Washington State has a 2024 football schedule.

No conference, but 12 opponents.

Still waiting on the Washington Supreme Court to decide who has the right to spend cash belonging to the dying Pac-12.

OK, I said no conference, but that’s not technically true.

We do have the exciting Pac-2.

The title game in that one is set against Oregon State on Nov. 23 in Corvallis.

You know how coaches have to warn players not to look past a certain game because they have, like, a championship matchup on the horizon?

Turns out Jake Dickert can use that line on his guys for 11 games — none of which count toward any conference standings.

Maybe some will factor in to consideration for a bowl game — seriously, there are 41 of them this year — but we don’t know that yet.

In fact, there’s a lot we don’t know, including the dates for eight of the 12 games.

What’s certain is that the Cougs will play Portland State and Texas Tech at home to start the season, then go to Seattle for a “neutral site” (lol) Apple Cup scrap against UW at Lumen Field.

I guess that agreement was one last slap across the face from the Huskies en route to the Big Ten.

I DON’T need to tell you that WSU and Oregon State got screwed in this whole realignment deal, and what we can hope is that sanity prevails in the next set of TV deals and various conference changes.

“Hello, ACC?”

In the meantime, this looks very much like a step toward the Mountain West — even though the new entity eventually likely will be called the Pac-12 if Wazzu and OSU win that legal scrum.

Next season, the Cougs and Beavers each are playing six “official” Mountain West opponents, three home and three away.

The schedule looks a little odd, because Wazzu already had games against San Diego State and San Jose State on the schedule.

Those two will stay, but not as part of the MWC arrangement.

Got that?

The Cougs will play Utah State, Wyoming and Hawaii at Martin Stadium, and visit Boise State, New Mexico and Fresno State as part of the “official” Mountain West partnership.

Is that what we’re calling it?

Partnership?

For now, anyway, I suppose it’ll do.
Meanwhile, over in the Pac-2’s West Division, Oregon State draws UNLV, San Jose State and Colorado State at home, with Air Force, Nevada and Boise State on the road.

Like Wazzu, the Beavs had a previously scheduled game set at San Diego State, and yes, it will be played — but NOT as a piece of the partnership.

You’re getting the hang of this, right?

IT’S HARD to see this all playing out as anything but an engagement prior to marriage between the Pac-2 and the Mountain West.

Known as the Pac-12, almost surely.

The big question, which certainly won’t be answered for two years, is whether that new conference will retain Power Five status.

You’d think the big boys and their TV partners would squash that idea the instant it comes up, but the Cougs and Oregon State do have a little juice in future negotiations.

For one thing, they can block anything the Fleeing-10 attempt to do at the board level — as they’ve shown by prohibiting distribution of revenue for this current school year.

Yes, they’re holding the other 10 hostage.

I love it.

Also, and this could wind up meaning a great deal, Wazzu president Kirk Schulz is a member of the College Football Playoff executive committee — a group which needs unanimous votes to take action on anything.

Schulz has said he won’t keep everyone at gunpoint to prevent a useful change.

But the hammer is still there.

I wonder if all those other CFP suits really believe Schulz.

Behind closed doors, they could be saying: “Would Kirk make life difficult for us if we don’t help him?”

I love that, too.

I’m tempted to say that we all knew how this was going to turn out, but the insane circumstances that now have swallowed up college sports suggest that anything could happen.

Meanwhile, when do Wazzu and Oregon State figure out schedules for all their other sports?

Never mind.

Football decides everything.

Guh!

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.”