The two-member Pac-12 is aiming to rebuild, starting with four Mountain West schools.
Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State are expected to apply for membership and an announcement could come as soon as Thursday, multiple people with knowledge of the situation told The Athletic. Yahoo Sports first reported the move.
After conference realignment decimated the Pac-12 and left it with just Oregon State and Washington State, the league was left with few options. NCAA bylaws provide conferences with a two-year grace period to get back to a minimum of eight members. The addition of these four would get the league up to six for the 2026 season, and the momentum of that move could get that to eight or more, including the potential addition of more Mountain West schools, on a quicker timeline.
SOURCE: The Pac-12 is targeting Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Colorado State for expansion. An announcement could come as soon as tomorrow, @TheAthletic has learned.
Rebuild underway. @RossDellenger first reported.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) September 12, 2024
It would be an expensive move. For one, each school would be required to pay a $17 million exit fee for a planned leave more than a year in advance. In addition, the Pac-12/Mountain West football scheduling agreement signed last year would require an additional payment totaling around $43 million for adding four schools. The agreement would’ve charged no fees if the Pac-12 absorbed all 12 schools.
But the Pac-12 has a war chest valued at least in the high tens of millions of dollars from the departure of 10 former schools and the settlement agreement between the sides. It is likely that would be used to cover at least some of the $111 million in total owed through Mountain West exit fees.
For the four Mountain West schools expected to leave, they would join a 108-year-old conference with a history, brand and intellectual property it still believes to be valuable. The timing is fortuitous, as the Mountain West’s TV deal runs to 2026, and the belief is they would earn more TV money in a rebuilt Pac-12, without the least-valuable Mountain West schools. Mountain West schools currently earn around $6 million annually per school through its TV deal, second-most among Group of 5 leagues.
The relationship between the Pac-12 and Mountain West got very icy in recent months, as The Athletic has reported. Their attempt to extend the 2024 football scheduling agreement for 2025 fell apart, with money being the main sticking point. The Mountain West as a league felt it had the leverage in the negotiations. Instead, the Pac-12 appears to have been able to convince the Mountain West’s most valuable schools to jump ship, if the move is finalized.
GO DEEPER
What’s next for Pac-12, Mountain West after missing 2025 scheduling deadline?
Those four schools are considered the biggest and most important targets for the Pac-12, with future additions to be hammered out after creating a core. The rebuilt league could stay 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’s and Clemson’s lawsuits with the league show it’s hard to get out (if Stanford and Cal would even want to). But Oregon State and Washington State have long kept an eye on the ACC in case it began to fracture.
It may not be coincidental that the Pac-12 hopes to make the moves official this week. Oregon State hosts Oregon on Saturday with the game on Fox, while Washington State and Washington will play each other on Peacock. With the biggest spotlight of the season on the two leftover schools for their rivalry games, the conversation may now switch from being pitied by the country for being left behind in realignment, to a more positive narrative as the potential rebuild begins.
Required reading
- Why the Mountain West and Pac-12 leftovers’ shared realignment future is no longer a given
- ‘All hell broke loose’: The chaotic final days that shook the Pac-12 and college football to their core
(Photo: Kirby Lee / Getty Images)
Get all-access to exclusive stories.
Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.
Chris Vannini covers national college football issues and the coaching carousel for The Athletic. A co-winner of the FWAA’s Beat Writer of the Year Award in 2018, he previously was managing editor of CoachingSearch.com. Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisVannini
