The two-member Pac-12 is beginning a rebuild, starting with four schools in the Mountain West.
Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State will join the conference in 2026, the Pac-12 announced Thursday. The schools will officially join on July 1, 2026.
After conference realignment decimated the Pac-12, leaving only Oregon State and Washington State, the league had few options. The NCAA bylaws give conferences a two-year grace period to return to a minimum of eight members. Adding those four would bring the league to six for the 2026 season, and the momentum from that move could push that to eight or more, including the potential addition of more Mountain West schools, on a faster timeline.
“For more than a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics. We will continue to pursue bold, groundbreaking opportunities for growth and advancement to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould. “I am grateful to our board for their efforts to welcome Boise State University, Colorado State University, California State University, Fresno and San Diego State University to the conference. An exciting new era for the Pac-12 Conference begins today.”
Good morning! It’s a beautiful new day 😎#BackThePac photo.twitter.com/jfIU1Gk22u
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) September 12, 2024
It will be an expensive move. Each school must pay a $17 million exit fee for a planned departure more than a year in advance. In addition, the Pac-12/Mountain West football scheduling agreement signed last year calls for an additional payment totaling about $43 million for adding four schools. The agreement would have had no cost if the Pac-12 had absorbed all 12 schools.
But the Pac-12 has a war chest worth at least tens of millions of dollars from the departures of 10 former schools and the settlement agreement between the parties. It is likely that this would be used to cover at least some of the total $111 million owed in Mountain West exit fees.
Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said all schools will attend a conference on the bylaws and policies.
“Our board of directors will meet to determine our next steps,” Nevarez said.
Statement from Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez on the possibility of losing four members: photo.twitter.com/eLIRl7hH34
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) September 12, 2024
In addition to the exit fees, the four departing Mountain West schools will forfeit their league paychecks (roughly $7-8 million per year). But if the Mountain West is further plundered in realignment, it’s also possible that nine of the 12 members could vote to dissolve the conference, which would eliminate all those fees and save a lot of money.
The four Mountain West schools join a 108-year-old conference with a history, brand and intellectual property they still believe is valuable. The timing is fortunate, as the Mountain West’s TV deal runs through 2026, and the belief is they would make more TV money in a rebuilt Pac-12 without the least valuable Mountain West schools. The Mountain West schools currently make about $6 million per year per school through their TV deal, the second-highest amount among Group of 5 leagues.
The relationship between the Pac-12 and the Mountain West has become very frosty in recent months as The Athletics reported. Their attempt to extend the 2024 football schedule agreement to 2025 failed, with money being the main stumbling block. The Mountain West as a league felt it had the leverage in the negotiations. Instead, the Pac-12 convinced the Mountain West’s most valuable schools to jump ship.
GALLING DEEPER
What awaits the Pac-12 and Mountain West now that they missed the 2025 scheduling deadline?
The four schools are seen as the biggest and most important targets for the Pac-12, with future additions to be made after a core is created. The rebuilt league could remain regional with more Mountain West additions, or try to expand nationally with teams from other Group of 5 conferences. Stanford and Cal remain tied to the ACC on the other side of the country, and Florida State and Clemson’s lawsuits with the league show that it’s hard to get out (if Stanford and Cal even want to). But Oregon State and Washington State have long kept an eye on the ACC in case it breaks up.
Oregon State and Washington State’s only path to the College Football Playoff in 2024 and 2025 is as an at-large bid. In a rebuilt Pac-12, the conference champion would have a shot at one of five automatic bids given to conference champions. The only thing that’s certain for the 2026 CFP and beyond is that at least five conference champions will have spots, no matter how large the field, with the Big Ten and SEC making the most money.
It’s perhaps no coincidence that Pac-12 expansion became official this week. Oregon State hosts Oregon on Saturday for the game on Fox, while Washington State and Washington play on Peacock. With the biggest spotlight of the season on the two remaining schools for their rival games, the conversation can now shift from one of pity for the country for being left behind in redistricting to a more positive narrative as the potential rebuilding process begins.
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(Photo: Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
