All is lost – or so some may have thought when the Pac-12 was left with just WSU and Oregon State University following the announced mass annex of the 2023 off-season. But the Pac-12 Conference has gained the reinforcements of four Mountain West Conference schools to put the league at six teams.
The Pac-12 announced at 6:05 a.m. Thursday, Boise State University, Colorado State University, Fresno State and San Diego State University will join in 2026, following the Pac-12’s two-year grace period.
The Pac-12 and Mountain West agreed on a scheduling agreement for the 2024 football season in the offseason but let the deadline for a 2025 extension come and go. Now, the Pac-12 pivots from alternative scheduling options and grabs four West Coast Universities from the conference instead.
According to the Pac-12 statement, the board voted unanimously to admit the four schools, and they will join the conference effective July 1, 2026, with athletic competition for all sports beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.
“We are honored to welcome the distinguished leadership of Boise State University President Dr. Marlene Tromp, Colorado State University President Amy Parsons, California State University, Fresno President Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, and San Diego State University President Dr. Adela de la Torre to the Pac-12 Board of Directors. We eagerly anticipate their uniquely insightful contributions during this transformative era for the conference and collegiate athletics,” OSU and WSU presidents Jayathi Murphy and Kirk Schultz said in a joint statement.
The NCAA requires conferences to have at least eight members, so the Pac-12 still has more work to do. According to the statement, the six schools will “collaboratively chart additional membership and other future conference considerations.”
According to MWC bylaws, departing schools must pay an $18 million exit fee if they give two years’ notice, with the number doubling for any less than that. Each new school is expecting to pay $18 million, equating to more than $70 million total, with the additional $43 million the Pac-12 will owe the MWC in poaching fees established in the two leagues’ scheduling agreement.
Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould told columnist Jon Canzano the Pac-12 had set aside $65 million in settlement money for a potential rebuild, leaving around $22 million remaining.
According to Navigate, a private sports consulting firm hired by the Pac-12, the departing MWC schools are expected to receive around $10 million annually in their new conference.
The Pac-12 is now first in line on the collegiate TV deal front, according to Bob Thompson, Principal for the Thompson Sports Group LLC, former Fox Sports Networks president and Big Ten Network co-founder. ESPN may look for more West Coast games, TNT needs content and FOX and CBS split the current MWC package, Thompson said on X.
The CW currently broadcasts the Pac-12. Streaming services like Apple TV, which was rumored to be interested in a Pac-12 deal previously, could still be interested, Thompson said.
The question will be if big services will buy into the legitimacy of the newly constructed conference.
If the Pac-12 can expand to eight teams, they also will re-insert themselves into the College Football Playoff picture. Under current CFP guidelines, the champion of an eight-team Pac-12 would be eligible for an automatic bid in 2026.
The Pac-12, which WSU and OSU have bought into throughout the entire realignment process, has taken a massive step towards re-establishing itself at least within the NCAA, if not among Power-5 leagues.
Adding at least two more schools is the final step, and the Pac-12 has options. Recent departures like the University of California Berkeley and Stanford University sit amid a rumored shaky ACC conference.
Other options are the remainder of the teams in the MWC, especially those in larger markets like the University of Nevada Las Vegas and San Jose State University, or a wild card like the University of Hawaii.
Then there is the option to look at other conferences like the American Athletic Conference.
From 2023 until now, WSU and OSU fans saw 10 teams they had come to know as conference foes depart in search of brighter horizons. At least for now, it seems the Pac-12 is finally putting forth to action their plan to rebuild and revitalize the conference that Cougs and Beavs alike call home.
