UPDATE: On Thursday, Oregon State also announced that they have also agreed to a two-year affiliate deal with the West Coast Conference. The sports involved in the deal also include men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, rowing, soccer, tennis and volleyball. Just like Washington State, the Beavers' two-year agreement will begin in the fall of 2024. * * * Earlier today, Washington State University announced that 10 of their athletic programs will be joining the West Coast Conference on a two-year "affiliate agreement." The sports involved in the deal include men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, rowing, soccer, tennis and volleyball. The two-year agreement will begin in the fall of 2024. Washington State and Oregon State remain as the only two schools that have yet to find a new conference to join (over the long-term) following the rapid mass exodus from the PAC-12 earlier this year. As such, the Cougars have found a temporary solution for the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year, the effective starting point for when the recent conference realignment begins. However, by having 10 different athletic programs temporarily join the West Coast Conference, the Cougars will be able to compete for WCC cross country titles as soon as next fall. It should also be noted that track and field is not included as part of the two-year affiliate deal. The West Coast Conference, while far from a national power, does feature a handful of talented distance programs such as Portland and Gonzaga. Both of those teams just sent their men's cross country squads to the 2023 NCAA XC Championships this past fall. BYU previously headlined the West Coast Conference, although the Provo-based institution recently joined the BIG 12 at the beginning of the current academic year. This past fall, the Washington State men finished 6th out of nine teams at the PAC-12 XC Championships while the women finished 9th out of 12 teams. Neither team has finished higher than 5th place at the PAC-12 XC Championships during this millennium. However, the Cougars are a program that have been able to quietly develop a handful of strong individuals over the last few years.

No Ben this week, but Maura is back at it again with an episode full of discussion alongside Garrett! This week, Maura and Garrett chat about some of the more difficult athletes to gauge when it came to crafting our indoor track preseason rankings. Be sure to listen, subscribe and review! Kaylee Mitchell (2:24) Kimberley May (3:50) Joe Waskom, Nathan Green & Luke Houser (6:54) Isaac Basten (8:36) Kelsey Chmiel (10:19) Ceili McCabe (11:43) Anass Essayi (13:20) Adam Spencer (16:29) Meghan Hunter (17:54) Margot Appleton (19:13) Sam Austin (20:38) Oussama El Bouchayby (22:35) Melissa Riggins (25:03) Carley Thomas (27:17) Ronan McMahon-Staggs (29:14) Drew Bosley (31:34) Amaris Tyynismaa (32:59) Kenzie Doyle (35:13) Casey Clinger (36:43) Yaseen Abdalla (38:43) You can listen to that episode (and others) on our PODCASTS  page! You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Soundcloud. If you like it, be sure to leave us a rating  and a review ! Note: If you're having issues loading the episode on the site via mobile, try refreshing  the episode page. We will look into this issue for future episodes.