After being decimated by realignment, the Pac-12 started its rebuild by signing four schools from the Mountain West Conference.
Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Colorado State will join the conference in 2026, the Pac-12 announced Thursday. They’ll officially become members on July 1, 2026, and begin competing in the Pac-12 in the 2026-27 academic year.
The Pac-12 was wiped out by conference realignment, with only Oregon State and Washington State remaining. Things started when USC and UCLA were approved as Big Ten members in 2022, and the dominoes continued to fall last year when Stanford and Cal made the move to the ACC and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah headed to the Big 12. All of those moves will become effective this season.
Left with few options, NCAA conference bylaws provided the Pac-12 a two-year grace period to get back up to a minimum of eight members. Now up to six schools by 2026, the Pac-12 will aim to push for at least two more—perhaps on a quicker timeline—to reach the minimum number required to qualify as an FBS conference. Multiple reports indicate other Mountain West schools would be the preferred target.
“For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics,” Commissioner Teresa Gould said.
“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.”
Good morning! It’s a beautiful new day 😎#BackThePac pic.twitter.com/jfIU1Gk22u
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) September 12, 2024
Each school will be required to pay a $17 million exit fee for a planned move more than a year advance, according to The Athletic, and the football scheduling agreement between the Pac-12 and the Mountain West signed last year requires an additional payment totaling around $43 million for adding four schools.
However, the Pac-12 has deep pockets in the aftermath of losing 10 schools, somewhere in the “high tens of millions” range, which will be used to cover at least some of the $111 million owed in Mountain West exit fees.
Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez issued the following statement on losing four schools:
Statement from Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez on the possibility of losing four members: pic.twitter.com/eLIRl7hH34
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) September 12, 2024
Despite the addition of four schools, three of which sponsor a women’s swimming & diving program, the prospect of a future Pac-12 Swimming & Diving Championship meet remains to be seen.
San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State sponsor women’s swimming & diving.
With no competitors in the Pac-12, the Washington State women’s team is scheduled to compete at the Mountain West Conference Championships this year, and there will likely need to be more swimming & diving schools join the Pac-12 in order for the conference championships to be revived.
The ACC-bound Cal women and Big 12-bound Arizona State men won the 2024 Pac-12 Swimming & Diving Championship titles, while San Diego State won its third straight Mountain West women’s title last season, with Colorado State 3rd and Fresno State 4th out of nine teams.
MOUNTAIN WEST & PAC-12 CONFERENCES AS OF 2026-27
Pac-12:
| Pac-12 | Swimming & Diving Program? |
| Oregon State | No |
| Washington State | Women |
| Boise State* | No |
| Fresno State* | Women |
| Colorado State* | Women |
| San Diego State* | Women |
*New additions from Mountain West as of 2026-27
Mountain West:
| School | Swimming & Diving Program? |
| Air Force | Men & Women |
| Nevada | Women |
| UNLV | Men & Women |
| New Mexico | Women |
| San Jose State | Women |
| Utah State | No |
| Wyoming | Men & Women |
It doesn’t look like it will be hard to win the men’s swimming Pac 12 title. Maybe some motivation for one of these schools to add men’s swimming, or for a school that already has men’s swimming to try to join the Pac 12
Let’s get UC San Diego in the Pac
The Half-12
Maxime Rooney 2019 one trick washed vibes
Poverty League
Seems to me like the PAC12 is holding two spots that they must fill before their grace period expires for Cal and Stanford to come back. I’m not sure how likely that is, but if I had to get all Notre Dame about it and bet, I would think that’s what they are angling for.
If that doesn’t work out, I imagine UNLV and someone else (New Mexico, SJSU, or Air Force being the most likely second) will join the PAC12 to get them to eight.
“If I had to get all Notre Dame about it and bet…” hahaha
I could see Hawaii, UNLV, Air Force and San Jose state being pursued. Maybe even UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis or cal state Bakersfield…
If the PAC-12 is able to bring in two more schools will the general media consider them a power conference again or will it still really just be the Power 4?
Well, I don’t think this combined entity is better at football collectively than the AAC (especially if HOuston gets back on track), so they’d really need to poach two teams from somewhere that elevates the football profile.
I think these schools all have high potential with the shifting population patterns in the Mountain West region.
But this feels to me like ‘the move before the move,’ and an attempt to try and make something much bigger happen.
Houston is in the Big XII, not the AAC