It turns out no matter how the soon-to-be-former members of the Pac-12 realigned, they were going to do so without Oregon State and Washington State.

Brett McMurphy of Action Network reported one Pac-12 president contacted a Big 12 counterpart and asked if the league "could take all of us, except for Oregon State and Washington State."

It's unclear what the answer to that question was, but the plan did not come to fruition. Oregon and Washington wound up committing to join the Big Ten, while Arizona, Arizona State and Utah joined Colorado in leaving for the Big 12.

Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State are the lone remaining members of the Pac-12.

Ultimately, this report does not do much besides shed light on the behind-the-scenes workings—and serve as an insult to the Oregon State and Washington State fanbases. Oregon State has defeated its cross-state rival in two of the last three football seasons and comes into 2023 expected to compete for a premier bowl game, but it's Oregon that was the target of the Big Ten, along with Washington.

Washington State has not had much success on the gridiron since the end of the Mike Leach era, but Washington spent more than a decade flailing from 2002 until 2013.

There are fair gripes from both schools at being left out in the cold entirely, and it's possible Cal and Stanford wind up finding home that leave Oregon State and Washington State in the lurch.

Both Cal and Stanford would be considered more premier targets from outside conferences, though the Pac-12's future is completely up in the air at this point. It's possible the conference looks to poach schools from non-Power Fives in the coming months, but the uncertainty regarding its media rights package could cause hesitation.

As it stands, a once-powerful conference is on life support.