After poaching five teams from the Mountain West conference, it appears the movement between the two leagues is over for now. UNLV and Air Force have officially decided to remain with the MWC along with the other five current members, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.
Per Dellenger, all seven schools in the conference plan to sign a binding agreement by Thursday to solidify the conference and its future. With the decision to stay, the MWC now has seven total members and six full-time members with Hawaii being a partial member.
The MWC now needs two more schools to qualify as an NCAA conference with the Pac-12 needing at least one more.
There are now two fewer options for the Pac-12 as it seeks to become eligible again, and despite rumors of discussions with Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, the league needs to add at least one more full-time member (both schools do not have football programs).
Earlier this week four schools from the American Athletic Conference re-committed to the league. Now the Pac-12 has even more searching to do.
Options for the Pac-12 could potentially be to explore the availability of California, Stanford and SMU from the Atlantic Coast Conference, but it could prove tough with the three schools joining the ACC this season.
There are also three other group of five conferences in the Mid-American, Sun Belt and Conference USA. With the Pac-12 already looking towards the state of Texas for expansion, one potential option could be Texas State from the Sun Belt.
Located in San Marcos, Texas, TSU would provide a new market for WSU as well as provide recent success in football and basketball with the Bobcats being 2-1 this season only losing to Arizona State 31-28. TSU also won the Sun Belt regular season championship in both 2021 and 22.
Lastly, there is the option of looking to the FCS level. Idaho University recently moved back down to the FCS level and regained football prominence making the FCS playoffs in 2023 and starting 2024 3-1 with a win over an FBS opponent in Wyoming on the road.
Despite all the expansion so far, there is at least one more spot in need of fulfillment for the Pac-12. The realignment season is still in full swing.
