THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: WSU vs. Oregon State on Saturday — and then what?

Yes, the Mariners are battling for the postseason this weekend, slugging it out with the Rangers down in Texas.

Yes, the Seahawks face Carolina at home in a game that could decide which direction their season will go.

Yes, even the Kraken are in camp and fighting to improve on last year’s thrilling Stanley Cup playoff season, with the regular-season opener against champion Las Vegas less than three weeks away.

Despite all that excitement and some of the big-time stakes involved, however, the most fascinating event on the local schedule comes Saturday.

That’s when No. 14-ranked Oregon State visits Wazzu (No. 21) for a few hours of football in what should be a madhouse down at Martin Stadium.

Both teams are 3-0, both are well rested after hammering overmatched foes a week ago, and both have lofty goals further along this season.

And yet, the game itself is almost a sideshow alongside what has become known as the most unique Power Five conference imaginable.

The Pac-2.

THIS IS a real thing.

Next season, this same matchup could be part of a home-and-home series, as each school works to fill out a 12-game schedule (or less, if absolutely necessary).

Indeed, the Cougs and their likewise homeless cousins could play the 2024 season — and perhaps another one after that — as independents.

You’re looking at what happens when schools are abandoned by everyone else in the Pac-12, all of them in search of dollars instead of sensible regional competition in a conference that has existed for 108 years.

If nothing else, the rush to the Big Ten (USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington), the Big 12 (Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State) and laughably, the Atlantic Coast Conference (Stanford and Cal) tells us once and for all that these universities care about funding top tier football – and that all other sports are meaningless.

The merger involving Stanford, Cal and the ACC is so ridiculous that the conference is considering using Dallas as a site for everything but football and basketball.

By the way, I don’t want to get any further into this rant without mentioning that Wazzu has volleyball and soccer teams ranked in the top 25 nationally.

Oregon State is routinely one of America’s collegiate baseball powerhouses.

What happens now to all these programs at the two schools?

Six matchups per year against Loma Linda University?

Sorry, I’m getting angry and losing the precise point here.

Apologies.

Back to our two schools and the notion of playing as independents.

Notre Dame does it for the money (a contract with NBC).

BYU tried it for the same reason, and found scheduling for football just too much of a headache.

With WSU and Oregon State, the point would be stalling for time — working to set up media rights deals for a “new” Pac-12 while letting contracts expire for teams in the Mountain West and maybe the American Athletic Conference (Tulane, Rice, etc.).

ONE WAY or another, Wazzu and Oregon State will be together in a conference sometime in the next couple of years.

As founding members, no less.

Legalities suggest it will be a continuation of the Pac-12.

The recent ruling by the judge in Whitman County was a solid slap in the face for the 10 schools fleeing the conference.

It came up in that hearing that the departing schools planned to have the Pac-12 pay some of their “transition costs” to their new, richer conferences.

That takes some serious gall, but then, any notion of being fair to the two schools left behind has long since been abandoned.

What happens down the road is still up in the air.

WSU and OSU have retained the very smart and connected Oliver Luck to help them make the most practical moves going forward.

The plan you hear most often is a “reverse merger” with the Mountain West, in which the two schools join and bring the Pac-12 name (plus assorted contracts) with them.

LATELY, a suggestion has popped up involving addition of two more schools (North Dakota State and South Dakota State, maybe), and splitting the new “Pac-16” into two divisions – complete with promotion and relegation like European soccer leagues.

That’s a complicated arrangement to put in place, but the main goal would be to allow the most successful programs to receive a larger share of conference revenue.

If it happens, watch for Power Five conferences to copy some version of the “Pac-12 model.”

Michigan and Ohio State would be all in for it, I promise you.

Rutgers, not so much.

No matter how things shake out for this new/old Pac-12, the two schools propping it up need time.

They can let the clock run by playing as independents, letting a professional help fill out schedules for a year or two.

You would THINK some non-conference games against their former conference siblings would help.

However, since Washington was happy to drop the Cougs by the side of the road without even a bottle of water, can you picture the Huskies agreeing to a game in Pullman?

Hah.

It’s more likely the Cougs will be playing Army at West Point.

So be it.

Washington State and Oregon State will survive.

And do well.

Meantime, they can butt heads and have some fun on Saturday.

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.”