Pac-12 on life support as Stanford and Cal remain the only hope for George Kliavkoff to keep his conference intact: Reports

The Pac-12 appears close to cease being a conference. Over the last year, eight of the 12 schools have left for different reasons, leaving Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State as the remaining four schools.

However, Stanford and Cal have been trying to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the hope is it will be finalized soon. If the two schools join the ACC, OSU and WSU will be forced to join other conferences, pushing the Pac-12 to non-existence, according to reports.

"Wednesday Update: If Stanford & Cal go to the ACC then the PAC is gone forever! The American and the Mountain will be ready to take Oregon State and Washington State to join in 2024."

Having the Pac-12 not existing would be an unfortunate ending to a historic conference, but it's something many expected after so many schools left. The hope was the Pac-12 and commissioner George Kliavkoff would be able to add schools.

"Today’s news is incredibly disappointing for student-athletes, fans, alumni and staff of the Pac-12 who cherish the over 100-year history, tradition and rivalries of the Conference of Champions.

"We remain focused on securing the best possible future for each of our member universities," the Pac-12 wrote in a statement.

However, that didn't happen. The new plan was to either merge with the Mountain West Conference or American Athletic Conference, which also appears unlikely now.

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Where will OSU and WSU go, with Pac-12 future uncertaain?

With Stanford and Cal likely to join the ACC, what happens to Oregon State and Washington State is uncertain.

OSU and WSU have been loyal to the Pac-12 as both ADs recently came out and shared their optimism that the conference would survive. After Oregon and Washington left the Pac-12, both schools were reportedly furious, as it likely ended their rivalries and was one of the final straws to break the Pac-12.

Should the Pac-12 dissolve, as many foresee, the expectation is that OSU and WSU will either go to the MWC or AAC. However, both would no longer play Power 5 football, which would be bad news for the future of the two football programs.