Pac-12 Adds Four Mountain West Schools

Pac-12 Is Not Going Anywhere. Not Yet Anyway

As the great LL Cool J sang, "Don't Call it Comeback, We've Been Here for Years." That's right, the Pac-12 is not going anywhere. They are not dead yet.

The best conference last year in college football is rebuilding and retooling. On Thursday morning, the Pac-12 announced they will add San Diego State, Boise State, Colorado State, and Fresno State from the Mountain West conference. Those schools will begin play in that conference during the 2026-27 season. 

https://twitter.com/pac12/status/1834217156432855110

Look, the college football landscape is changing. The Pac-12 got raided before the start of the 2023-24 season. The conference lost Washington, Oregon, UCLA, and USC to the Big Ten. Then Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah went to the Big 12. Later, Stanford and California joined the ACC, leaving Washington State and Oregon as the only members of the Pac-12.

There were many options on the table. For now, the NCAA gave the Pac-12 a two-year window to rebuild and allowed them to compete in a two-team conference. However, if they did not add more teams to the conference, it would not be considered an FBS conference. All the realignment and money destroyed 100 years of the Pac-12's history overnight.

Again, the Pac-12 is to blame, too, because they could not secure a TV deal to keep all those schools in the conference. However, it is a new day for the Pac-12 coming out of nowhere to stay alive in the college football landscape. 

"For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics," Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement. "We will continue to pursue bold cutting-edge opportunities for growth and progress, to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes. I am thankful 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."

However, the Pac-12 will have to offset the exit fees with schools departing the Mountain West Conference. 

The Mountain West Conference will receive $111 million in exit fees as part of the agreement. The departing Mountain West schools must each pay a minimum of a $17 million exit fee, which the Pac-12 is expected to help offset, according to those at the Action Network. Also, the Pac-12 must pay the MWC $43 million for poaching the 4 Mountain West schools as part of a scheduling agreement between the two conferences.

"The Mountain West Conference is aware of media reports regarding the potential departure of several of our members, and we will have more to say in the days ahead," Nevarez said. "All members will be held to the Conference bylaws and policies should they elect to depart. The requirements of the scheduling agreement will apply to the Pac-12 should they admit Mountain West members. Our Board of Directors is meeting to determine our next steps. The Mountain West has a proud 25-year history and will continue to thrive in the years ahead."

The key now is for the Pac-12 to land that TV deal they need to survive. They will jump to the front of the list with networks like TNT, ESPN, and other streaming services looking to fill content. The Pac-12, a stepchild long ago, had leverage once.