Washington State & Oregon State head to West Coast Conference for cross country in 2024-25...
 |
| WSU's Neema Kimtai competes at the 2023 NCAA West Regional cross country championships. WSU will join the West Coast Conference in cross country as an affiliate member in 2024 (Paul Merca photo) |
According to a report first posted by Matt Norlander and Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, Washington State and Oregon State will join the West Coast Conference for all other sports with the exception of football and baseball as affiliate members for the next two seasons, starting with the 2024-25 school year.
The Cougars and the Beavers will compete in the WCC in men's and women's basketball, softball, volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer, rowing, and tennis.
UPDATE (3:30pm, 12/22): "As we explore long-term solutions for the Pac-12 Conference and Washington State University, we appreciate Commissioner Stu Jackson and the West Coast Conference for their partnership in providing 10 of our programs affiliate membership," said WSU Director of Athletics Pat Chun in a release posted Friday morning. "The WCC allows an opportunity for our 10 teams to have access to championships as well as high-level competition."
In the release from Washington State, the school continues to work diligently to finalize the right competitive opportunities for the sports of men's and women's track and field, swimming and baseball.
Using the results of the NCAA West Regional cross country championships in Sacramento as a benchmark, Oregon State's women's cross country team, which finished ninth at regionals, would be the number three team in the WCC behind Gonzaga and Portland, while Washington State would be fourth.
In the men's competition, the Cougars would be the number 5 team in the WCC behind Gonzaga, Portland, Santa Clara, and Loyola Marymount.
The West Coast Conference does NOT sponsor indoor and outdoor track & field as a conference championship sport, though certain members of the WCC, including Portland and Gonzaga, sponsor teams in indoor and outdoor track, but compete as independents in outdoor track.
Portland competes during the indoor track season as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, a conference that is set up primarily for Olympic sports, while Gonzaga is independent.
What possible options do the Cougars and Beavers have for indoor and outdoor track?
Both schools can re-join the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for indoor track, a conference both were part of when the Pac-12 schools competed in that conference until the 2020 season, since the Pac-12 doesn't sponsor indoor track (the 2021 season was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Pac-12 competed in the Pac-12 Invitational for the 2022 season).
The MPSF, which has schools from the Big West, and WCC, has five men's teams in indoor track: Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, Portland, and UC Riverside.
In addition to those five schools, Hawaii, Pepperdine, St. Mary's, UC Davis, UC Irvine, and San Francisco field women's teams in indoor track.
The MPSF holds its indoor championship during the same weekend that all the major conferences hold its championships on the final weekend of February, which is the qualifying deadline for the NCAA championships, contested on the second weekend of March.
For the Cougars and the Beavers, it's tricky during the outdoor season, as they won't have a competitive opportunity during the second weekend of May, which is conference championship weekend.
Since neither the West Coast Conference nor the MPSF sponsor outdoor track, the Cougars and the Beavers could possibly ask the Mountain West or the Big West to compete in their championship meet. The most likely scenario is for both to compete as independents and create a meet during the second weekend of May for those athletes looking to qualify for the first round of the NCAA championships (the West Regional meet on the fourth weekend of May).
According to informal talks with several individuals affiliated with Pac-12 schools, the consensus is that other than the conference championships (Big Ten, Atlantic Coast & Big 12), the ten outgoing schools will compete in most of the same meets they've been competing in.
Several WCC schools have competed in the second weekend of May at the Portland Distance Carnival, but with the focus of the meet towards the distance events, it leaves a gap for both the Cougars and Beavers, who currently have a complete track and field team, unlike Portland and Gonzaga, which is focused solely on running events.
With Thursday's announcement of a settlement between the ten outgoing members of the Pac-12 and the two remaining schools, both Oregon State and WSU have some money to figure out what their next move is.
As part of the settlement, the ten schools “have agreed to forfeit a portion of distributions over the remainder of the 2023-2024 year and provide specific guarantees against potential future liabilities,” according to a joint statement issued by WSU and OSU.
Additionally, “The conference (meaning OSU & WSU) retains its assets and all future revenues.”
NOTE: The Seattle Times and CBS Sports, along with the West Coast Conference, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, and the sports information offices of Oregon State and Washington State contributed to this report.
paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links. You can also support the site by clicking the yellow "Buy Me A Coffee" link below.
Comments