For the past 11 seasons, the NCAA has had 32 conferences receiving automatic bids to the basketball tournament. Next year, I assume there will be 31. I suppose we can consider the Pac is going to go dormant, so to speak.

If the Pac rebuilds with mainly (entirely?) MW schools, but the MW in turns rebuilds enough to survive like CUSA did in 2021, will we return to 32 auto bids?

Also, I’ve been out of the loop: are Oregon State and Washington State still going to play most sports in the WCC next year? What about the year after? It’s hard to keep up with with work, marriage and fatherhood . I can’t be as much of a sports junkie as I once was.

(03-16-2024 10:58 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  For the past 11 seasons, the NCAA has had 32 conferences receiving automatic bids to the basketball tournament. Next year, I assume there will be 31. I suppose we can consider the Pac is going to go dormant, so to speak.

If the Pac rebuilds with mainly (entirely?) MW schools, but the MW in turns rebuilds enough to survive like CUSA did in 2021, will we return to 32 auto bids?

Also, I’ve been out of the loop: are Oregon State and Washington State still going to play most sports in the WCC next year? What about the year after? It’s hard to keep up with with work, marriage and fatherhood . I can’t be as much of a sports junkie as I once was.

Correct on everything you said. PAC-2 needs 8 teams to get an autobid, but they're joining the WCC in most sports for a year or 2 with a football scheduling agreement with the MWC.

The football scheduling agreement between the PAC-2 and MW makes poaching MW schools before 2026 cost prohibitive.

(03-17-2024 07:45 AM)chargeradio Wrote:  The football scheduling agreement between the PAC-2 and MW makes poaching MW schools before 2026 cost prohibitive.

Which makes it more likely that OSU and WSU go all in with the MWC. Whether they continue under the PAC brand or the MWC just depends on which has the most tournament credits in the bank.

(03-17-2024 07:56 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(03-17-2024 07:45 AM)chargeradio Wrote:  The football scheduling agreement between the PAC-2 and MW makes poaching MW schools before 2026 cost prohibitive.

Which makes it more likely that OSU and WSU go all in with the MWC. Whether they continue under the PAC brand or the MWC just depends on which has the most tournament credits in the bank.

They would keep the PAC shell. If the PAC shell dies, the tournament credits earned by the former PAC schools that are due between 2027-29 not earned by Washington State or Oregon State would revert to the schools that earned them.

WSU and OSU can require the Mountain West schools to pool the credits they earned as a condition of joining the PAC. This will allow all of the credits earned by former PAC schools and MW schools to be available for all 14 teams.