Rumor: Oregon State and Wazzu may soon receive Big 12 invite

Oregon State and Wazzu could soon receive an invitation to the Big 12 according to longtime college football radio host Greg Swaim; who hinted as much in a somewhat cryptic post on May 2.

"Good news coming soon for those of us who believe that (Oregon State) and (Wazzu) belong in the Big 12," tweeted Swaim.

This comes as a bit of a surprise considering the Pac-2 schools were part of the ACC's contingency plan -- along with Memphis, Tulane, USF, and UConn -- in the event FSU, Clemson, UNC, and Louisville left the conference according to PressBox DC's Jim Williams. Neither Oregon State nor Wazzu has AAU accreditation, so the hope of joining the Big Ten to keep rivalries with Oregon and Washington in-conference is not slim to none, just none. The B1G fit would be awkward from both an academic standpoint and a cultural standpoint with the Big Ten trying to expand into bigger cities as opposed to smaller college towns.

Pac-2 unlikely to merge with Mountain West with Oregon State and Wazzu awaiting Big 12 invites

With Big 12 invites allegedly coming Oregon State's and Wazzu's way, the idea of the Pac-2 merging with the Mountain West long-term is all but done for. The 2024 schedule for the Beavs and Cougs will have a heavy dose of Mountain West schools, but that appears to be a temporary fix.

The Big 12 may stop at adding Oregon State and Wazzu, but if they don't, bringing on Memphis and USF could make sense. The Tigers just signed a monumental NIL deal with FedEx while the Bulls could reignite the War on I4 rivalry with UCF.

Certainly, the Big 12 being aggressive in adding potential ACC backup plans is the best way to move the needle in the direction of a Power 3 setup in the event FSU, Clemson, and UNC cause a full-blown exodus from the ACC.