THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Former WSU coach Walden on how to save what's left of the Pac

Are you ready for the scrappy Pac-2?

Even as the world is collapsing around them, Washington State and Oregon State remain defiant — and intend to become the pillars of a rebuilt Pac-Something.

If the Cougs and Beavs pull this off amid the grubby begging for dollars in conferences everywhere else (including once-honorable schools like Stanford, which we’ll discuss shortly), it would constitute a shocking rebuttal to the disgraceful realignment that’s taken place everywhere else.

I have plenty to say about Stanford and Cal, world renowned institutions that appear to outsiders as though, first, that they’re too arrogant to associate with state universities; and second, that their claims of concern for Olympic athletes are nonsense — most of those young men and women want nothing to do with cross-country jaunts to compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

That first item, Stanford in particular looking down its nose at the likes of Mountain West schools, is truly disgraceful.

Athletes from Stanford and Cal — like competitors everywhere — study and work out and then get on with it, whether they’re facing opponents from Clemson or Wyoming.

Somehow, that part of collegiate athletics seems utterly lost on some many university leaders — and big-shot alums who can and do pressure them.

Oh, and how ironic that Stanford’s president, Marc Tessier-Levigne, has just resigned after an academic scandal.

IF YOU care about the fate of the athletic programs at Wazzu and Oregon State — and across the western U.S. in general — it’s more galling than humorous that Stanford’s absurd begging to join a conference that’s literally a nation away was in the hands of Tessier-Levigne, a prominent neuroscientist who faced possible censure for data manipulation.

Tessier-Levigne was cleared of the worst charges, but resigned for “lack of oversight.”

How appropriate.

I’m using up too many words on Stanford (Cal is the follower here), only because a plan to keep the Pac-12 Conference up and running would be easier with four holdover schools than just two.

There are some scenarios, however, is which the destination of those Bay Area universities might not matter at all.

I mentioned in an earlier column that former WSU coach and broadcaster Jim Walden — still sharp and feisty, trust me — has some serious thoughts about keeping the Pac-12 in business.

The coach REALLY knows the territory here, and his thoughts are worth adding to all discussions.

For starters, Walden bangs on over a critical item that people seem to forget in this crusade.

Money.

“No matter what schools wind up getting involved, whether you do a merger with the Mountain West and maybe add or subtract teams from there,” Walden said, “there has to be a decent media rights deal to make it work.”

Mountain West programs receive around $5 million per year from ESPN (Boise gets $1.8 million extra, maybe just for having blue turf), and schools in the American Athletic Conference are also ESPN clients and earn about $7 million annually.

There actually is no real reason to turn college football on its ear to save the Pac-12 as a legal entity unless the payouts trump those of the Mountain West and the AAC.

Otherwise, Washington State and Oregon State would simply choose the best-looking invitation and go.

“Where can they get the revenue to make this thing work?” Walden asked.

“I think they need Apple to come back to the table, which might be a cinch because Apple really wants a streaming foothold in college football.”

FOR THE record, Apple ultimately had seemed prepared to offer $25 million guarantees to the previous Pac-12 (with USC, UCLA and Colorado already gone) — additional money coming via subscriptions to its Apple TV streaming service.

Walden suggests that Wazzu and its potential partners from any conference “think like Apple” if they want a flying start to rebuilding the Pac-12.

No doubt the guarantee numbers would be lower with this second generation of teams, but Apple’s desire to add college football to a growing portfolio very well might double (or better) the ESPN money available to potential programs under current deals.

What so many fans on the outside are missing is that we are headed, sooner than you might think, to almost an entire streaming landscape for live sports.

It’s coming, and it likely will succeed first with fans of schools like Wazzu, Oregon State, and the gang from both the Mountain West and American.

“A lot of these teams are in rural areas,” Walden said. “They have loyal fan bases, but it’s tough to get to a lot of games. You give them a deal where they can see their teams on TV for 10 bucks or so, and they’ll go for it.

“Apple might accidentally have landed in a better place than with the Pac-12 of a month ago.”

WALDEN also likes the idea of adding Army (currently an independent with a terrible schedule) and Navy to the planning — because of a huge national fan base that would lend itself to Apple TV subscriptions.

We know that Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez and American boss Mike Aresco have visited Pullman and Corvallis — and not just for the local charm.

Longtime sports administrator and exec Oliver Luck is working with the two schools to piece together a revival of the Pac-12.

The legalities seem to be in order.

The conference exists, even with only two schools, and can receive its pre-planned allotment of revenue from the College Football Playoff, NCAA hoops tourney units and so forth.

If the giants (Big Ten, SEC, etc.) try to simply will or vote the Pac-12 out of their lives, they would have reason to fear a lawsuit — which nobody wants.

So, it’s not fantasy.

It’s likely we’re talking about a striking a deal with Apple and reworking some current ESPN contracts, thus offering both streaming and linear TV broadcasts.

Complicated, yes, but doable.

This idea of a “Conference Mouse that Roared” could actually happen.

Stay tuned.

Email: [email protected]

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.”