Is Washington State leaving the Pac-12? Analyzing Kirk Schulz's comments on budget constraints ahead of the 2023 season

A million-dollar question rocking the college football world right now reads: Is Washington State leaving the Pac-12?

The Pacific-12 exodus, which started in 2022 with the USC and UCLA announcing their departure to Big Ten, has continued in the past few days. Colorado begin the process to return to the Big 12 by July 2024, and more schools are looking set to follow suit. All eyes are on Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Washington State to unveil their next moves.

Amidst all this, Washington State President Kirk Schulz has expressed concern over unrealistic revenue projections that may affect budgeting. Schulz said:

“I can't overemphasize we can't build a budget over projections that have no basis in reality.”

This is coming after Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff hurriedly presented a new media deal to the Pac-12 board of directors, which Schulz chairs. The new agreement, according to insiders, is with a streaming platform.

The figures guaranteed by the deal are way below what the directors had expected. Promises that these figures will go up when certain streaming milestones are reached do not seem to be assuring enough.

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Under which condition could Washington State leave the Pac-12?

Conference Realignment Football

If Schulz is emphasizing that he can't plan a budget on Kliavkoff's deal, does that mean Washington State is leaving the Pac-12? Not necessarily so.

First, it does not make sense for a school to initiate plans to leave a conference when no destination awaits it. We saw how it played out in the case of San Diego State, who had an understanding with the Pac-12.

Nearly every school rumored to be leaving the Pac-12 has a conference they're being linked with.

Arizona and Arizona State are heavily linked with the Big 12. Oregon and the Cougars less so, but with reported interest from the Big Ten. The question is, if Washington State is leaving the Pac-12, where will it go?

However, it's a fast-paced world in college football right now with the ongoing realignment. Moves can happen within the shortest time if the parties involved see the opportunity.

Although the Cougars have been linked with the Big 12 for long, it still came as a shock when Colorado took steps in the direction of the Big 12. Remember that Kliavkoff had been super confident (or overconfident if you look at it now) about the loyalty of Pac-12 schools at the 2023 Media Day.

Eyes and ears are wide open for the next move in college football realignment.