SPOKANE, Wash. — Following the news of the PAC-12 conference losing several members, Washington State University (WSU) released a statement Monday.
The statement, in part, read,
"Dear Cougar Nation,
The last few weeks have been tumultuous for Washington State University and the Pac‑12 Conference. The decision by the University of Washington and the University of Oregon to accept offers to join the Big Ten Conference sealed the fate of the Pac‑12. By the end of the day on Friday, only four members of the Pac‑12 remained — Washington State, Oregon State, Cal‑Berkeley, and Stanford."
The statement, released from WSU's President Kirk Schulz, went on to say that he, along with many other presidents of PAC-12 institutions, met 30 times over the last year "in attempt to work out future media rights deal that all conference members found suitable."
The board was presented with "an innovative and forward-looking partnership proposal" with Apple. However, Schulz said he was shocked to hear that the deal fell through.
"After several board meetings and robust discussion among all nine schools, we finished our board meeting on Thursday evening with a strong feeling of staying together, pursuing a new partnership with Apple, and moving forward with conference expansion," Schulz wrote. "On Friday morning, we were shocked when the University of Washington and the University of Oregon announced they had accepted Big Ten invitations. I genuinely felt that on Friday morning we would sign the needed paperwork, finalize the deal with Apple, and move the PAC‑12 toward a new and brighter future."
The statement ended by acknowledging the end of an era in WSU history.
"Whatever solution we come up with, it will be different moving forward. Washington State has been a member of the same athletic conference since 1917, which has served us very well over the past 106 years."
To read the full statement, click here.
Editor's note: A previous headline indicated the Pac-12 had disbanded. We have updated the headline to reflect that the Conference remains, although eight schools have indicated they plan to leave next year.
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