Oregon State and Washington State hoops cozy up to WCC for now ahead of Pac-12 rebuild

(AP) - The Pac-12 Conference will never be what it once was even after the efforts to rebuild it.

“I never thought I’d see the Pac-12 fall apart,” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said. “I mean, what a freakin’ shame that is, but we are where we are.”

That could be taken figuratively and literally.

Tinkle was speaking at the recent West Coast Conference basketball media days, something that once would have been a curious stop for a Beavers coach. But with Oregon State and Washington State the only two Pac-12 schools remaining after a mass defection scattered 10 schools to other conferences, these are unusual times.

The two schools will play basketball as affiliate members of the WCC the next two seasons and be eligible for the men’s and women’s titles. Then it’s back full-time to the Pac-12, with five Mountain West schools — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State — joining in 2026. Gonzaga will leave the WCC that year and compete in all sports but football, leaving the Pac-12 just one full member to add to be recognized as a Bowl Subdivision conference in 2026.

“When you look at the Pac-12 and the teams that are coming in, it’s a really, really good basketball league,” Washington State coach David Riley said. “Multiple teams have been in the Final Four. When you look at the amount of teams that went to the NCAA Tournament last year, it’s going to be a battle every single night.”

Gonzaga and San Diego State played in the national championship game in two of the past four seasons, and the Bulldogs are on a nation-leading nine-year streak of reaching the Sweet 16. On the women’s side, Gonzaga and Oregon State each reached the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend last season.

With the new Pac-12 still two years off, the Beavers and Cougars are focused on their new opponents.

Washington State was picked to finish WCC play fifth and Oregon State seventh on the men’s side, and the Cougars were projected to finish second and the Beavers fourth.

“I think it’s going to be competitive,” Washington State women’s coach Kamie Ethridge said. “I think when you look at the league and look at the rosters, people have had a lot of turnover. I don’t really know the league well enough to know who picked up what and how everybody’s going to be. So I think everybody has a lot to prove, and I think we’re one of those teams that has a lot to prove.”

Coaches have to learn about a new set of schools, but given the transient nature of college athletics in the era of the transfer portal the transition isn’t what it would’ve been even just a decade ago. The Oregon State women alone lost three of their starting five, including star Raegan Beers.

“I think everybody changes every year,” coach Scott Rueck said. “It’s just who you’re playing, who’s on your schedule and then figure it out. It’ll be different for sure. My mindset is I’m looking forward to it.”

The situation, however, isn’t what many players expected when they agreed to play for Oregon State or Washington State.

They thought they would take trips to UCLA and Arizona, not Pepperdine and Santa Clara, and now players are having to make the best of it.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen or where we would end up, but I think we’re in a really good spot,” Washington State senior Tara Wallack said. “The Pac-12 is going to be back. Unfortunately, I won’t be here, but for the future of the program, it’s really good.”

Oregon State junior Michael Rataj is from Germany, so he didn’t understand the history of each conference when he signed in 2022. As others left the program as the Pac-12 collapsed, Rataj decided to stay in Corvallis.

“I honored the commitment to stay here,” Rataj said. “You have a coach in the program to come back to the winning ways. He gave us all the opportunity as freshmen to play. ... I was just a kid from Germany. I wanted to play college basketball for always, and he brought me here.”

Tinkle will work with Rataj and other players in this interim phase that includes establishing a rivalry with national power Gonzaga. It’s a series that will carry over to the new Pac-12. Tinkle’s daughter, Elle, played for the Zags from 2012-17 and is married to Jeremy Jones, a Gonzaga forward from 2015-19.

“On the sidelines, she’s worth at least eight points a game,” Tinkle said. “Elle is a Beaver through and through, and it’s going to be nice to see her and Jeremy. They’ve already had some arguments over that soon-to-be rivalry.”

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