU each have one more game as they play each other.
The problem isn’t needing 5-6 games, it’s needing 5-6 games in October and November. They can play each other in November, but after that it will get challenging.