Pac-12 expansion candidates to sustain watchdog status until they get an answer to 3 questions from PAC or George Kliavkoff: Reports

The Pac-12 is down to four schools, and three of them are holding out for an answer from the conference or their commissioner George Kliavkoff.

The Pac-12 has said that the focus is on adding schools in expansion or merging with the Mountain West Conference or American Athletic Conference, but nothing has come to fruition yet.

According to CFB reporter Jim Williams, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State are in a holding pattern and waiting to get three questions answered by the Pac-12.

"1. They need to see what a new PAC 8-12-14 media deal looks like and the payouts. 2. Is paying the exit fees worth making the jump 3. How long can the PAC remain a P4 conference."

One of the most important questions is what the media rights deal looks like and what the payouts are. Some Pac-12 schools were not happy with the Apple deal, which forced them to jump ship to other conferences.

Moreover, another big question is will the Pac-12 remain a Power 5 conference or not. Stanford coach Troy Taylor has been adamant that the school is only interested in playing Power 5 football.

"I think the players that committed to us and came here. They want to play Power 5 football, and that is what our intention is with this university," Taylor said. "I can't imagine anything else."

If the Pac-12 can't remain a Power 5 conference, perhaps the three aforementioned schools could look to leave the conference.

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Does Oregon State want to leave Pac-12?

Oregon State has been loyal to the Pac-12 from the start and felt blindsided by some schools leaving the conference.

After the news that Oregon and Washington were going to the Big Ten, and Arizona, Arizona State and Utah were off to the Big 12, Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes said that it was a big surprise.

“We were literally hours away from a deal that everybody could embrace,” Barnes told the Oregonian... "I’ve never seen so many last-minute decisions and twists and turns as I’ve seen through this process.

"Conference realignment just doesn’t make sense anymore. What this enterprise was built on was regionality and rivalries. That is gone. That is leaving the Pac-12. Some of the most special pieces about our model is regionality of competition and rivalries. Those things are forgotten.”

Washington State also released a statement following the news, saying that they're disappointed that schools have left the Pac-12. Although WSU and OSU are loyal to the Pac-12, whether they remain in the conference with just four schools remains to be seen.