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.
To: Richard, Schedule, Vegas Saxon, Dan Rakow, Mike Rawls,
B18g10 OR & WA don’t want non conference rivalry Games in November.
They’re in the hunt 4 Trust Conference Playoff Spots.
WA State – OR State have to front load their Season with Trust 4 Teams.
Notre Dame has no interest in Independent November Games.
U can do the research, fact checking yourself by going to Brigham Young Uni. Football schedule from 2014 -2022 & see what schedules Trust 5 Conference + Notre Dame offered them.
Notre Dame even withdrew from their publicised 2 for 1 (ND home for BYU home) because a Trust 3 Conf. & ACC17+ND can do that to Independent teams which WA St -OR St now are.
Independently of BYU’s own efforts ESPN helped schedule some of their Trust 5 foes & paid them $5-6 ? Million per year. That’s $thousands on the multiMillions Trust Unis receive.
OR State – WA State do not have signed agreements 4 $$ or Games w/ ESPN.
Red Cougars & Beavers aren’t telling anyone publicly what their strategies, uses of residual Conf. Of Champions $$ they litigated against the other 9 Programs are.
New Mexico State Aggies, a Team in the Western expanse, like OR St. – Wa St. had no Conf. after the dismemberment of the WAC by the MW, UTSA, Texas State.
The @SunBeltConf dropped the Aggies after their contract from 2013 – 2017 was over. The Aggies were too distant from the rest of the SBC.
The CW Network is slightly above the linear coverage NMSU received from 2018 – 2022.
Eh, going 5-4 vs. FBS teams (many outside the P5) doesn’t exactly strike me as a massive hill to climb.
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.
Eh, besides playing themselves and getting their in-state rivals to move their rivalry game to Nov, they likely can fill up with G5 and FCS teams in Oct and Nov.
Uconn needs a game in 2025 and 2026 seems like a easy match to do some home and homes with each other. Would help late in the season too.
Add WSU @ Cal, Stanford @ WSU, OSU @ Stanford. Shorter travel, P4 opponents. WSU and OSU are cash rich and desperate for opponents. Paid MW $14M for 14 games (half on the road). I could see Pac-2 teams accepting 1 for 2s or overpaying for games.
PAC-MW “reverse” merger one step closer to reality
Exactly. But there is a MW exit fee, I think.
.
But see my remark lower how I think you’re on to something brewing….
@David – No exit fee after next year, their media deals with CBS and Fox expire after 2025-26 season
Either Oregon State or Washinton State would make a fantastic fit to fill Notre Dame 12th & final opponent next year in 2025.
ND already has seven home games for ‘25.
Actually needs a road game — most likely to be Stanford.
Maybe ND would go to Corvallis or Pullman on a 2:1 basis, but I won’t believe it until I see it.
I guess there’s a possibility that ND would agree to a Wazzu “home” game in Seattle.
Seattle Lumen Field would be excellent for either Washington State or Oregon State for Notre Dame away game.
I hope that Stanford will schedule at least one of them.
Also, I think PSU @ OSU (which is currently TBA) will be on Week 0 next year, since PSU plays at Hawai’i.
Maybe they could coax Idaho into going back to FBS. Oh, wait, they didn’t care about Idaho three years ago.
Seems this is about to happen:
San Diego State
Fresno State
Nevada
UNLV
Boise State
Colorado State
will join Oregon State and Washington State in a new PAC-8.
.
Seven conference games, and the OSU & WSU schedules are done.
.
Apologies to Wyoming, USU, UNM, SJSU, AFA, and Hawai’i. AFA will head to the American to join Navy and Army at least. The others… well, CUSA? As if geography matters to anyone….
Agreed with the only exception being Nevada. If AFA doesn’t join, I’d say it’s still a toss up between them and Wyoming with Utah St, UNM, or even Hawaii still with a possible invite chance. Both UNM and Wyoming are founding members to the MW when they split from the WAC and state flagships. Nevada has the larger athletic budget but Wyoming has the largest of the football budget of those toss up schools. Hawaii still has the exemption rule but is that even enough anymore for schools’ worth scheduling another game? Utah St has the “growth” SLC market proximity (but is 3rd in line).
As for AFA, they may ultimately end up in the AAC for the texas area recruiting but I wouldn’t discount staying with the PAC/MW schools for CA and having Navy and Army as non conference games. And to make up for not having access to Texas, scheduling those aforementuoned games as neutral sites, just as they did with Army in DFW in 2021 and 2022.
If there is some sort of Pac2/Mountain West merger, here’s who I think gets in:
Oregon State
Washington State
Fresno State
San Diego State
UNLV
Boise State
Utah State
Wyoming
Colorado State
Air Force
Unfortunately I think Nevada, SJSU, UNM, and Hawai’i would get the boot. The first 3 probably go to C-USA, and Hawai’i becomes an independent (they’re already in the Big West for everything else).
I’ve got my money on those 6 + WSU/OSU + some combination of UTSA/Memphis/Tulane, for a tidy Pac10.
Seeing that might sway Stanford/Cal back into the fold for a new Pac12? For playoff dreams if nothing else.
@Keeper I would have said the same thing last year too before Calford left for the ACC.
But unless the revitalized PAC can gain back its “power” status im not so sure the southeastern schools would get an invite, especially with the pending house settlement looking. Instead the “G” conferences would remain regional to reduce expenses and try to tap into local market interest that the P2 conferences have fully yet captured.
Reportedly, the agreement OSU and WSU signed with the MWC to get 2024 football games includes a large “poaching fee” that would have to be paid for each MWC team that joins a “New Pac” before July 2027. Only way around that would be for nine or more MWC members to vote to dissolve the MWC.
OSU and WSU would have to add at least six new football-playing full members by summer 2026 if they want to keep the shell of the old Pac-12 alive. That would require one of three things:
(1) Nine MWC members vote to dissolve the MWC so they can join New Pac and kick the other three MWC teams out, or
(2) All 12 MWC members join New Pac, or the equivalent, i.e. OSU and WSU join the MWC, or
(3) Six or seven MWC members pay many millions to leave the MWC and join OSU and WSU in New Pac, possibly including a negotiation to reduce the payment or pay it out over a period of several years, and possibly including OSU and WSU paying part of that with leftover Pac-12 money.
Thank you very much for deleting Christian Andrews comments however I am giving Christian Andrews a second chance Christian needs to be civil, mature & respectful if he wants make comments.
We are here to talk Football NOT attacking others.
Just stop talking about it and engaging each other.
Can you please stop,so I have a better life without you?
Wazzu might have to play some home games in Seattle if they want to add P4 teams to future schedules. Other teams have all the leverage (because they don’t need to fill out an entire schedule) and can just say no to playing in Pullman.
MWC teams would play in Pullman, though.
Probably, WSU and OSU will fill out their ’25 schedules with mostly MWC opponents. It’s likely they felt they could walk away from a deal in which MWC had the upper hand because they are close to individual deals with several MWC teams.