Transparency Item: This is the opinion and perspective of the writer.
Ask a random sports fan if they have ever heard of the University of Pacific Athletics, and they probably would say “no.” Ask that same fan if they have heard of Oregon State Athletics, and they almost certainly would say “yes.”
Oregon State University (OSU) and Washington State University (WSU) are two schools that have produced plenty of high skilled teams such as Oregon State’s 2021 Men’s Basketball team that went to the Elite Eight and skilled players such as Klay Thompson, a WSU alum and former NBA champion. Pepperdine Athletics as well as the rest of the West Coast Conference (WCC) will now have a chance to compete with these college programs.
The disbandment of the Pac-12, means OSU and WSU will participate in the WCC for the following sports: Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Men’s and Women’s golf and Women’s Rowing, Soccer, Volleyball and Cross Country. Only OSU will compete in Softball and Men’s Soccer, while only WSU will compete in Men’s Cross Country and Women’s Tennis, according to a report by the Graphic earlier this year.
The move by OSU and WSU into the WCC has great potential to be influential given the historical press the two programs have previously received.
The former conference of the Pac-12 reportedly brought in a revenue of $580.9 million in 2022 averaging out to roughly $48.2 million per team, according to USA Today. In contrast, the West Coast Conference brought in a revenue of $12.6 million that same year, averaging out to $1.26 million per team, according to ProPublica.
A lot of the revenue the Pac-12 received will be going toward the football programs of WSU and OSU — a sport the WCC does not have — as football is the college sport with the highest revenue, according to PlayToday.
However, if a school invests in one of their athletic sports, that investment may lead to shared benefits for all of their sports; the University of Minnesota reported they created an athlete dining hall to give football players post-game meals, but the dining hall is also open to all other student athletes.
It may be tough to determine how much funding goes into each sport. There is a high likelihood that each WSU and OSU program such as men’s basketball or women’s soccer get more funding than their respective WCC counterparts. Yet even with this difference in funding, Pepperdine Athletics has still often outperformed their new opponents.
Both Pepperdine’s Men’s and Women’s Golf teams both finished in the top eight of the NCAA finals, whereas neither OSU nor WSU placed in the top 20, according to NCAA.com. Pepperdine’s Women’s Soccer finished with a better record than both new teams, and Pepperdine Women’s Tennis has a higher ITA ranking (39) than Washington State (unranked).
Despite the differences in each school’s athletics revenues, Pepperdine has shown they can compete with both of the new WCC additions. By going head-to-head against WSU and OSU, Pepperdine athletes will have an additional chance to show students and the general public just how good they are, regardless of the facilities that other schools may have.
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Follow the Graphic on X: @PeppGraphic
Email Alex Clarke: alexander.clarke@pepperdine.edu
