UW quits Pac-12 Conference alliance it co-founded in 1915

The University of Washington announced Friday that it will join the Big Ten after leaving the Pac-12, effective August 2024. That could mean the end of the Pac-12 conference, although the UW says it's committed to its Apple Cup rivalry with WSU.

KUOW’s Kim Malcolm chatted with sportswriter, UW grad, and self-identified "Pac-12 diehard" Danny O’Neil about the news.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Kim Malcolm: Why is this a big deal?

Danny O’Neil: We've seen over the past 20 years, but especially in the past three, a pretty fundamental reorganization of college sports. The Pac-12, which has always been one of the premier conferences for college athletics in the country, its history goes back to 1915. This is really kind of the death rattle for it. The reason is that the Big Ten poached two of the Pac-12’s most prominent, valuable members, USC and UCLA. And now, a year later, we've seen that the Pac-12 has not been able to find a broadcast partner that's capable of funding the conference at the level it had been playing.

Money is a major consideration here. What challenges is the Pac-12 membership facing right now?

Over the past year, the Pac-12 has tried to negotiate for a broadcast deal that will meet the $31 million per year, per school that the Big Ten negotiated. We've seen over the past few weeks that they weren't able to meet that number. They weren't able to get a deal with a television network or Apple TV+, which was one of their big suitors. Instead, the conference is dissolving as schools look to join other conferences.

What does this mean for a student who's looking to play at a Pac-12 school?

Well, if you're a football player who wants to play at the University of Washington, and this is really exciting. You go to the Big Ten. It's one of the two premier conferences in the country. The question for a women's soccer player is a little bit different because your conference travel just got a lot more complicated. So, it really depends on who you're talking about when you ask what that's like. The sad part for me is this is really the death of a premier West Coast conference in college athletics.

Washington State University is also part of the Pac-12. What happens to them?

This is a bummer. There's not a natural fit for the Washington State Cougars in the Big Ten. Probably not in the Big 12. So, they're looking at going outside the rung of the top five conferences. Washington State has tremendous fans, but I don't see a fit for them at this top tier of college athletics, and that's too bad.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.