Report: Oregon, Washington Headed to the Big Ten in 2024

Summer 2023: store that epoch away for later sports trivia when someone asks "when was it that the Pac-12 evaporated before our eyes?"

Like a parking lot puddle left after a passing August rain storm, the Pac-12 -- once known as "The Conference of Champions" -- seems to be disappearing by the minute. On Friday, sources told ESPN CFB Senior Writer Pete Thamel that Pacific Northwest rivals Oregon and Washington have officially applied to the Big Ten Conference for active membership in the 2024 academic year and beyond. The Big Ten is expected to vote unanimously on Friday night in favor of the move, accepting their 17th and 18th full-time members.

Naturally, this all comes on the heels of UCLA and USC previously deciding to join the Big Ten, with the LA schools also joining in 2024. Additionally, Colorado has recently announced a return to the Big 12 in 2024 -- the conference they were a part of when they won their lone national championship in football (1990).

If all plays out as projected, the Pac-12 will officially be losing five universities -- including four flagship institutions of the West Coast -- for the 2024-25 season. Colorado has been a full-time Pac-12 member since only 2011, but Oregon (1916), UCLA (1928), USC (1922) and Washington (1916) all go back to the days of the Pacific Coast Conference, which eventually transitioned into the Pac-8 by 1968.

As it is now, half of the original Pac-8 will be departing after this season. That would leave behind Bay Area academic powerhouses Cal and Stanford along with Wazzu and Oregon State along with Utah, Arizona and Arizona State. But the Wildcats could be on the move next -- Arizona is rumored to be in talks to join the Big 12; stay tuned on that front.

Of the seven (for now) remaining Pac-12 schools, Utah is the only school to have won the conference football title since 2015. Heading into this season, the top three favorites to win the 2023 Pac-12 Championship Game -- USC +200, Oregon +320 and Washington +340, per the odds at FanDuel Sportsbook -- are all set to be in their final year of Pac-12 play before changing conferences.

Welcome to college football in the modern era.

*Denotes 2022 Pac-12 Championship Game participant

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