THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Cougars, Beavers choose to do unto others

So much for taking the high road. 

Wazzu and Oregon State have decided that the business of athletics sometimes involves slapping your colleagues — and then running off with some of them. 

Some, not all. 

We know all about how it was done to the Cougs and Beavers by the bigger schools in the Pac-12, producing a wave of sympathy for the two programs left behind. 

Now, the those two victims have looked at landscape of college athletics, and said: “A year or two from now, nobody will remember who misled whom? 

“And nobody will care.” 

So, after all the whining and heartbreak when they got left alone on a glacier in Greenland, the Victim Two decided the best response was to take the low road. 

Hey, there are schools with less clout than them, right? 

Why not do unto others as the bullies did unto you? 

You’ve heard about the result. 

Party invitations were sent to Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State — and all four replied: “Lovely. We’re in.” 

Thus, the Pac-2 of earlier this week is now the Pac-6 (as of 2026), and they’re on the hunt for at least two more schools to meet NCAA regulations for big boy conferences. 

REWARDS for the new group are not to be ignored. 

Among other things, the Pac-12 will remain eligible for the College Football Playoff — and likewise will be happy recipients of resulting paydays. 

Not just the CFP, but units from March Madness and everything else. 

It’s turned out that Washington State and Oregon State were sitting on a valuable commodity, and they will have no trouble adding those mandatory two more spots. 

In fact, they could poach more schools than that, but why split the TV money into additional slices unless totally necessary. 

If you’re hearing this announcement, and thinking that the current Pac-2 are treating leftover members of the Mountain West almost exactly the way they themselves got thrown off the train by their partners of more than a century … hey, Yahtzee! 

You’ve got it! 

Wazzu will no doubt take the position that it had no choice, that if (God forbid) it had decided to partner with the Mountain West, it couldn’t pay those bills left over from its days in the Big Boy Conference. 

In these wild and bizarre of college athletics, crazy as it might be, the Cougs’ rationale for rebuilding Pac-12 somehow seems fair. 

As long we all admit that the goal here is monetizing athletics — as opposed to operating an academic institution with sports just for fun — then you can defend almost anything. 

We’ve already reached the point of turning college athletes into outright professionals, so what’s the problem? 

THE ODD thing about this latest bit of juggling conference neighborhoods is that it actually feels like a surprise. 

I suppose that when the Pac-12 splintered last August, and the Sayonara-10 left for greater riches, there was a general assumption that Wazzu and OSU would go broke. 

Or play Cal State-Bakersfield several times per year. 

And THEN go broke. 

People inside the programs, the conferences and the business side of the game, however, always knew there was a greater truth running this show. 

As long as media need programming, there’s going to be cash for everyone. 

The only real question, right from the beginning, was: “How much?” 

The SEC and Big Ten are in line for stupendous riches, allowing their NIL operations to haul stupendous nose tackles to campus. 

A starring quarterback in one of those programs is worth more than Taylor Swift’s jets. 

But that doesn’t mean that there won’t be handsome amounts left over for other conferences. 

They’ve got to find SOME games for various time slots. 

The New Pac-12, which almost surely will begin life as an eight-team entity, is going to be worth a lot of money. 

You can take that to the bank. 

So to speak.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com 

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens. 

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”